MILWAUKEE -- What would Jackie Robinson think of the world today?
Lorenzo Cain, the Brewers’ outfielder who has been reconnecting with his faith after choosing not to play this season, paused before answering. He was not optimistic.
“I think he would be amazed at the lack of progress, in his eyes,” Cain said.
The Brewers and Pirates honored Robinson’s legacy on Friday while meeting at Miller Park on Jackie Robinson Day, with all players and coaches wearing No. 42. While different than the usual date of April 15, the anniversary of Robinson breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, Aug. 28 had its own powerful symbolism. It was the anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, which the Robinson family attended, and also is the date in 1945 when Robinson and Branch Rickey met to discuss his future as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
On Friday, MLB and the Jackie Robinson Foundation announced a partnership extension through 2023, including $3.5 million to support JRF’s Scholarship Program, the Jackie Robinson Museum and the annual JRF ROBIE Awards.
“I don’t know personally what he went through, but I know the stories,” Cain said. “I know for a fact it wasn’t easy for him to be in the situation he was in. He paved the way for guys like me to go out and play this game and be in this position today. I’ll always thank him for that. The fact we’re talking about this in 2020, I don’t see the progress in that. It’s almost like we’re going backwards.
“I think we’re going to be in the same situation until we start holding the people doing this accountable. Until that changes, it’s going to be tough for real change.”
Cain offered a concrete measure, calling for an end to the practice of qualified immunity for police officers, a doctrine that shields law enforcement and other government officials from lawsuits. He said he had been lucky in life to not experience overt racism, but Brewers reliever Devin Williams told a different story on Thursday, saying in his life, “it's happened so many times that they all just kind of blend together.”
Williams, too, wonders what Robinson would think today.
“It was, what, 1947 when he broke the color barrier? And we are still having these same issues that we were having then,” Williams said. “It is a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come, but at the same time, how far we need to go.”