Jackie Robinson made one of the most daring moves by playing Major
League baseball. The amount of pain and suffering this man went through was so harsh
that I don't know how he was able to play. Carl Erskine said,"Maybe I see Jackie
differently. You say he broke the color line. But I say he didn't break anything. Jackie
was a healer. He came to rectify a wrong, to heal a sore in America"(Dorinson back
cover).
Jackie was born January thirty-first 1919. Shortly after he was born, his father
deserted his family. Almost a year after that, Jackie's uncle came to visit and convinced
his family to move to California with him. The whole family moved out there…show more content…
Jackie applied for Office Candidate School. He was stationed at Fort Riley in
Oklahoma. Blacks were not accepted for OCS. Jackie did not like this and confronted the
action. This was his first attempt at racial discrimination. He sent complaints to the
Secretary of Defense. Within a few days, Jackie and several blacks were in OCS(Duckett 23-24)
After the Army, Jackie joined the Kansas City Monarchs. This is a team in the
Negro Leagues. He was paid three hundred dollars a month. Blacks who wanted to play
baseball could sign up on black teams only. These teams were poorly financed, and their
management and promotion left much to be desired. Travel schedules were unbelievably
hectic(Duckett 36).
Branch Rickey was the baseball coach at Ohio Wesleyan. He was on his way to a
game in South Bend, Indiana when his team needed to stop at a hotel to get some sleep.
He had one black player on the team that couldn't stay in the hotel. The manager of the
hotel wouldn't let him. Rickey convinced the manager to let him sleep there(Duckett 38).
Branch does not care about skin color. He only cares about the talent of a player. He was
later owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. He was very interested in Jackie. He
wasn't sure about taking Jackie because of his temper. Rickey talked to Jackie and
