Intent - A Play in Three Acts
ANNOUNCER:
On October 10, 1944, the 761st Tank Battalion, a segregated group of African American troops nicknamed the Black Panthers, arrived on shore at Omaha Beach.
(A map appears on the screen showing the progression of the troops in the October landing)
ANNOUNCER:
The battalion quickly moved into Belgium under the leadership of General George S. Patton, who addressed the battalion on its arrival, saying in part:
GENERAL PATTON:
Men, you’re the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren’t good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don’t care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all, your race is looking forward to your success. Don’t let them down, and, damn you, don’t let me down!
ANNOUNCER:
Although Patton privately held doubts concerning the abilities of the Black soldiers, as did many of the White officers, the Black Panthers got a chance to prove the battalion’s merit on November 7th, when it captured the German-held town of Morville-lès-Vic and continued its advance into France to liberate 30 towns under Nazi control. Overall, the battalion spent 183 days in battle.
Staff Sergeant Rubin Rivers distinguished himself by taking command of an abandoned tank after his tank had become disabled by a mine. Though severely wounded, Rivers refused morphine and advanced with his company into the town of Guebling the following day. After repeatedly refusing medical care or medication, Rivers continued to direct his tank’s guns at enemy positions beyond the town through the morning of November 19, 1944 when Company A’s tanks advanced toward Bourgaltoff, but were stopped by enemy fire.
Captain David Williams, the Company Commander, ordered his tanks to withdraw and take cover, but Rivers, radioed back that he’d spotted the German antitank positions: “I see ‘em. We’ll fight ‘em!” said Rivers, and opened fire on enemy tanks, covering another unit as it withdrew. Rivers’ tank was hit, killing him and wounding the remainder of his crew. Rivers posthumously received the Silver Star from General Patton for his courage, and on January 12, 1997 finally received the Congressional Medal of Honor which was presented to his family for his bravery and sacrifice.
Percy Coleridge Washington, age 17, was both a witness to the action of the recapturing of French towns as well as a tank machine gun operator in the Black Panther battalion. His father was a sharecropper and his mother sewed, washed, cleaned and repaired clothing for white people in Macon, Georgia. Percy had attended the Macon County Training School which was the main school for African Americans in the Macon area, educating students from the first through twelfth grades.
Midway through his final year at Macon, Percy became fed up with the racial disparities of the area and, without his parents’ knowledge, enlisted in the Army.
Percy was a strapping boy, nearly six feet in height and familiar with hard work. He figured that the military, despite the risks of war, would offer him a better chance for a future than any he’d have at home. After induction, he was sent to Fort Hood, Texas, for his training and while there was befriended by Second Lieutenant Jackie Robinson, who in only a few years would become celebrated for breaking the racial barriers in professional baseball.
Robinson was older than Percy by more than five years and had already earned a degree from Pasadena Junior College.
He was well liked, obstinate, and smart. But most importantly, he was familiar with the rules established by Congress concerning racism in the armed forces. In the early fall of 1944, Robinson was ordered by a military bus driver to sit in the rear of his vehicle. Robinson protested and was court-martialed, but was later acquitted of all charges and honorably discharged from the military.
Percy Washington, however, was sent overseas in October and landed with the Black Panthers on Omaha Beach, facing no resistance after the D-Day invasion on June 6th. His job, and that of his battalion, was to recapture French towns taken by the Germans throughout the war. The battles in which the Panthers fought included the Battle of the Bulge, which lasted from December 1944 to January 1945 along an 88-mile front stretching between Monschau and Echternacht, and which became the bloodiest battle in American history. It resulted in 19,000 American deaths and 89,500 total casualties. In addition, as many as 104,000 Germans were killed, wounded or captured during the battle.
SABINA, a young woman in the audience, waves her hand before speaking out:
Excuse me for interrupting, My name is Sabina and before just now, I hadn’t any idea of the numbers of the wounded or killed in just that one battle. How about all of World War II?
ANNOUNCER (with the statistics shown on the screen):
According to information provided by the Defense Casualty Analysis System, 405,399 service members died, with approximately 291,557 of those being battle-related.
SABINA shouts out from the audience:
Holy Moly! How could that be?
HENRY, an older man in the audience, speaks up:
And every member of the original unit was either killed or wounded, or replaced at least once. This gives you an idea of what Jackie Robinson’s chances were of living to play ball if he’d remained with his battalion.
ANNOUNCER (ignoring Henry’s response):
And according to government data, overall there were 1,076,245 casualties during World War II. That’s more than in all the wars in all of recorded history.
SABINA:
And since, we’ve still been fighting in wars: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq. Afghanistan. Have we learned nothing?
ANNOUNCER:
I appreciate your comments, Sabina. But right now, please let me return to the story.
SABINA:
Sorry. Go on!
ANNOUNCER:
Percy Washington returned home to Georgia in April 1945, physically uninjured, but mentally impaired by what was then known as combat fatigue, a term since replaced by the name Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
Instead of a grand welcoming home ceremony, Percy faced the same Jim Crow racism he thought he’d left behind three years before.
He and other Black veterans were promised GI Bill benefits and access to colleges and universities, but in actuality most were turned away by White-run colleges and universities, and denied home ownership and business loans due to discriminatory practices that remained in place at the state and local levels.
But if the war had any positive effect on Percy, it was that it had given him the knowledge of what freedom was really about. Over time he joined fellow Black veterans Medgar Evers and Amzie Moore in their fight for civil rights.
By 1948 their victory over racism had achieved its first triumph when President Harry Truman signed an executive order desegregating the armed forces, creating a significant first step in ending segregation in America.
