PHILADELPHIA – As cities across the country honored Jackie Robinson's career, one also apologized for its racist treatment of Major League Baseball's first black player nearly 70 years ago.
When Robinson's Brooklyn Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies in 1947, he was told to "go back to the cotton fields" by the Phillies manager, refused service at a local hotel and taunted by players with racial slurs when he came to bat. On Friday, Philadelphia's city council publicly acknowledged the incident as a dark chapter in the city's history.
"He faced tremendous racism in our city," Councilwoman Helen Gym said. "It was something he never forgot ... but neither should we."
Gym presented a resolution before children, city leaders and Robinson fans at the Philadelphia Stars Negro League Memorial Park.
April 15 is recognized nationally as Jackie Robinson Day, and ballparks around the country are also celebrating the 69th anniversary of the day he broke the league's color barrier in 1947.
"What Jackie Robinson did, and what he's honored for, he deserves every moment of it," ex-roommate Don Newcombe said. "And the world owes him whatever they can say about him and do about him that is good, because he was a great man."
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