Stepping Over the Line: History of Jackie Robinson

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)

     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.

“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)

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 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

Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children born to Mallie McGriff and Jerry Robinson. His middle name, Edgar, was in honor of former President Theodore Roosevelt who died 25 days before Robinson was born. After Jackie’s father left the family in 1920, they moved to Pasadena, California. Robinson 's mother worked various jobs to support the family. Jackie grew up in poverty in an affluent community. Jackie and his friends were excluded from many recreational opportunities. As a result, Robinson joined a neighborhood gang. His friend Carl Anderson persuaded him to abandon the gang. In high school Jackie attended John Muir high school being an outstanding athlete. He was a multi-sport athlete playing football, baseball, track, tennis, and baseball. Jackie won numerous athletic awards in high school. Jackie Robinson attended

    Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest out of five siblings, Mack Robinson, Willa Mae Robinson, Edgar Robinson, and Frank Robinson. Jackie Robinson attended John Muir High School, Pasadena Junior College, and UCLA. At UCLA, Jackie Robinson won varsity letters in four different sports baseball, football, track and field, and basketball. One major influence that Jackie Robinson had in his life was Branch Rickey, the former president of the Dodgers. Branch Rickey was a big influence because he is the one that brought Jackie into the MLB, and he was there for Jackie when he faced racism. Throughout his life, Jackie Robinson’s main hardship was racism. During his time period, segregation was something that burdened every African American. Even once he was in the MLB he would receive racism from even his own teammates. He even received things like death threats. Jackie Robinson is respected because throughout all this he

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, which was a time of discrimination and racial injustice for African-Americans, to whom Major League Baseball was exclusively off limits, was considered a “White Man’s Game.” Until 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, by suiting up for the Brooklyn Dodgers on Opening Day, April 15, 1947. All baseball fans know the story of Robinson and the integration of baseball, but, the more important stories come from his predecessors, who worked hard to make Jackie’s feat possible, and to those who would come after themselves. We all know the names Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, and Ray Dandridge, but we don’t all know the extensive struggles they faced in order to help African-Americans

Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo Georgia. He was the youngest of his Family. He had three brothers and one sister. His brothers were Mack Robinson, Edgar Robinson, and Frank Robinson. His sister’s name was Willa Mae Robinson. His father’s name was Jerry Robinson and his mother’s name was Mallei Robinson. They were in poverty all their life because Jackie’s dad left right after he was born. Their family got along very well and rarely ever fought. Jackie Robinson got along better with Mack. Mack was into sports and that is how Jackie was inspired to play sports from middle school through college. Jackie’s favorite sport while he was younger was track and field. His brother actually did very well in track too.

Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of his Family. He had three brothers and one sister. His brothers were Mack Robinson, Edgar Robinson, and Frank Robinson. His sister’s name was Willa Mae Robinson. His father’s name was Jerry Robinson and his mother’s name was Mallei Robinson. Jackie had no Father to look up to because his father left him after he was born. They were in poverty all their life because Jackie’s dad left right after he was born. Their family got along very well and rarely ever fought. Jackie Robinson got along better with Mack. Mack was involved in sports and was inspired to play sports from middle school through college.

Jackie Robinson is a legend, not only in the baseball world, but in all sports. He broke the color barrier for all professional sports. Before 1947 African Americans were not allowed to play professional sports. This all changed when Jackie stepped foot onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York where he made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie Robinson is heroic because he changed the face of baseball and ended segregation in professional sports, his cultural impact, and due to his courage and determination.

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

Jackie Robinson is the story I am going to be writing about. It is about a black baseball player and he has just went into the World Series. He had broken the color barrier for his country and he knew he was going to get a lot of hate because of the color of his skin. Feng Ru was the Chinese man of aviation. He created planes for a living and that changed his home country because they can get around much easier. Melba Bee was a girl who had to walk 10 miles a day to get to class when there was a school right next to their house. However, that school was an all white school, so they were protesting. They sued the school and they later were able to get into the school.

The game of baseball has been argued to be the number one game in America and also around the world. Respectively the game is also known as “America’s pastime” had over 14 million people in the U.S. alone watching the World Series in 20151. Due to the growing popularity of baseball throughout the world the players of Major League Baseball (MLB) have become more diverse. Since 1950 when baseball started to grow in popularity the attendance per game has risen over 40%2.