It took six more years for segregation to be ruled unconstitutional in the public schools, and ten more years for the battle for equal rights to be won by African Americans with the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Although Percy was proud of his service to America, and felt personally vindicated by many in the armed forces, he soon discovered after returning home that racism was more entrenched in America than could be erased by any single action signed by a President, or spoken by any general.
After a year of working odd jobs and searching for a college that would accept a Black man, Percy found his way north to Cheyney Training School for Teachers, an historically Black university that accepted funding from the GI Bill. Because of the influx of soldiers, Cheyney, like many Black colleges and universities, soon found its school overcrowded and underfunded, and its facilities and programs dated and not up to current standards.
Despite its limitations, many of the Cheyney instructors were well versed in American history, the English language, literature and psychology and, since they had come from a lineage of people impacted by slavery, they’d survived and weren’t broken by prejudice, inequality, repression or discrimination.
Percy worked his way through the Cheyney program, received his degree and teaching permit and quickly found a job at Chester High School, just a few miles from Cheyney. Due to the wartime industry, the city of Chester had become predominately populated by Blacks during the 1940s, with many White families moving to the nearby suburbs of Aston, Concordville, Prospect Park, Ridley Park and Swarthmore. Consistent with the transformation of the city, the student body of Chester High had also become predominately Black.
After learning of Percy’s overseas tour with the Black Panther battalion, the school had welcomed Percy, with accolades for his service given by the Chester School Board, staff and student body.
In 1949, Percy met and married Madelyn Brown, a fellow teacher at the high school. A graduate of Howard University, Madelyn had migrated north with her family from South Carolina after the war. In 1950, Madelyn gave birth to a daughter, Kendra, and a year later to a boy they named Jackie. With two children to care for, Madelyn resigned her teaching position, while Percy took on a second, part-time job, cleaning industrial tanks at night to supplement the family’s reduced income.
Following the acquittal of charges, Jackie Robinson had followed a much different trajectory than Percy: he was moved to the 758th Tank Battalion, which remained in the States. Ironically, Robinson received an honorable discharge on the same day that Percy and the Black Panther battalion landed in Normandy to free French towns from Nazi occupation.
Robinson was well aware of his good fortune. He returned to civilian life and took a job as an athletic director at Samuel Houston College prior to accepting an offer from the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro baseball league team.
Realizing that, despite his color, Robinson was a rising star, baseball scout Branch Rickey reached out to him in 1946 and recruited him for the Montreal Royals, a minor league team affiliated with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He performed as Rickey had expected and was called up in 1947 to play in the majors, an accomplishment that provoked great controversy in that no Black ballplayer had previously been recruited to play on a White ball team. Some of the Dodgers’ team members revolted, telling the manager, Leo Durocher, that they would rather sit out the game than play alongside Robinson.
Durocher, countered:
DUROCHER’S VOICE:
I don’t care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a fuckin’ zebra. I’m the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What’s more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded.
ANNOUNCER:
On April 22, 1947, Jackie Robinson and Percy Washington were reunited at Shibe Park in Philadelphia when Percy spent more money than he could afford to watch Jackie play in his second professional game, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
There were many boos and a few hollers when Robinson walked onto the field. Even from the bleachers, Percy could hear Ben Chapman, the Phillies’ team manager, call Robinson a nigger from the dugout and yelled that he should “go back to the cotton fields.”
The Dodgers responded as a team, verbally supporting their teammate, lead by Pee Wee Reese’s response:
PEE WEE REESE’S VOICE:
You can hate a man for many reasons. But color is not one of them.
ANNOUNCER:
After the game, Percy wove his way through the crowd and into the Dodger dugout, coming face to face with Robinson, who was celebrating the 1-0 victory over the Phillies, which was due to one of Jackie’s hits that got him on base and another hit that brought him home to score the game’s only run.
SABINA (from the audience):
Excuse me again. Was Percy angry with Jackie?
ANNOUNCER:
Please don’t interrupt, Sabina.
SABINA:
Sorry. But if I was Percy, I’d be pretty pissed off at Robinson. When push came to shove, Robinson deserted his battalion. Unless the playwright’s not telling the correct story, Robinson would have known about the deployment. He was a Second Lieutenant, for God’s sake.
ANNOUNCER (ignoring Sabina and returning to his script):
When Robinson saw Percy, he separated from his team members to greet his former gunner, and lead him away from the dugout to an empty seat behind home plate.
JACKIE:
It’s good to see that you made it out alive, Percy. It seems that I let you and the others down. Though I heard about Rivers’ bravery and his death, and all those Silver Stars and Purple Hearts, I was too ashamed or embarrassed to look any of you up.
PERCY:
None of us viewed it that way, Jackie. You stood up for us all, just like you’ve done here today.
ROBINSON:
But I forced the military’s hand. I still can’t be sure whether my act of disobedience was honorable or just a way of keeping from going overseas.
PERCY:
We were all fighting the same fight, Jackie. It was and is a much bigger battle than the war. You took the opportunity to make a stand and find a way to stand up for your brothers. We see it as you’re earning your medals with every game you play.
And, by the way, that was a great win out there today.
ROBINSON (smiling):
Gene did most of the work by driving me home with his base hit.
PERCY
Yeah, but you scored the run.
ROBINSON:
My pop could have easily been snagged by the Phillies’ second baseman. He missed it and I got lucky, and made it to the plate… just as I did at my court martial — by the skin of my teeth.
