How Jackie Robinson changed baseball
Jackie Robinson story is single handedly one of the most inspirational stories about battling segregation laws, and racism. He not only was one of the best baseball players of his time, but he had to play baseball while being the most hated man in the league because of his skin color. Jackie was the first black man to play baseball in a white league for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1946 (source 1), he took a very big leap of faith getting himself into that league, well knowing he was going to be treated like a human garbage. He took so much abuse from the league trying to change the views on colored people in the eyes of white people. This seemed like a difficult to impossible task in the 1940’s, but
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Not only did he participate in baseball but he also played football, basketball, and track all the the college level. He played for Pasadena Junior College in Colorado. He was named the region 's Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1938 for his college. At this point There was nothing in the world that could bring Jackie 's self esteem down, or so he thought. People from around town made several comments implying that jackie was not a good athlete because of his skin. He was told that he would never be able to compete with a white person. This struck a hateful flame in jackie 's heart. He knew he was better than most white athletes, and he felt disrespected because of how much work he had put in to be the athlete he was. After he finished his schooling in Colorado Jackie continued his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, playing football. This is where he became the university 's first student to win varsity letters in four sports. In 1941, despite his athletic success, Robinson was forced to leave UCLA just shy of graduation due to financial hardship. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears. His season with the Bears was cut short when the United States entered into World War II.
Jackies time as a war veteran From 1942 to 1944, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He attended boot camp at Fort Hood in Texas,
Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College after high school. That is where he continued his athletic career. He played on the football team, baseball team, and he broke school broad-jumping records. Most of Jackie's teammates were white. In 1938,
Not long after the family moved to Pasadena, California Robinson’s mother enrolled him into Pasadena Junior College. At Pasadena Junior College Robinson set a National Junior College record in the long jump of 25’ 6 ½” (Ringer 22). After only one year at Pasadena Junior College Robinson received an athletic scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (23). There, Robinson became the first Bruin athlete to earn varsity letters in four sports (25). Robinson was a standout in football, baseball, basketball and track (26). After three years of college Robinson left college to work to support his mother (29). He was one of four African American players on the 1939 UCLA Bruins football team. This was not normal to have so many African Americans when only a few dozen at all played on college football teams. Later, Robinson went on to play semi-pro football in Honolulu. Several months later, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and he enlisted in the U.S. Army (31). In the Army Robinson completed Officer Candidate School and became a Second Lieutenant (34). In 1944 Robinson faced a court-martial for refusing to move to the rear of an Army bus (42).
“Near six o’clock on the evening of January 31, 1919, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born somewhere near the town of Cairo in Grandy County in southern Georgia” (Rampersad 10). Jackie’s parents, Jerry and Mallie Robinson, first lived together on a small plantation just south of Cairo. Mallie Robinson raised her five children single handedly, and they later moved to Pasadena, California, which was not the most racially friendly environment due to the Robinsons being the only black family on the block. Not having a father in the home, he looked up to his older brothers and saw them as his future, they are the ones who introduced him into the sports
After UCLA, Jackie was an athletic direct for a few months for the National Youth Administration in Atascadero, California. Robinson’s dream of playing professional sports pushed him to go to Hawaii in 1941 to join a semipro, racially integrated football team. They were called the Honolulu Bears. He worked as a construction worker for the during the week. On the weekends, he was a member of the team. He returned after the short football season to the United States, right after
He attended high school at john muir high and went to Pasadena junior college. Robinson was an outstanding athlete, while he was in high school and college he played 4 sports, baseball, football, basketball, and track. Robinson continued his education at the university of California, Los Angeles where he won varsity letters in four sports. Robinson
Growing up as an African American during a time of discrimination and segregation in the United States took a lot of bravery. Blacks who grew up during this era were constantly pushed around, patiently awaiting the day they could use the same bathroom as a White man. One of the first men to help break this barrier is Jackie Robinson. Unlike the great MLK, Robinson was able to fight for change with something other than his words; he broke down segregation in America with a bat and a glove.
