Posted on 10/30/2003 10:12:15 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
President Bush signed legislation Wednesday awarding Congress' highest honor to Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson more than half a century after the former Brooklyn Dodger broke major league baseball's color barrier. Congress voted to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Robinson earlier this month, recognizing his achievements in sports, civil rights and business. A four-sport letterman at the University of California, Los Angeles, Robinson became the first black player in the major leagues since the 19th century when he played for the Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He retired after 10 years, winning six pennants and one World Series with the Dodgers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962. He died in 1972. At the end of his baseball career, Robinson began touring the country in support of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Anti-Defamation League and B'Nai B'rith. He helped found the Freedom National Bank of Harlem, and he also advised Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Nixon. Bush's approval makes Robinson the second major league baseball player to earn the medal. Hall of Fame athlete Roberto Clemente won the medal in 1973. Since George Washington received the first Congressional Gold Medal in 1776, Congress has bestowed the honor on some 300 people, including Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, Rosa Parks and President and Nancy Reagan.
Thats what I have heard... But Bush is still racist (according to those helpful lefty dems candidates)...
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