THE END OF ACT ONE
ANNOUNCER:
Percy Washington had many close calls while in battle, and he later struggled with what is known as “survivor’s remorse,” as well as with symptoms of PTSD. Percy was reported to be one of the only original members of the battalion to survive the war. Thoughts of suicide were never far from his mind, despite the projection he gave to his family and friends of maintaining an optimistic viewpoint about life.
PERCY appears under a spotlight:
Once while manning my Browning M2 I was distracted by a noise to my right and rotated quickly, missing a sniper’s bullet that bypassed me, but tore off the face of an infantryman following my vehicle on foot. I remember the incident in slow motion as I saw the bullet hit the soldier’s cheek, tear through his nose and remove the left side of his face before he fell. I swiveled my gun and ducked, avoiding another round of gunfire before I found the sniper through my sight and blasted him off the rooftop as we rolled by.
The next day, I watched as a grenade fell from the sky, bouncing off my gun turret before hitting the ground and exploding. Two of our men, friends I’d made at Fort Hood, were felled from the blast. There was no time for sadness. I just kept firing my gun as the loader kept feeding me ammo. After we secured Guebling, I began to shake, but not cry, for what seemed hours.
Nightmares continued to haunt me, even after my marriage to Madelyn, creeping into my thoughts as I taught, as I played with my kids, and even during sex. It was difficult to explain to Madelyn, since I had no control over the flashbacks and the fear of them that could squelch any moment of joy I felt.
(The light on Percy fades)
HENRY (a voice from the audience):
Excuse me, Percy. You’re an actor playing Percy, right?
PERCY:
That’s true. But I’m done speaking for now.
HENRY:
You’ve never in your own life suffered from PTSD?
PERCY:
I haven’t. But to prepare for this role, I studied up on the disorder before auditioning, as I studied other aspects of Percy’s life experiences.
HENRY:
But the words are those of the playwright, correct?
PERCY:
Of course. But I had to learn to understand Percy’s motivations in order to portray him as accurately as possible. My part’s over now for a while. Can we get back to the play?
(Silence from HENRY)
ANNOUNCER:
Throughout Jackie Robinson’s life, the ballplayer gained great respect the world over. His marriage lasted, he succeeded in business after leaving baseball, and he became a hero, not only in sports, but for his stance on civil rights. He died early by cardiac arrest at the age of 53.
JACKIE: (shown under a spot in the center of the stage where PERCY had stood):
Early on I had an eye on what I wanted to become. I had the talent to be an athlete and participate in sports, but I also had the brains to figure my way through life as a Black man. My greatest regret was the loss of my son, Jackie, Jr., who struggled through drug problems. He died a year before I made my exit. God can take from you as easily as he gives.
ANNOUNCER:
Robinson won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 and was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 to 1954. He played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers winning the Series in 1955 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame in 1962.
He then became the first Black vice president of a major American corporation, and established the Freedom National Bank, a Black American-owned financial institution.
JACKIE (an older JACKIE underneath a spotlight center stage with photos of the young JACKIE behind him):
I’m not sure how genuine any of my missions were, I just know I was motivated to succeed. I made mistakes, but I learned how to anticipate a fastball and how to hit a ball to right field. It wasn’t enough for me to be the best Black player. I truly wanted to be the best player of all time.
In 1950 they made a documentary of my life, and I got to star in it with the actress Ruby Dee playing the part of Rachel. It was a magical time, but in some ways I wasn’t always present in the moment. And I wasn’t concerned with people liking or disliking me…all I cared about was that I was respected as a human being.
SABINA: (from the audience)
So, you, the actor speaking for Jackie Robinson, are you truly inspired by the cause of Black people, or only with yourself?
JACKIE:
Are you taking to me? Or Robinson?
SABINA:
Either, or both.
JACKIE:
I’m not sure about either one. This is my job. I’m an actor.
SABINA:
Fair enough. (Sabina changes the subject as Jackie walks off stage left)
Mr. Stage Manager? Can we bring back the actor playing Percy for a moment?
PERCY passes Jackie raising his arm in a high five and replaces Jackie under on stage under the spotlight
SABINA:
How long did you live, Percy?
PERCY:
I’m still very much alive, as you can see.
SABINA:
I know that, but how long did Percy live?
PERCY:
I’m not sure of that. You’d have to ask the playwright, but he’s not in the theater tonight.
ANNOUNCER (heard shuffling some papers):
I have that info here, but I can’t tell you that right now. The audience isn’t supposed to know the ending of the play.
SABINA:
Was Percy a real person, or is he a made up character.
ANNOUNCER:
Sabina! Will you just let the actor playing Percy tell the story?
(The spotlight diminishes on the actor playing PERCY while he grips and set coordinators turn the stage into a classroom with a blackboard, a teacher’s desk, and 12 old-fashioned desk chairs sporting inkwell holes. PERCY appears behind his desk, which has two chairs next to it, and walks to the front of the blackboard while six teens, one White boy and five Black girls, have all raised their hands in response to a question Percy has asked, but that the audience hasn’t heard. They are all dressed in clothes that conform to the rules of the school.)
PERCY (points at and addresses two students):
You, Camela… and you, Jason. Come up to my desk.
PERCY points to WILLIAM, a White boy, and directs him to sit at his desk.
PERCY:
Today we’re going to talk about racism in a way that your parents might not understand. I don’t know that for a fact. But I’m assuming. Do you know what I mean by that?
(Most of the students raise their hands, and he calls on CALVIN)
CALVIN:
Assuming means that you think you’re right about something, but you might not be.
PERCY:
Good answer, Calvin. So I’m assuming that your parents may not approve of our lesson today. And I’m also assuming that you could get me in trouble by letting them know about the lesson. But I’m also assuming that you won’t bring it up to them unless you assume that they would approve of it.