Robinson later went to the University of California after graduating PJC. He was the school 's first athlete to win Varsity Letters in 4 sports, Baseball, Football, Basketball and Track. He also played as one of the four Negro players in the 1939 Bruins Football team, But as it was a time when there were few black players, This made it one of the league 's most integrated team.To add on to that, Robinson also was part of the track team and he ended up winning the NCAA
Robinson was took a huge risk taking part in this, but it was worth it. He helped the Dodgers win the World Series and after the game a huge mob chased Jackie for three blocks and Sam Maltin a reporter from the Pittsburg Courier stated “It was probably the only day in history that a black man ran from a white mob with love instead of hate on its mind” (Swaine, 2006). It took years until the Major Leagues opened up to more African Americans, but when it did they had a lot of love for Jackie. Joe Black a former teammate expressed his gratitude by saying “When I look at my house. I say thank God for Jackie Robinson” (Singer, 2016).
Jackie Robinson brought baseball fans of all races together and it improved race relations because even though their was still hatred, white people were getting eased into racial integration since Jackie Robinson was laying the foundations of civil rights. Robinson was loved by many and hated by plenty, every game he played he packed the stands whether it be fans who are cheering for him or booing him. According to the biography by Wilson “Many fans came out to cheer Robinson, and a lot came out to boo him but both groups bought tickets” (75). He performed so well on the baseball field that the fans would lose sight of his color, and the stands were predominantly white so he was doing so well with a very unsupportive fan base. In the biography
At first, Jackie Roosevelt played in the Negro Leagues, a league for the races who weren’t welcome to play in the Major League of Baseball, which consisted mainly of African Americans and Hispanics. He first played with the Kansas City Monarchs in early 1945 after signing to a contract for $400 a month. He also started looking to play in potential major league teams. According to Biography (n.d.), it was on the 28th of August that Jackie Robinson
In 1935, Robinson went to John Muir High School and did tremendously well in the field of sports. At Muir High School, Jackie player shortstop and catcher on the baseball team, guard on the basketball team, quarterback on the football team and won numerous awards in the broad jump. Looking at his excellence in sports, his older brothers Mack and Frank pursued their interests in sports. After Muir Tech, Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College where he continued his athletic career playing in the sports he participated in high school. After graduating from PJC, Robinson transferred to UCLA, where he became the school’s first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track respectively. However, Robinson’s career and contribution was not only made to sports but the military as well.
Jackie had an amazing legacy in the athletic world, mainly speaking in the realm of baseball. When he grew up to be a young adult he lettered in four different sports in the college of UCLA. Stated by author Evan Andrews,” In addition to baseball, he also shined in basketball as a guard and forward; in football
He was the youngest of five children and raised in poverty by his single mother. Jackie attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College. Robinson was quickly recognized by his outstanding athletic ability in all sports that he participated in. Football, track, basketball, and baseball were all sports that Jackie excelled in. Due to his extraordinary athletic ability, Jackie was quickly transferred to UCLA. He became the first athlete to letter in four different sports at one university. Robinson was kept busy with athletics almost his entire educational career. He believed in being a part of athletics and treated it as a lifestyle. As Robinson said, ¨Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life¨ (Jackie Robinson... 1). Unfortunately, Robinson was forced to leave UCLA due to financial hardships. Even though he was forced to leave UCLA, Jackie Robinson was still the outstanding athlete he had always been. Following his experiences at UCLA, Robinson signed a contract with the Honolulu Bears to play semi-pro football. He received one hundred dollars per game he played during his semi-pro days. However, athletics are cut short again for Robinson due to the start of World War II in the United States. From 1942 to 1944 Jackie Robinson became a second lieutenant in the United States Army. During his boot camp training at Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson was arrested for refusing to give up his seat to a white man on a segregated bus (...Biography 1). These actions of refusal showed courage and gave Robinson more of a reputation in the world of racial
How African American’s started playing baseball. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play major league baseball (Dodd, 2007).
Robinson had was persistence. Whether he’s playing in a game or practicing, Jackie never gave up on his dreams, even when he wasn’t being supported by his team-mates and friends. He had many obstacles in his way by breaking the ‘colour barrier’ in 1947. He persevered through them and never stopped while he was being mistreated. For Jackie, it was really hard to support his family financially in the early years. He wasn’t paid very well as black baseball player. Jackie Roosevelt Robinson helped the Brooklyn Dodgers (Major League baseball team in Brooklyn), and in return he was treated poorly. Fans of the Dodgers and opponents were yelling racist comments and spitting on him. Usually teammates were supportive of a player on the team, but not Jackie’s. They even signed a petition protesting against playing on the same field as Jackie because of his skin colour. Even though he was poorly treated, he kept playing despite what others thought about