When Jackie turned up in Cuba for the 1947 spring training, several Dodger players signed a petition refusing to play. Their protest was shortlived because Rickey threatened to fire all the protesters.

Games on the road were especially difficult: Jackie couldn't room with the white players in some towns and fans and rival players took every opportunity to target Jackie. His first series with Philadelphia was one such brutal occasion. Led by manager Ben Chapman, the Phillies verbally assaulted Robinson with racial slurs every time he would go on the field.

But, through it all Jackie remained silent even though he wanted to respond verbally and physically. Jackie was forced to honor the two year agreement he had with Rickey. Rickey insisted that Jackie could not respond to any of the inevitable racial taunts or attacks; he had to live a life on the field and off that was circumspect and without fault, so as not to further infuriate whites and derail the integration experiment.

Jackie and the black community had to bare the burden for the morality of the white community. Rickey even met with black community leaders and erected signs in the black section of the ballpark, encouraging black spectators to control their own behavior and not respond to any expressed racism. He believed that the actions of black spectators could affect Jackie's acceptance by the white community.

Jackie did not let racist ignorance stop him from performing or eventually, from speaking out against injustice. The key to his success was his ability to challenge injustice without compromising his personal integrity and beliefs.