So let’s get started.
PERCY (pointing to CAMELA):
Today, Camela, you’re going to be a White girl with a bias against Blacks. Do you know what bias means?
CAMELA:
Yes. It means that I don’t think that someone else is as good as I am, without really knowing who I am.
PERCY (pointing to JASON):
And, Jason. You’re still going to be a Black kid living in the city of Chester and going to this school.
JASON:
That ain’t hard. I live here; I go to this school; and I’m Black. That’s easy!
PERCY:
But Camela doesn’t like Black people. She doesn’t know many, and she thinks that she’s better than them…because she has…what?
THE COMPLETE CLASS:
Bias!
PERCY:
So, Camela. You’re going to tell Jason what you really feel about him. And don’t hold back!
PERCY (pointing to WiLLIAM):
And William. You’re going to listen to both sides of what they say, along with the rest of the class. But none of you are allowed to speak up until the conversation is ended. Okay?
THE COMPLETE CLASS:
Yes, Mr. Washington.
PERCY:
Camela. You can use whatever words you like…even bad words your Mama wouldn’t like hearing from you.
And you, Jason, are going to try not to be hurt by her words, since she’s supposed to be a White person. And William. You are here to listen to both of them and when they’re through, see if you have anything positive to add to their discussion.
JASON:
Got it, Mr. Washington.
PERCY:
So here’s the scenario. Y’all know what a scenario is?
THE COMPLETE CLASS:
Yes, Mr. Washington.
PERCY:
Camela has put her purse in her locker, and someone breaks into it and appears to have been stolen. As a White person in a predominately Black school, Camela assumes that a black person stole her purse, and she believes it was taken by Jason. That’s because Jason seems to like White girls and she was offended by him trying to get close to her. She knows that she probably offended Jason, but she wasn’t upset by it, until her purse went missing, and she assumed that Jason was the person that took it.
So Camela goes up to Jason and says...? Go on, Camela. What would you say to Jason?
CAMELA:
Well if I were a White person like the Camela in the scenario I’d probably say, “Hey Jason. You stole my purse. I want it back.”
PERCY:
And now, Jason, what would be your response?
JASON:
I think I’d be surprised that Camela was even speaking to me. So I’d be kind of glad and sad at the same time. I think I’d smile and say, “I don’t steal, Camela. But I’d be glad to help you find your purse, if you want my help?”
CAMELA (now very into her role):
Don’t give me that shit, you little black bastard. You stole it to get even with me because I don’t want to hang out with you. I’ll soon be our of this crappy school anyway and never have to deal with you and your kind again.
CAMELA pauses, and looks at PERCY to see if she went too far)
PERCY nods to let her know she’s okay
JASON:
I’m sorry you lost your purse. But I didn’t steal it. And now I’m kind of glad that you’re leaving Chester High.
CAMELA:
I’m reporting you to the principal, since I know you stole it.
JASON:
Why, Camela? Because I’m black or because I kind of liked you, and you don’t like me.
CAMELA:
It’s because you all do that kind of shit.
JASON:
You can report me to the principal, but that won’t change the fact that I didn’t take your purse. And now I won’t help you find it.
My parents always told me to help others... White or Black. And my Ma taught me not to take what ain’t mine.
PERCY:
So what do you think happens now, William?
WILLIAM:
I think Camela will report him to the principal, and even though Mr. Sley is Black, he’ll punish Jason to please the White girl and her family.
PERCY:
Okay, class! What do you think happens next?
(Hands raise and PERCY points to Sharon, a Black girl)
SHARON:
I think William’s right. Mr. Sley will bow down to White folks, and he’ll punish Jason even though there’s no proof that Jason stole anything.
PERCY:
So how many of the rest of you think that Mr. Sley will punish Jason with no proof?
(Everyone in the class raises one hand in agreement, except for CAMELA.)
PERCY:
So who in this class has a bias?
SHARON:
I just don’t believe that Mr. Sley is strong enough to deal with White people against Blacks. He’s a bit of an Oreo cookie: Black on the outside and White inside. So I think Mr. Sley would have a bias.
PERCY:
Isn’t there one of you who can believe that a White person won’t stand up for a Black boy over a White girl?
SHARON:
Nope! What’s the point? It’s a White world out there. And even though our school is mostly Black, it’s still a White school in here.
CAMELA:
You know, Mr. Washington, I enjoyed yelling at and accusing Jason. Even though it was pretend. I felt that I had an edge over him. It’s not nice to say that, but it’s how it felt. I always wonder what White people are thinking, even when they pretend to be nice.
PERCY:
So, William. As a White boy, how does that make you feel?
WILLIAM:
Kind of bad. But I also liked Camela giving it to Jason. But then I like Black girls that give it back to boys, White or Black.
PERCY:
So who has the bias in this class?
(THE COMPLETE CLASS laughs.)
CAMELA:
It seems that we all have a bias. Maybe it’s how we’ve been raised, but White people always seem to win over Blacks.
PERCY:
But what about Jackie Robinson? He’s a winner. Even over White people.
WILLIAM:
But he’s special!
PERCY:
But he’s still Black.
CAMELA:
Only a few of us ever become a Jackie Robinson. The rest of us will probably stay Black forever.
END OF ACT TWO
-----------------------------------------
ANNOUNCER:
Percy stressed the importance of supporting the causes of the people in the city of Chester as a teacher and as a member of the community. He took part in the local protests over the construction of Interstate I-95, which required the demolition of homes in predominately Black neighborhoods as early as 1959.
