BILL NUMBER: ACR 197 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2016
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Gatto and Holden
JUNE 16, 2016
Relative to the Jackie Robinson Memorial Highway.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 197, Gatto. Jackie Robinson Memorial Highway.
This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 210
from Gould Avenue to Orange Grove Boulevard in the County of Los
Angeles as the Jackie Robinson Memorial Highway. The measure also
would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost
of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon
receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to
erect those signs.
WHEREAS, Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was born on January 31,
1919, in Cairo, Georgia, to a family of sharecroppers. Jackie
Robinson and his four brothers were raised by a single mother who in
1920 managed to move the family to Pasadena, California, and they
became the first and only black family on their block; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was a natural athlete and succeeded at
John Muir High School and attended Pasadena City College where he
continued his athletic career by succeeding in basketball, football,
baseball, and track in 1938 when he was named the region's Most
Valuable Player; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson transferred to the University of
California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1939 where he became the first
Bruin to letter in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and
track; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the
United States Army from 1942 to 1944 and was arrested and court
martialed during boot camp for refusing to move to the back of a bus.
He was later acquitted of all charges and received an honorable
discharge; and
WHEREAS, In early 1945, the Kansas City Monarchs sent him a
written offer to play professional baseball in the Negro leagues. In
all, Jackie Robinson played 47 games for the Monarchs, hitting .387
with five home runs and registering 13 stolen bases; and
WHEREAS, In 1946, Jackie Robinson arrived at Daytona Beach,
Florida, for spring training with the all-white Montreal Royals of
the Class Triple-A International League and farm team for the
Brooklyn Dodgers; and
WHEREAS, On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made his major league
debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field before a crowd of
26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons, marking
the first time ever that an African American athlete played in major
league baseball. Jackie Robinson faced the constant onslaught from
the public and from players objecting to playing with him; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson stood firm and focused on beating the
critics on the field, despite the umpires who were supposed to
protect all the players, including Jackie Robinson, turning a blind
eye to the abuse and pitches aimed at his head that he endured,
putting his life in danger; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson finished the 1947 season having played in
151 games for the Dodgers with a batting average of .297, an on-base
percentage of .383, and a .427 slugging percentage. He had 175 hits,
scoring 125 runs, including 31 doubles, 5 triples, and 12 home runs,
driving in 48 runs for the year. He led the league with 28 sacrifice
hits and 29 stolen bases. His cumulative performance earned him the
inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson retired on January 5, 1957, from
professional baseball with an impressive career batting average of .
311; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson became a vocal champion for African
American athletes, civil rights, and other social and political
causes, so that, after baseball, he became active in business and
continued his work as an activist for social change and served on the
board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) until 1967; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson was the first African American to be
inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1972, the Dodgers
retired his uniform number of 42. His number, 42, is the only number
to be retired by all of baseball in honor of his accomplishments,
including being the first African American to break the color
barrier; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson died from heart problems and diabetes
complications on October 24, 1972, in Stamford, Connecticut. He is
survived by his wife, Rachel Isum Robinson, a nursing student whom he
met at UCLA, and two of his three children, Sharon and David; his
oldest child, Jackie Jr., died in an automobile accident in 1971; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Robinson's life and legacy will be remembered as
one of the most important in American history. In 1997, the world
celebrated the 50th anniversary of his breaking major league baseball'
s color barrier, and in doing so, honored the man who stood defiantly
against those who would work against racial equality and
acknowledged the profound influence of one man's life on American
culture; and
WHEREAS, Every year on the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's
historic debut, all major league baseball teams across the nation
celebrate this milestone by wearing jerseys with only "42" on the
back; and
WHEREAS, To this day Jackie Robinson is regarded as an inspiring
example of how to combat hate and discrimination in the world; now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
portion of Interstate 210 from Gould Avenue to Orange Grove Boulevard
in the County of Los Angeles near where Jackie Robinson grew up as
the Jackie Robinson Memorial Highway; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.