> That dignified serenity was imposed though. As a condition of his
> signing Robinson had to pledge to Dodgers' president Branch Rickey
> that he would not respond to taunts for the first two years he played
> with the Dodgers. After the restraints were removed he fought back
> and hard.
I'm sure it was imposed. That's why I say I'm respectful of the individual *compromises* that Blacks may feel they have to make to advance. I'm not in the least judgmental of Robinson's decision to commit to temporarily keeping his cool in the midst of terrible abuse in order to secure a contract with the Dodgers. And that's exactly why I believe it's unfair to blame Obama for positioning himself in a way that minimizes the chance of eliciting deep racial prejudices among non-Blacks.