In order to improve the transportation system, the government had used the law of eminent domain to take private property, thus slicing a path that cut businesses off from the community they formerly served. This made it harder for neighborhoods to attract investors and resources, effectively limiting opportunities for residents in terms of education and employment, worsening the inequalities along racial lines and reducing economic mobility in the community.
Overall, it was determined that the positives derived from the construction of the highway far outweighed the negatives, but during and after construction, little effort was made to revitalize the city, thus accelerating the flight of the white population to the suburbs.
PERCY and MADELYN are seated together on a bench under a spotlight. They are both hunched over with their legs crossed and with their right elbows resting on their left knees. A sign hanging above the bench has the year on it: 1966.)
MADELYN:
Do we have to move?
PERCY:
I’m afraid we do, Madelyn. I think I’ve made a difference with the kids at school, but I believe that Kendra and Jackie are falling behind. It’s as depressing for them as it is for me.
MADELYN:
Will we lose much money on our home if we sell it?
PERCY:
Most likely, but I don’t really know. We’re north of the demolition and not too greatly affected by the noise. I think we can hold on, but I’m not sure our children can.
MADELYN:
I can go back to teaching.
PERCY:
You will have to. But the kids don’t need us much now, and we’ve put some money away some for their education. But they need to be in a better school. Morale is down. And nobody listens to our voices.
MADELYN:
I guess, since I’m not working, I should start looking. Fortunately Jackie is young enough not to have to worry about being inducted into the Vietnam conflict. He and Kendra will be off to college soon and by that time the whole war thing should be over.
PERCY:
We can’t count on that, but it’s best to be prepared for it. Their grades are good at Chester High, but the standards are lower than in other townships. We can help tutor them to catch up in a new school.
MADELYN:
I’ll start making calls and asking around tomorrow. President Johnson made a difference, especially in communities already comfortable with Black people.
PERCY:
House prices aren’t bad in the Borough of Media, and South Media. And Penncrest and Swarthmore are good high schools.
MADELYN:
Then I’ll also look around for houses. What do you think ours is worth?
PERCY:
We’ve been paying down our mortgage, so if we get $7,500 for our house, we’d have enough for a down payment, I’m sure. Just as long as we’re both working.
MADELYN:
I’ll check on teaching jobs, too, while I’m at it.
PERCY:
We’ll be abandoning ship, Madelyn.
MADELYN:
But we got to do what’s good for the kids.
PERCY:
I’m afraid for them both.
MADELYN:
Are you still taking your pills, Percy?
PERCY:
Yeh. But you know…I still have the nightmares. And I haven’t been much of a husband for you.
MADELYN:
You’re a fine man, Mr. Washington. A little bit of limp dick now and then ain’t never gonna take away that truth.
PERCY (smiles)
It’s more than my dick that needs to rise to the occasion. My soul is weary, and I’m still a relatively young man.
MADELYN:
Then we need to move and get you all firmed up, if you get what I mean.
(Percy chuckles as the spotlight fades and the Announcer’s voice comes up.)
ANNOUNCER (visually supported by photos of 517 Manchester Avenue, and the Borough of Media in the ‘60s)
By the fall of 1965, Madelyn found a job teaching at Nether Providence Junior High while she and Percy were still living in Chester. She then found a three-bedroom house on Manchester Avenue in Wallingford, so the couple’s two children transferred into Nether Providence High from Chester.
In 1966, Percy secured a job at Penncrest High School in Rose Tree, teaching in its Language Arts program. The Washingtons soon realized that the move had been the right one, and essential to their children’s education, although Percy felt like a deserter of his students and teachers at Chester High, a fact that plagued him, and later made him believe he would be punished by a God in which he only partially believed.
MADELYN (seated alone on the same bench where Percy sat. The 1965 signage is changed to 1966 ):
It’s been some years since I’ve taught, but it feels right, even though the racial balance is off, primarily White with only a few Asians and Blacks. The students appear to respect me, and Kendra and Jackie seem to be fitting in real well in school.
All in all. I’m glad we made the move, but I’m concerned about Percy. His anxieties have worsened as has his guilt for leaving Chester High. I’ve tried to tell him that it was an important move for our children, and he admits that it was. But he feels that he’s betrayed both his students and his fellow teachers.
SABINA (from the Audience)
You mean like Jackie Robinson did when he bailed out on Percy’s battalion?
MADELYN (looks up towards the Audience and finds Sabina under a spotlight):
That wasn’t the same at all…but yes, Percy feels what Jackie didn’t.
SABINA:
And you named your son after Jackie Robinson?
MADELYN:
Percy admired Jackie Robinson. He still does. And why wouldn’t he?
SABINA:
Because Jackie abandoned Percy’s battalion.
MADELYN:
Things were different back then.
SABINA:
So go on with your story, Madelyn.
(MADELYN stands up from the bench and begins to leave stage left)
SABINA:
Where are you going?
MADELYN (stops walking and turns to SABINA)
It’s no use talking to people like you. You see things only your way from this point in time. The rest of you out there in the audience… Knowing what you know today, was Jackie Robinson a hero… a show of hands?
SABINA (looks around at the AUDIENCE):
How many think that Percy was a bigger hero?
AUDIENCE displays another show of hands
PERCY (walks onto the stage from stage left and sits next to Madelyn on the bench):
What’s wrong Madelyn? Is somebody not being respectful to you?
MADELYN:
Leave it be Percy. That lady, Sabina. She just don’t know what you went through and why you believe the way you do... about things.
PERCY:
Why are they asking you about me? I can speak for myself.
