Jackie Robinson Essays

     On July 23, 1962, in the charming village of Cooperstown, New York, four new members were inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. As they gathered around the wooden platform, the fans reminisced about America’s national pastime. Edd Roush and Bill McKechnie, sixty-eight and seventy-four years old respectively, were two of the inductees that day (Robinson 142). They were old-timers chosen by the veterans’ committee. Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson, both forty-two, were youngsters by comparison. According to the rules of the Hall of Fame, a player must be retired for five years before he can be considered for induction. Both Feller and Robinson were elected in the first year they were

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born January 31, 1919. He was born in Cairo, Georgia and was the youngest of five children. He had a grandfather that was a slave, Jackie’s dad was a sharecropper and Mallie, Jackie’s mother, was a maid. His dad ran away from the family when Jackie was only an infant.

In 1947 if you were any race other than white could not play in major league baseball. “Jackie Robinson, took the first steps toward integrating the sport's major league teams when he signed a contract to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947” (Smith para 1). Jackie Robinson was the first African-American player in the major league baseball. If Jackie Robinson didn’t sign to the Dodgers then who knows how segregated baseball or the world in general would be. The Brooklyn Dodgers were the first to sign an African-American on there team. The Brooklyn Dodger coach ask for Jackie Robinson to come out and talk to him.

The legacy of Jackie Robinson goes beyond the April 15, 1947 afternoon at Ebbets Field, when the Brooklyn Dodger infielder became the first black in the 20th century to play baseball in the major leagues. He changed the sport, and he changed the attitude of a lot of people in this country, Jackie Robinson fought for all the people that were fortunate, a lot of them are, especially the minority guys, to be able to play in the major leagues and the impact on the people of color today.

The story of Jackie Robinson has become one of America's most iconic and inspiring stories. Since 1947, American history has portrayed Jackie Robinson as a hero, and he has been idolized as a role model to the African American baseball community. It is an unarguable fact that he was the first to tear down the color barriers within professional baseball. The topic of Robinson’s role in integration has long been a point of discussion amongst baseball historians. Researchers have accumulated thousands of accredited documents and interviews with friends and team mates such as short stop, Pee Wee Reese, and team owner, Branch Rickey. However, few journalists have asked why Robinson was selected and what was Branch

Jackie Robinson began to make history since 1947 when he first broke baseball’s color barrier to be on the team of the Dodgers. Robinson was extremely talented and won the National League Rookie of the Year award his first season of playing in MLB, and accompanied the Dodgers to the National League championship, which was only the first of his six trips to the World Series. After a successful season with the minor league Montreal Royals in 1946, The ending of segregation in baseball was official when he was given a Dodgers uniform with the famous number 42, in 1947 of April. Just two years later Robinson won the league MVP award and was awarded into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Although Robinson gave off an extreme amount of confidence and strength, Robinson faced tons of insults and threats because of the color of his skin. Robinson, being so courageous for still doing what he loved although constantly getting

In the biography Jackie Robinson and the American Dilemma by John R. M. Wilson, it tells the story of racial injustice done after world war II and explains how Jackie Robinson was pioneer of better race relations in the United States. The obstacles Jackie Robinson overcame were amazing, he had the responsibility to convert the institutions, customs, and attitudes that had defined race relations in the United States. Seldom has history ever placed so much of a strain on one person. I am addressing the importance of Jackie Robinson’s trials and triumphs to American racial dynamics in the post war period to show how Robinson was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement and brought baseball fans together regardless of race.

Jackie Robinson's entry into the Major Leagues was far from a walk in the park. He climbed over countless obstacles just to play with white men, some of which, he was better then. He not only had to compete with the returning players from the war, but he also contended with racism. "Many towns in the South did not want racially mixed teams"(Weidhorn 53). As time went on, cities realized that Robinson offered them free publicity.

