Baseball, Jackie, and the French Canadian connection
In modern history, has sports been the ultimate catalyst to collective emancipation ?
Given that my broken wrist still impedes the speed at which I can engage in any activity - including writing, though I have to say my mobility is improving - it goes without saying that my daily routine shifted to a slower pace in the last weeks. On the bright side, this unfortunate turn of events gave me some time at the beginning of April to enjoy another passion of mine: baseball.
Watching more games than I normally do also provided an inspiration to write this short piece. A quick post - slightly different from what subscribers of this newsletter are accustomed to - that will feel more like a Did You Know ? style article but will at least provide some new material until I get back to my usual form.
As a side note, to all the baseball aficionados out there, I already sense the new pitch clock rule in Major League Baseball might be the best change for the sport in decades, maybe a century.
But let’s move on.
As the new season of MLB is just under way and since the league celebrates a Jackie Robinson day every year in April, I thought it would be fitting to introduce my readers to a little known fact, outside of Montréal and Québec of course, about the career of the famous number 42.
Though he only played a single season in the city before making his historical debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers the next year to break the race barrier in this major sport, Robinson’s 1946 season with the Montréal Royals (back then, the Triple-A affiliate team to the major league club) is still well remembered in the city to this day.
Recently, I also came across a comment (in an article I unfortunately can’t seem to relocate) regarding Robinson’s year with the team in 1946. I am paraphrasing here what I read at the time but it essentially stated that French Canadian baseball fans in the city came to rapidly adopt the African American player as they related to the struggles felt by Jackie because they also endured (obviously not to the same extent, but still) some social and economic hardships in their own country compared to Canadians from English descent for example.
Are you suggesting that white people in the 1940’s could actually look up to and respect a man of color ? Yes, that is exactly what I’m stating here.
It must be reminded that since the advent of British rule in lower Canada (Québec today) from the mid 18th century onward, the socio-economic disparities in Canada were not primarily predicated on racial differences but on a cultural and linguistic divide. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the French Canadian population was mostly relegated to a rural and agricultural lifestyle. A lifestyle that was strongly encouraged by the Catholic leadership in the province by the way.
Even if French speaking citizens gradually integrated the industrial workforce over the decades, in the long run, these disparities resulted in the following outcome as stated in this recent 2023 economic study :
“ From the early 19th century until the second half of the 20th century, the French-speaking majority workers in Quebec had markedly lower earnings than their English-speaking counterparts in the province.
In fact, by 1961, not only was the ratio of Quebec French-speakers wages to Quebec English-Speakers wages lower than the ratio of African-American wages to White American wages but French-speakers also earned lower wages than African-Americans. French-Canadians in Quebec also exhibited the same average number of years of schooling as African-Americans.”
Julien Gagnon, Vincent Geloso and Maripier Isabelle
Every time I encounter such a story, when researching for an essay I’m working on or just reading a history book for pleasure, I’m always reminded how our past is way more complicated and nuanced than we are willing to recognize in our modern times. For example, recent tendencies to portray with a broad stroke the white population of suffering from unconscious systemic racism that would permeate every social interaction between them and other racial groups is farcical at best, and condescending for individuals at worst.
While this historical analysis might ring true to some extent in some parts of the world in specific time periods, importing this framework in trying to understand the social dynamics that historically characterized my home province of Québec only demonstrates the ignorance or bad faith of the teachers, journalists or politicians pushing this ideology in our schools and media today.
Still not convinced ?
When interviewed years later, Jackie Robinson had this say about his short passage in Montréal:
“ I remember Montreal as the city that enabled me to go into the Major Leagues.
Had it not been for the fact that we broke in in Montreal, I doubt seriously if we could have made the grade so rapidly. The fans there were just fantastic, and my wife and I had nothing but the greatest of memories.
The only thing the people of Montreal were asking was that I do the best I possibly can for the Montreal ballclub.”
Jackie Robinson
Nobody forced him to utter these words. It was just an honest and heartfelt perception of his experience with the Montréal Royals and the city that generally speaking, embraced his presence.
Of course, someone out there could find an event or moment where Robinson encountered forms of bigotry in the city. It most certainly happened and I will never dispute such a fact. I only wish to argue that human relations are a complicated affair, that our mutual history is not only filled with power struggles between races, and that we would all benefit in turning the heat down in our public discourse of such contentious matters.
As an alternative, I suggest we remember the following.
Inspired in part by the fearlessness and courage of a Jackie Robinson on the Stade Delorimier baseball field, French Canadians would eventually break out of their historically disadvantaged socio-economic position most notably by playing catch-up on their education level. Over time, it significantly contributed in reducing the wage gap with English Canadians over the following decades.
Another sport giant of the era propelled crowds and help them gain confidence in themselves. It was Montréal native Maurice Richard. A homegrown hockey player that played for the local Canadiens and who eventually came to be simply called: Le Rocket. In the two decades that span the 1940-50’s, he dazzled fans with his competitive rage on the ice and his unwavering drive to win every game he participated in.
Organized sports might not have the same social impact in an age of AI chat bots, social media frenzy and dwindling community participation but for the better part of the 20th century, sports might have been one of the most important driving force behind many instances of social progress.
Thanks for enlightening me about Jackie. And the disparity between French and English speakers.
Currently immersed in hockey not baseball, however. Sorry les Habs blew it.
Glad to see you writing! All the best.