Sabina (starts to applaud for PERCY):
You go Percy. Madelyn’s just standing up for you. I just wonder why you aren’t mad at Jackie.
PERCY:
My son?
SABINA:
No, the former ballplayer, Jackie Robinson.
PERCY:
Why would I be mad at him? He was a hero…in every way. As a ballplayer, a businessman and as a civil rights leader. I was proud to be in his battalion.
SABINA:
But your wife said that you feel guilty about switching jobs from Chester to the suburbs, and moving your kids out of Chester. Isn’t that a little like what Jackie Robinson did?
PERCY:
He stood up for himself and for all Blacks doing what he did.
SABINA:
Well you were standing up for your kids.
ANNOUNCER:
Can you quit nitpicking, Sabina, and can we get back to the play now? (He pauses and then continues with story)
(While the narrator speaks, Percy is shown in his diverse classroom at Penncrest. Neither he nor any of his students is shown speaking, while Percy is depicted creating a diagram on the blackboard and then moving to the desks of individual students to assist them, while others raise their hands or are busy writing.)
With the permission of the school administration, Percy was able to bring to Penncrest some of the same civil rights exercises he’d brought to his classes in Chester. The one difference was that the Penncrest students had developed a broader level of linguistic and compositional skills than had their counterparts in Chester.
Although feeling guilty about having left the city, Percy was thankful that he’d moved from the city when he did, realizing that the motivations of his students in Chester were quite different than those of students in the suburbs. He also noticed that the differences weren’t dictated by racial disparity, but by economic and social factors, lack of exposure to diversity in their lives, and lost opportunities from teachers who had given up on students, many of whom appeared to be untrainable.
(The lights are lowered to darkness and the desks, blackboard and students are removed from the stage. A bench is brought out from stage right and Percy and Madelyn enter stage right and sit down as a spotlight light fades on above them)
MADELYN:
It’s nice where we live, isn’t it, Percy?
PERCY:
Nicest place I’ve ever lived. That’s for sure.
MADELYN (smiles):
And the Whitest place.
PERCY:
That’s for sure. The neighbors are nice though, and not too White.
MADELYN:
Still White. But they try hard. I’m sure they got there their nipples in knots when they saw their new neighbors were Black.
PERCY:
Some, maybe. But they’ve seemed to adapt well. Media’s been a mixed town for a long time now, so they’re used to us at church and in restaurants. Some have been downright welcoming.
MADELYN:
Kendra’s a senior next year and it’s Jackie’s last year in middle school. We pretty much used up our savings for our move. I hope they both can get scholarships.
PERCY:
I’ve looked into it, and Kendra may, but Jackie probably can’t get one for merit, and although I still have some mental issues from the war, neither will be eligible for any except money from maybe the AMVETS scholarship program. Even if they do, the awards are low. Scholarships are available for those who are needy. But we’re now both working, so we can’t hope for assistance from the state.
MADELYN:
What about the fact that we are Black and you fought in the toughest battle in WWII?
PERCY:
I barely got an education from the GI Bill, and thank God Cheyney let me in. I was lucky to get the job in Chester, but never got full benefits. The kids won’t get anything from my service. Hopefully, we can get a loan on our house to get the children in some good college. I worry about this war. Right now Percy’s young enough to avoid any draft, but if he doesn’t get into college, we have no idea what will happen to him. He could be drafted.
MADELYN:
The war can’t last that long.
PERCY:
We don’t know that as a fact. Vietnam’s been in the news since the early ‘50s and kids not much older than Percy are dying over there now.
MADELYN:
I’d say that’s the least of our worries, Percy. At least for right now.
(The lights dim and the 1966 sign is replaced by a screen with pictures of Jackie Robinson and his son, Jackie, Jr. Overlayed on the screen are the words “BREAKING NEWS“.)
ANNOUNCER:
We must break from this drama for a special announcement. We just got word that Sergeant Jackie Robinson Jr., the son of the legendary baseball great and civil rights advocate, was wounded in action today, November 19th, 1965, while attempting to save a comrade under heavy fire. Unfortunately, the soldier did not survive his wounds, but Sergeant Robinson who was serving with Company C in the 2nd Battalion, was retrieved and returned to his base in Saigon, where shrapnel was successfully removed. More on this story as we gain more information.
(PERCY and MADELYN are stunned as they turn on the bench to watch the scenes of Jackie Robinson Sr. with his young son projected on the screen.)
PERCY (to Madelyn):
I haven’t seen or heard from Jackie since 1947. Jackie Jr. must have been just a baby at the time. I should contact him.
MADELYN:
Give it a little time, Percy. Except for being in the same battalion before going overseas, you haven’t got much in common.
PERCY:
We have our son, named Jackie, in common.
MADELYN:
I give you that. But otherwise, you had to fight the battles while he became famous.
PERCY:
Can I at least send him a note or a card.
MADELYN:
If you know his address, that would be fine…. if you feel you must.
(The screen darkens and we see a teenager seated alone on the bench where Percy and Madelyn were were previously seated. The sign behind the bench reads 1971, and Percy’s and Masdelyn’s son, Jackie, is dressed in dark trousers and a Temple University sweatshirt. His head is down and his hands are clutched together with his arms resting on his knees. He looks up.)
JACKIE WASHINGTON:
I saw today that Jackie Robinson’s son, Jackie Jr., was killed, in an auto crash. The article in the New York Times said that Jackie Jr. was driving recklessly when the accident happened.
Dad had mentioned to me a few times that he knew Mr. Robinson in the Army during the war. He also said they’d parted ways when Dad was shipped overseas and Robinson was court-martialed and began his climb to fame.