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

Since the abolition of slavery in the USA in 1883 and through the first half of the 20th Century, African Americans had been in a constant struggle to try and gain an equal footing in society. Like many aspects of American life, black sportsmen were segregated, and no African American had played professional baseball since 1884. For this reason, the integration of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first African American to play Major League baseball in the modern era had a grand impact on the entire country. From the moment that Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey decided that Robinson would break the colour lone, the history of sport and the history of African Americans would not be the same again. The importance of his integration and the effect it had on civil rights can be looked at in many different ways. It had great effect on the African American community, instilling pride and belief once again in the American Dream for many who had once thought it impossible. It also had significant importance for civil rights groups, and brought about a figure who would fight his peoples quest for equal rights until the day he died. It was a significant risk taken by both Rickey and Robinson, professionally and personally. But it was a risk that both in the short term for African American sport, and in the long run for African American civil rights, was ultimately well worth taking.

The Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947, breaking the color line. The Dodgers, by playing Robinson, announced the end of racial segregation that had relegated black players, to the Negro leagues in the 1880s. At the beginning of Robinson’s career, his will was tested. The racial slurs and chants got to Robinson, but nothing stopped him from playing the game he loved. Robinson’s family received threats and he was asked not to fight back when confronted with racism. During one infamous game, the Philadelphia Phillies shouted derogatory terms at Robinson from their dugout. Many players on opposing teams threatened not to play against the Dodgers, even some of Robinson’s teammates threatened to sit out, but Dodgers manager, Leo Durocher, informed them that he would sooner trade them than Robinson. His loyalty to the player set the tone for the rest of Robinson's career with the team.

We need to learn to stop stereotypes. The first article Sports Stars: Jackie Robinson about Jack Robinson,Robinson deals with racism and black stereotypes by disproving the discredited. Jackie Robinson and his team won the world series and was put into the baseball hall of fame. To begin, As it says in the article Sports Stars: Jackie Robinson Jack when he was in the military was court martialed for not giving up his seat on the bus and not moving to the segregated section. I think this type of behavior just shows how Jack was a fighter for equal rights.

Whites went as far as not allowing Jews to play ball either. Many of the minorities made their own minor league, so that they could still play ball with other men who were at the professional level. Jackie Robinson played in a minor league before he played in the majors, where he will endure many obstacles due to the color of his skin. There will be many times where a Southern team would not play against the Dodgers if Robinson was going to play (Zeiler pg. 22)). He experience many offensive words yelled at him and violent acts towards him when he appear on the diamond to play. There was hostile people in the audience, but also on his own team in the beginning (Zeiler pg. 25). They had some southern players which the team ended up letting go because they refused to work with Jackie Robinson. What Robinson did not know was how he was fighting for all minorities to enter the baseball diamond professionally in the majors. When Robinson is trying to integrate the baseball field there are activist who are organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott for the freedom to sit where they want on the bus. The Montgomery Bus Boycott will be the turning point where many activist will turn to nonviolent action (Give ch. 24, pg 1022). They will try to make all of the transportation

Back in 1947 racism was apparent through our country’s various laws oppressing different minority groups. Jackie Robinson witnessed this oppression during his amazing battle with segregation while being the first African American to play professional baseball. He was called derogatory names, fans threw things at him, and he had to deal with a world against him. He battled the oppression that he faced and managed to become one of baseballs greatest players and most storied heroes. He is seen as an icon of the civil rights era, and in the sporting world he is a symbol of triumph and tolerance. He was one of the first successful minorities in sports. With Jackie Robinson, people saw the beginning of the end of

The Jackie Robinson text also states, “... first Major League baseball player to break the color barrier since 1880” (McBirney 9). This is an example of what you can do when you ignore the hate. Another example is, “The racism from other teams only united the Dodgers, however, and the team grew more accepting of him” (McBirney 11). The team most likely grew accepting of him because of the amazing things he’s done. He could be looked at as a role model for anybody playing sports. Not only did he play well, but he didn’t care what other teams said when they had to play his team. Not many teams actually wanted to go against him, and even his own team didn’t want to play at the same time as him. Despite this, Robinson tried harder and played