The city of Sanford, Florida is in the headlines as the place where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed.
But the city is also haunted by racist memories of the past, dating back to the early days of baseball Hall of Famer, Jackie Robinson. After Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was sent to train with their minor league team, the Montreal Royals, in Sanford, Florida. Upon arrival, Jackie Robinson was met by an angry white mob and members of the Ku Klux Klan. They refused to let Robinson practice on the field. It was reported that Robinson had to pry himself through a hole in the fence of the baseball field to join the Royals. It was unknown as to whether or not he actually took the field. Later that night, Jackie Robinson was forced out of town to avoid serious injury by racist haters. Sanford, Florida’s nightmare of racial injustice went on for years after the Robinson incident.
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