Since 1839, baseball was a white man’s game. That would all change when Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942. This would be a major victory for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Before Robinson entered the league, African Americans played in the National Negro League and Whites played in the MLB(Major League Baseball). At this time in history blacks were still fighting for equality every single day. They were segregated by going to different schools than whites, drinking from different water fountains than whites, sitting in the back of the bus, etc. Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player in a white league and one of the greatest athletes of all time. He was able to achieve this despite …show more content…
Jackie eventually stayed out of trouble when Karl Downs and Carl Anderson came into his life. Throughout his teen years, Jackie looked up to Carl Anderson, a car mechanic and a local black scout leader (Schutz,pg.8). He also looked up to pastor Karl Downs (Schutz,pg.8). When Jackie was in high school he was the star of the football, baseball, basketball, and track team but he got no scholarship offers because of his skin color except for the local Pasadena Junior College (Schutz,pg.9). In basketball he was the conference’s player of the year and in baseball he led the team to a conference championship (Schutz,pg.9). In 1938, Robinson set the national junior college Amateur Athletic Union Broad Jump record. The former record holder was his brother Mack Robinson (Schutz,pg.9). In 1936, Mack competed in the Olympics when Jesse Owens won four gold medals, Mack won a silver medal (Schutz,pg.9). After his two years at Pasadena Junior College, Jackie attended the University of California in Los Angeles(Schutz,pg.9). At UCLA, Robinson was phenomenal; he led the conference in scoring in basketball, he won the national broad jump title in track but in baseball he had a rough batting average of .097(Schutz,pg.12). At UCLA, he met his wife Rachel Isum. Rachel and Jackie got married February 10, 1946. In March 1941, Robinson moved on from college sports and was offered to play football for the Honolulu Bears in Hawaii(pg.12). He would get paid 100 dollars per football game
In 1919, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. His family being sharecroppers, Jackie's mother, Mallie, raised Jackie and his four other siblings.(JackieRobinson.com) Being the only black family on the block, his family faced discrimination and racism from neighbors all around. From a humble beginning, Jackie was an outstanding athlete.(larrylester42.com) Jackie was promoted from Washington Junior High. Later, he entered John Muir High School after his junior high career. Recognizing his athletic ability, Robinson's older brothers inspired Jackie to pursue sports.(Jackierobinson.com)
Jackie fought racism in his California childhood, at collage and throughout his whole life. During his childhood at California he was always picked on at school. Kids taunted him so much and so badly that he developed a hot temper.
Jackie Robinson showed perseverance, courage, and determination wherever he went. Even when he was in the army, he moved ranks up quickly. This shows he was determined. When he was trying to achieve his goal of breaking the color barrier, he never gave up. Eventually, he integrated the major league baseball teams. When he first joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, he didn’t care about the prejudice. He just ignored it and carried on. In fact, he even stood up to it. In the text “ Free Minds and Hearts at Work” it states,” Whatever obstacles I found made me fight all the harder. But it would have been impossible for me to fight at
Baseball has always been more than just a sport to the American people. For many, it is a way of life, teaching not just brute skills but life lessons and morals. In the wake of World War I, racism and bigotry abounded in the United States. Even though the integration of schools had recently been instated, Jim Crow laws severely limited the activity of African Americans in society, resulting in baseball teams being limited to whites. Jackie Robinson made an important step in gaining rights for African Americans when he broke the color barrier of baseball in 1947. He did this by making civil rights his ambition even before the protests began (Coombs 117). Jackie Robinson’s fame as a baseball player and determination to defeat adversity
When Jackie Robinson was a kid, he lived a hard life with a family of seven. It was his older brother Matthew that inspired Jackie to play baseball.