I was in junior high before I heard of Dad’s heroics. Before that, he didn’t talk too much about the war. When I looked up the history of Dad’s battalion in the school library, I was shocked to find how many men in Dad’s battalion were killed or wounded in action.
The only time Dad opened up about the war was when we were talking about baseball and Dad mentioned coming to watch Jackie’s first game against the Phillies in ‘47.
Dad was a big fan and followed Robinson’s baseball career until it ended in ’55. It was then that he told me the whole story about Jackie getting court martialed and not going with the battalion overseas. He kind of shook is head about the irony of it all, but admired Robinson greatly for the game he played, the work he did with kids, his social work and his leadership skills.
Dad rarely spoke much about himself, but back when I was 13 or so, I told him that I wanted to enlist in the Army, and he nearly exploded, telling me more than I ever wanted to know about his nightmares of the war and the friends he lost.
He never mentioned a thing about his military past after that. Both my parents did everything they could to keep me in school and into college.
I was never much of a student, and I’m still not, but here I am with only a year to go in the Temple program. Dad pushed me into it and although Temple’s a state school and the tuition was reasonable, my parents kicked in what they could for me. I signed up for the co-op work program and was able to pay the rest of my way through until graduation.
I could still be drafted when I finish the program, but it’s unlikely. Dad says the war will be over before I graduate.
SABINA (speaks up from the audience):
What happened to your sister, Kendra? Did she also go to college?
Jackie shields his eyes from the spotlight to find Sabina in the audience and answers...
JACKIE:
Yes. She’s finishing up at Penn State in their psych program and aiming to get a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education.
SABINA:
Good for her. Sorry for interrupting.
JACKIE:
That’s okay. I’m through for now.
(The light dims on Jackie, and a spotlight at stage left brightens, revealing Percy at a desk writing a letter. He takes his time, stopping occasionally to weigh his words before beginning again. Percy’s’voice can be heard from the moment he starts the letter.)
Dear Lieutenant Robinson,
I am so sorry to hear about the death of your son, Jackie Jr. I can only imagine the pain you feel.
You may or may not remember me from the days at Fort Hood or our brief encounter at Shibe Park when the Dodgers beat the Phillies and you scored the only run.
I’ve been a big fan of yours over the years and have admired the work you’ve done working with children and fighting for the equal rights of Black people.
You were like a god, even then back in ’44 at Fort Hood, and you seemed to have your head on straight. You weren’t smug like the other lieutenants. And we got along well.
And then you did us proud when you stood up against that military bus driver and were court-martialed.
Soon after, we learned that you were gone from the battalion, and we only found out later you weren’t going overseas with the rest of us.
So many of us died over there, and second lieutenants like you were among the highest casualties. You would have fought bravely on the front lines and because you were an officer you would have had a target on your back and the most likely to have been gunned down by a sniper.
We had no idea until the day we left for Europe that complications of your court martial would keep you in the states to miss the battles we fought and that you escaped by the skin of your teeth.
Your son wasn’t quite as lucky. I read he was in the infantry in ‘Nam, and was injured trying to save a fellow soldier. There’s little consolation I can offer, except that you can be proud of him.
I don’t know that we’ll ever meet again, but am pleased to have known you and wish you well in the years ahead.
Sergeant Percy Washington
(Before the lights dim on PERCY completing his letter, Sabina stands up from her seat in the audience and speaks out with a spotlight on her):
Wait a minute Percy!
(The spotlight on Percy returns to full brightness and he shields his eyes from the light and looks up to find SABINA):
What’s the point of that letter?
PERCY:
I named my own son after Jackie. He was our hero.
SABINA:
But it sounds like you’re blaming him for being court-martialed and not fighting in the war.
PERCY:
Nah. I was just writing my friend a letter of sympathy.
SABINA:
But earlier in the play, when you went to that Dodgers/Phillies game, Jackie said he felt guilty for not remaining in the battalion that was shipped over. Did any of the soldiers feel like Jackie bailed out on them?
PERCY:
Some had some words about him.
SABINA:
And you?
PERCY:
Despite any negatives, I’m glad I served, but I never wanted my son, Jackie, to have gone to Vietnam.
SABINA:
But he wanted to go, didn’t he?
PERCY:
Hey, look, lady. My reasons for signing up were my reasons. But war is horrible and Vietnam was even worse. My Jackie had no idea of what it was like to see friends blown apart and die one after another. And I would have done, and still would do, whatever it took to keep him away from the war.
(PERCY then gets up and walks off stage left, and the lights dim. The lights remain off as Samuel Barber’s “Adagio of Strings” is played by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The lights come up and an image of the alter of Riverside Church in New York appears. In the first row of the audience sits Jackie’s wife, Rachel, and two of his three children, and behind them sit PERCY, MADELYN, JACKIE and KENDRA WASHINGTON, along with ten of Robinson’s friends and team mates. A coffin is positioned center stage as the Reverend Doctor Ernest T. Campbell walks to the pulpit at stage right.
ERNEST T. CAMPBELL:
Jackie Robinson, like the mythical great Greek gods, had his Achilles’ heel and through no fault of his own had to bear the burden of all Black men. When he ran bases, he had to run for us who are also Black, as well as for all humanity. When he hit the ball, it was for all the poor; he caught for all the dispossessed. He played the game for all the downtrodden; he went to bat for all the neglected; his home runs were for all mankind; and his victories were for all of humanity.
Those who knew and loved Jackie, as well as all those who were his fans, can be enriched by the legacy he left: a heritage to all, old, young, rich, poor, black, brown, yellow, white; Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Jew – for he was a man of the world – a gift to the people – a hope to the ‘least of these,’ a blessing to the human race.
