Jackie Robinson – Breaking the Color Barrier

by Marc Jacobs, contributing writer for rforh
April 15th has become an annual marker on the Major League Baseball schedule commemorating the day, in 1947, that a black man played, for the first time, in the “all-white” league. Up until that time, any black man with special baseball skills was consigned to demonstrate his talent in the Negro League. Jackie Robinson is celebrated not only for his extraordinary physical aptitude, but especially for his emotional fortitude and cultural finesse. The game of baseball, not to mention all sports (professional, collegiate, and amateur), as well as society, has been better for it. 
The question that should be asked by an intellectually advanced and culturally attuned civilization is, “Why was there a barrier that needed to be broken and how did such a segregation based on color become the accepted societal norm?”  
The history of the world and humanity as detailed in the preserved record of Scripture clearly represents a different community standard than that which defined us in the early 20th century. 
Chapter 10 of Genesis is referred to as the Table of Nations. It is recognized, beyond circles of the faithful, as an historically reliable record of the development and expansion of nations around the world. 
Dr. William F. Albright, universally acknowledged authority on the archeology of the Near East, while not subscribing to Scriptural infallibility said the following concerning the Genesis Table of Nations (quoted from Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands; p.25).
“It stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks, where we find the closest approach to a distribution of peoples in genealogical framework…
The Table of Nations remains an astonishingly accurate document.”  
Biblical commentator and Messianic Jew Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum writes (Ariel’s Bible Commentary, p.204)…
“There is no parallel to (Genesis) chapter 10…It stands unique in ancient literature.” 
While the accuracy and uniqueness of the chapter is virtually unanimous in its appreciation within literary and historical circles, the significance of its preservation is probably best summed up in a passage from Luther’s Works (Vol. 2, pp.207-209).
The great Martin Luther writes… 
“Whenever I read these names, I think of the wretched state of the human race. Even though we have the most excellent gift of reason, we are nevertheless so overwhelmed by misfortunes that we are ignorant not only of our own origin and the lineal descent of our ancestors but even of God Himself, our Creator. 
Look into the historical accounts of all nations. If it were not for Moses alone, what would you know about the origin of man?
Of this wretched state, that is, of our awful blindness, we are reminded by the passage before us, which gives us instruction about things that are unknown to the whole world. What do we have about the very best part of the second world besides words, not to mention the first one, which antedated the Flood? The Greeks wanted to have the account of their activities preserved, the Romans likewise; but how insignificant this is in comparison with the earlier times, concerning which Moses has drawn up a list of names in this passage, not of deeds!
Hence one must consider this chapter of Genesis a mirror in which to discern what we human beings are, namely, creatures so marred by sin that we have no knowledge of our origin, not even of  God Himself, our Creator, unless the Word of God reveals these sparks of divine light to us from afar.”  
As insignificant and unspectacular as Genesis chapter 10 may seem, it is a necessary, lineal connection from the first world and the Promise given, to this world and purpose renewed. It is Genesis chapter 10 that links us to our antediluvian, primal nature and identifies us in the context of and the need for the Promised Seed.
Genesis chapter 10 is the bridge of personal relevance for every human being to the rest of Scripture. 
No racial or ethnic superiority can be intimated or derived from this history. Where, then, did the notion come from? 
The idea of racial boundaries came out of the rational progression of Darwinian evolution carried to its logical conclusion in the history of man. 
In 1869, a man named Francis Galton wrote the following to his cousin, Charles Darwin.
“The appearance of your Origin of Species (…by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) formed a real crisis in my life; your book drove away the constraint of my old superstition (reference to a Genesis perspective of ancient history) as if it had been a nightmare and was the first to give me freedom of thought.” 
Darwin recorded these incredibly racist words in his book entitled The Descent of Man (2nd edition). 
“At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races around the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes…will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even for the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.”
Are you kidding me? And churches all over America celebrate Charles Darwin each February?! 
Naturalist writer and Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago, Steven T. Asma wrote this astounding admission in an article for The Humanist (Sept./ Oct. 1993) entitled “The New Social Darwinism: Deserving Your Destitution.”
“The idea that whole populations – whether abroad or at home – are ‘naturally unfit’ is the ultimate license for social policies of domination. Indeed, domination is for us a virtue rather than a vice…It goes without saying that social Darwinism has lent spurious credence to racism.”  
The history of mankind as detailed in the book of Genesis clearly represents a single, human race whose distinctions find context in the genetic variability that would naturally accommodate the various post-Flood environments and would reflect the inevitable tribal isolations in the progression of the Great Dispersion.  
The Apostle Paul recognized that the writings of Genesis were more than “old superstition” (as perceived by Dalton), but were indeed our history assigning value to mankind worth redeeming (Acts 17:22-28). 
The Bible (and even the poets of ancient Greek literature) depicts man as a unique created kind “of one blood.” Mankind is not segmented and fragmented into various races of developmental hierarchy. Mankind is made up “of one blood” going back to Adam on the 6th day of Creation. It is the entire of Adam’s race that is in need of “that man” (Acts 17:31), Jesus Christ, to ensure resurrection to immortality.  
I am thankful that society has finally begun to come out of the racial shadows that defined it’s shameful past, but that unfortunate “barrier” should have never been erected in the first place.  
Article contributed by Marc Jacobs, Scripturosity
About Scripturosity — a site where revelation directs reason.  The site by Marc features a blog by Marc Jacobs, who shares biblical insights and spiritual applications to build the faith of believers and stimulate the spiritual sensitivities of seekers.  Marc writes about the world and the culture in which we live and addresses difficult and sometimes ignored topics, all through a biblical lens…the Holy Scriptures.  For more information visit www.scipturosity.com