“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
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, January 31 1919. He went to college at the University of UCLA. Where he was a star in four sports basketball, baseball, football, and track. He is the only bruin to letter in four sports. After college he went to pursue a career in the Army. He
“Jackie Robinson was born on the thirty first day of January in 1919”. (biography.com) He was born to a family of sharecroppers in the town of Cairo Georgia, but Jackie grew up in Pasadena California. (Jackie Robinson official website) Jackie grew up being raised by only his mother and his older siblings helped out as well. He had four siblings, three older brothers and one sister. (Britannica encyclopedia) Jackie was the youngest of five kids and they all helped out each other in school, sports, and chores. The Robinson family was the only African American family on their block, but the bias acts of the white people surrounding them didn’t hurt them, but prepared them for their future. (Jackie Robinson official website) Jackie’s older brother Matthew gave him his inspiration to take on sports just as he did. He has always had a huge love for sports in his childhood years. (Jackie Robinson book pg: 4)
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid
Robinson was born on January 31,1919 in Cairo, Georgia. As a child Robinson was raised by his mother, Mallie Robinson. He grew up in a single parent household with his four other brothers and sisters. Robinson faced prejudice people everyday, being the only African American on the block. These prejudice people only strengthened and prepared him for later (Jackie Robinson). Robinson attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College for his education. At Pasadena Junior College he was an excellent athlete who played football, basketball, baseball, and track (Jackie Robinson). He continued his education at the University of California in Los Angeles. Here he became the first student at the University to letter in four sports (Jackie Robinson). Robinson was forced to leave this school due to financial issues (Robinson, Jackie). After Robinson left this school he moved to Hawaii, where he played
Jackie was a phenomenal athlete for young kids to look up to. After the start of World War II he served in the military from 1942 to 1944. After the war he returned to his love for baseball, playing in the Black major leagues. He was chosen by Branch Rickey, vice president of the Brooklyn dodgers, to help integrate the Major Leagues. Rickey hated segregation just as much as Robinson and wanted to change things “Rickey had once seen a Black college player turned away from a hotel… Rickey never forgot seeing this player crying because he was denied a place to lay his weary head just because of the color of his skin” (Mackenzie). He was finally able to do something about segregation and help change baseball and the United States for the better. It wasn’t that all the teams were racist and didn’t want a black player but when the major league teams had an away game they would rent out the stadium to the black teams for them to play at. And the executives of teams didn’t want to loose the money that they were making off of the black teams. “League owners would lose significant rental revenue” (“Breaking”). He soon signed with the all-white Montreal Royals a farm team for the Dodgers. Robinson had an outstanding start with the Royals, “leading the International League with a .349 batting average and .985 fielding percentage” (Robinson). After Robinson’s outstanding year he was promoted to the Dodgers he played his first game on
According to my book Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born and grew in the small town of Stamford, Connecticut. Jackie was one of the five children in his family. Later in life, Jackie attended UCLA; he was great at baseball football and track and field. After college, in 1942 Jackie Robinson entered the army. He was later promoted to lieutenant and later he received an honorable discharge from the army. (www.brittanica.com)
The man who broke the color barrier, Jackie Robinson. Robinson was the first African-American to play in the MLB. Robinson overcame many obstacles in his career the main ones being racism and segregation. Robinson had a 10 year career with the Dodgers. Robinson became a civil rights activist being involved in the NAACP after his retirement from baseball. Jackie has received numerous awards not only for his physical abilities but for his impact he made on the world.
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on others”(Robinson). This is the standpoint Jackie Robinson had on life being a black person during his time period. He was a strong and courageous man despite the hardships that were set in his lifetime. He was faced with poverty, low income, and racial threats, but was granted with the gift of being a great athlete. Jackie Robinson being the first black MLB player had a great affect on American history because he helped boost morale, pushed toward civil rights, and integrated blacks into white sports.
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31st 1919. In 1947, at the age of 28, Jackie became the first African American to break the “color line” of Major League Baseball when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. During his tenure with the Dodgers, Jackie was not simply an average player. Among various other accolades, Mr. Robinson was a starter on six World Series teams as well as being named the National League Rookie of The Year in 1947. His advantageous career was then capped in 1962 when he was inducted in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.1 Contrary to popular belief, Jackie's perseverance in implementing racial integration extended beyond his career in Major League Baseball. During the Sixties Jackie Robinson was a