The world is far better for his presence, and our lives greatly enriched as he is deeply embedded in our hearts and indelibly etched in our minds.
We are fortunate to have with us today, fellow athletes Bill Russell, Larry Doby, Monty Irvin, Jimmy Gilliam, Don Newcombe, Ralph Branca and Pee Wee Reese, who are serving as pall bearers, as well as civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and fellow battalion soldier, Percy Washington, with whom he served during World War II.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was a hero among men. But on October 24th, Jackie passed from this life at his home in Stanford, Connecticut. He died from cardiac arrest at the age of 53. He was too young to die, but is destined to be long remembered.
(The lights fade on the stage and on the row of audience containing JACKIE’s friends and family, except for PERCY WASHINGTON and his family.)
SABINA stands up from her seat and points to PERCY:
How’d you get to be one of the special guests at this occasion? You hardly knew Jackie.
PERCY:
I may have known him better than you think, Miss. I got a letter back from Jackie, after he received mine, some years back…and, as he did in ‘47, he apologized to me and the men I served with for not being part of the battle. He told me he always wondered about his protest on the bus, and questioned his own intent.
Jackie admitted he wasn’t exactly sure what was mostly on his mind when he challenged the bus driver, and admitted he was scared to enter the war, and it wasn’t long after the incident that the battalion was shipped to Europe while he was still awaiting the verdict of his court-martial.
He was affected by my use of the biblical passage attributed to Job after serving his trials, at how he ‘had escaped by the skin of his teeth.’ Throughout the years Jackie said he had questioned his intent, but not his actions, and his exoneration, transfer from the battalion and his path to fame for civic duty allowed him to justify his claim with every protest.
SABINA:
And then you wrote him that letter last year?
PERCY:
Yep. And I told him about my son named after him, and his son, also named Jackie. I knew that his boy Jackie Jr. spent three years in Vietnam, where he was wounded, struggled with drugs to cope with the pain, and then last October was killed in a car crash while returning to his parents’ home in Connecticut.
SABINA:
Let me get this straight. This all really happened. It’s not a made up story.
PERCY:
All of it’s true, except for me and my family. We are a creation of the playwright. The rest is as honest and as real as Jackie was in life.
SABINA:
May I speak with the playwright?
ANNOUNCER:
We already told you that the playwright’s not here tonight and we have to wrap this up.
(The lights fade on PERCY and Sabina, and the stage has been cleared. The slide screen has the projected image of Jackie with his birth and death dates.
Photos appear on the screen of Jackie getting an award, Jackie in business, and finally Rachel surrounded by students who have received scholarships through the foundation she created in memory of her late husband.)
Jackie Robinson retired from baseball in 1957, and served as a Vice President for Personnel at Chock Full o’Nuts coffee until 1964. He then founded a construction company and established Freedom National Bank, a Black-owned financial institution based in Harlem.
Ronald Regan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984. President Bill Clinton led a ceremony with major league baseball to perpetually retire his number “42.” The Congressional Gold Medal iwas presented in 2005 by George W. Bush. The Jackie Robinson Foundation was established in 1972 by his wife Rachel, to perpetuate the memory of her late husband. The organization administers one of the nation’s premier scholarship and leadership development programs for talented college students As of 2025, Rachel at 103 years old remains actively on the Board of the organization.
ANNOUNCER:
The End
SABINA stands up:
Wait a minute, that’s a lousy ending. What happened to Percy and his wife and kids?
ANNOUNCER:
But that’s all make believe. The play is about intent and irony. Don’t you get that?
SABINA looks left and right towards members of the audience for assistance:
Is there anyone else here who wants closure? If so, raise your hand. (Hands raised are shown by those in the AUDIENCE.
(The ANNOUNCER then gets a call on his cell phone, during which the AUDIENCE hears a muffled conversation and then a pause, after which PERCY comes back out onto the stage.)
PERCY:
The playwright hoped to not have to explain more about the interactions between the characters than has been given, since the story is a real story even though my character was created to represent the dilemma of many Black soldiers of the day, and Jackie shown as the conquering hero who advanced the cause of civil rights for the Black population.
Although the playwright believes that he has made his point and has shown the irony of my son, Jackie, being protected from the draft as opposed to Robinson’s son being wounded in Vietnam, struggling with drug addiction and being tragically killed in a car crash,the playwright sent over an epilogue he’d written that may better satisfy the audience’s need for closure regarding me and my fictional family.
PERCY (puts on a pair of glasses and gets out his phone and begins reading from it):
In September, 1973, my son Jackie received his Associates Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the Temple Technical Institute, and a month later he was hired as a draftsman by the Special Devices division of Litton Industries, which at that time was located in Drexel Hill, not far from our home.
After working with Litton for two year, the company agreed to pay his tuition for the night school program at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering. Jackie advanced through Litton and was transferred to Litton Space Systems where he became involved in advanced space suit design.
My daughter, Kendra also continued her education and became the principal of Haverford High School, a position she held until she retired five years ago.
Madelyn and I continued to teach until the late-1980s. Over time, with antidepressants and a good shrink, I was able to deal with the demons of war. I passed away in 2012 at the age of 84 and was given a military funeral. Since I was never wounded and none of my military accomplishments were ever recorded, I received no medals or awards, but was fortunate to die before both my children and my wife. Madelyn outlived me by five years.
(PERCY at that point takes off his glasses and bows and the spotlight fades behind him, with the words “The End” appearing on the screen.)
THE END
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