My son’s hero is Jackie Robinson. He wears number 42, plays second base, and has a shelf of hats and shirts honoring him. He loves him, and for good reason: Robinson met unimaginable hate with dignity and grace.

Robinson is revered, and rightly so. Less known is what the people around him did — and that’s where the lesson for the rest of us lives, because most of us will be a teammate, not the barrier-breaker.

Lately I’ve been drawn to one of those teammates: Pee Wee Reese, the Dodgers’ shortstop. In 1947, when players circulated a petition against signing Robinson, Reese — a White man from segregated Louisville — refused to sign it. The petition died. Robinson joined the team.

That was the first of many quiet moves. Reese was the first to shake Robinson’s hand in the clubhouse. He pulled him into card games on road trips. During an off day that season, he invited Robinson and Black sportswriter Wendell Smith into his golf foursome mid-round. No cameras, no speeches — just a steady refusal to let Robinson stand alone.

That’s the allyship worth studying. Three things it teaches me:

Allyship spends the credibility you already have. Reese was the team’s leader and a Southerner himself — the petition refusal landed precisely because it came from someone the resistance expected on their side. Your standing is the asset. Use it where you have it.

Real allyship costs something. Reese went home to a segregated Louisville and had to answer to friends and neighbors. If your support risks nothing, it may not be doing much.

Don’t center yourself. Reese resisted the hero framing his whole life: “I was just trying to make the world a little better.” He once told Robinson he hadn’t gone out of his way to be nice — and Robinson said that was exactly what he valued. The goal is normal dignity, not applause for the ally.

And it builds: teammates figured if Reese accepted Robinson, they could too. Allyship in the open lowers the cost for the next person to follow.

That was 1947. The question is the same today: What credibility do you have that you could lend to someone else? What ordinary moment could you invite someone into?