Almost everyone is familiar with Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball and was a sensational athlete. However, he might not have even been the best athlete in his family.
Meet Mack
Matthew MacKenzie Robinson, born July 18, 1914, was the older brother of Jackie Robinson. He and his siblings grew up fatherless, moving from Georgia to California at a young age. He would be diagnosed with a heart murmur, eliminating his hopes of playing contact sports. Track & field became his best option for recreation. Thankfully, he excelled, setting national records for junior college. His talent ended up leading him to the 1936 Olympic Games in Hitler’s Berlin, Germany.
1936 Games and Jesse Owens
The 1936 Olympic Games will forever live in infamy. The games were in the midst of troubling times in Europe, just three years away from Germany’s invasion of Poland. Hitler’s biggest claim as Führer of Germany was Aryan supremacy, a racist and antisemitic delusion that fueled his havoc. A United States Olympic boycott was considered, but their participation proved to be much more powerful. While America was quite lacking in Civil Rights, they still sent black athletes to Berlin. Hosting the Olympic games was a chance for Adolf Hitler to show the world proof of his white supremacist claims; however, Mack Robinson, all-time Olympian Jesse Owens, and sixteen other black Americans had other plans.
0.4 Seconds From Glory
Mack Robinson received a silver medal for his world record-breaking time of 21.10 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Jesse Owens had a time of 20.70 seconds, setting the world record and winning one of his four gold medals that summer and the spotlight of derailing Hitler’s claims. The eighteen black Americans in Berlin collectively embarrassed Hitler, winning a combined fourteen medals, eight of them being gold. The results of the 1936 Olympics should never be forgotten.
“It’s not too bad to be the second best in the world at what you’re doing, no matter what it is. It means that only one other person in the world was better than you. That makes you better than an awful lot of people.”
Mack Robinson on his Olympic performance
Wrap Up
I see Jesse Owens as the spokesperson for the eighteen brave and immensely talented individuals who stood up against the purest form of evil. It is also intriguing how seemingly insignificant details, like the fraction of a second it takes to blink your eyes and who your brother is, can shape perceptions. Had Robinson received the same training as Owens, maybe the story would have been different. Neither Jackie Robinson nor Jesse Owens should ever be discredited. However, next time someone brings up number 42, be sure to mention the dominance and story of Matthew MacKenzie Robinson.
“Jesse [Owens] got the coaching, I didn’t. I saw his television program about his return to Berlin. He said that he and the coaches had studied the styles of every runner. That was true. They studied me, too.”
Mack Robinson
I head Jesse Owen’s speak once and road in a car with him and Wilma Rudolph. Wonder people.