42

Jackie Robinson’s first year playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers was an important important milestone along the road to racial equality.  Two years after Hitler was defeated, a black man was finally allowed to play major league baseball.  

The film “42” (Robinson’s number, now retired from all of baseball) is one of those feel-good movies in which the reality seems almost too Hollywood to be believed.  I recommend you take your children or grandchildren so they can see just how bad racism really was. The film also makes clear that racism was not just a Southern phenomenon, but existed in places like Pittsburgh and even Brooklyn.

The script is reasonably accurate.  The Philadelphia Phillies manager was a racist who taunted Robinson. Pee Wee Reese did put his arm around Robinson after a particularly vicious crowd yelled epithets.  And yes, Robinson was that fast on the base paths.