Jackie Robinson: A Color Barrier Breaking Man On January 31, 1919, a game changer was born. Changing the color barrier in Major League Baseball (MLB) forever. Jackie Robinson inspired many people with all he did within his time. He paved the way for many African American athletes that followed him and he changed the way other thought about segregation in professional athletics. Jackie Robinson was a full-time second baseman on the Brooklyn Dodgers and he became the first African American to play in MLB. Jackie was born in Cairo, Georgia. During his younger years, the Great Mississippi Flood occurred affecting 700,000+ people in the south. Approaching his pre-teenage years, his family moved to Pasadena, California. Around the same time, …show more content…
He played basketball, football, baseball, and ran track. He excelled in every sport he played, but as we all know he fell in love with baseball. He graduated and continued playing baseball in college as well as the other sports he excelled in. Attending Pasadena Junior College, he played in many Negro leagues. After leaving the junior college he enrolled at UCLA. Being enrolled at UCLA and playing all the sports they had to offer he became the first 4-letter man at the institution. Also, at UCLA he met his wife, Rachel Isum. Around senior year at UCLA, he was recruited to play part-time for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had many struggles while trying to get on the team even though a coach recruited him. Some players, already on the team, petition for him not to be on the team. Most fans laughed and made fun of a young black man trying to go pro in baseball. Seeing past all of that, Jackie Robinson persevered and made his debut on Dodgers as #42. After graduating from UCLA, he married Rachel and began playing full-time on the Dodgers. He played his first season on the Dodgers a year later. Most fans bad-mouthed him at every game for being on the team. Ignoring all of the negativity, Jackie ended his first season as Rookie of the Year. Also ending the season, Rachel and Jackie Robinson had their first child, Jackie Robinson Jr. Later on, they had another son, David Robinson, and a daughter, Sharon Robinson. Jackie Robinson Jr. …show more content…
He also became an executive businessman and did many public motivational speaking events continuing to break the color barrier even after his MLB life. He worked extensively with the NAACP as well. He and his wife, Rachel, took care of their 3 children. As time passed, Sharon, his daughter, began the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) on behalf of her father. JRF provides educational opportunities for minorities nationwide. Soon after the establishment of JRF, Jackie Robinson passed away on October 24, 1972. Many people were devastated by, people, including his daughter, did everything they could to ensure that his legacy would live on. As I am ending this essay about one amazing man in African American history, I wonder why baseball ended up being his lifetime career even though he was great at many other sports. Whatever that reason may be, he showed us all that nothing is impossible even when you’re surrounded by negativity and let-downs. 42 is number to remember and forever be respected and honored. “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other’s lives” –Jackie Robinson I think we can say he has truly impacted many lives, even our own
He was the youngest of 5. in 1937 he enrolled in pasadena junior college. His first year he was a shortstop and hit over 400 and stole over 20 bases in 25 games. During his second year, he played football. He ran for more than 1,000 yards and scored 17 touchdowns in 11 wins. He ever was a kick returner and ran back a 104 yard kickoff to the house for a touchdown. in the same year he played basketball and scored about 19 points a game and led his team to a championship. Later the same year he was MVP on his baseball team leading them to a championship, all while running track. the next year he went to UCLA on a scholarship for football and led the nation with a average of 12 yards a carry. He was the first four-letter athlete at UCLA playing baseball, football, track, and basketball. He later met a nursing student, Rachel Isum, his future wife. After he left college in 1942 he was drafted into the Army and was involved in World War II.For the next seventeen years, Jackie lived a great life after retiring from baseball. He was chosen to be in the Hall Of Fame in 1962. He was a advocate to bring public attention to the African American struggle and to help end racial discrimination..For the next seventeen years, until his death in 1972, Robinson lived an extraordinary yet difficult life.Opponents were always an issue with Jackie. During the games they would use racial slurs and rather cruel
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 Robinson was born in Cairo. The year Jackie was born was 1919 to a family of farmers. His Mother name is Mallie Robinson. She raised Jackie and four other of her children. They were the only black family around and people gave them a hard time about living around them since they were the only black family on the block. Jackie was the very first black baseball player ever to join the white man’s league.
Jackie Robinson was a major part in baseball history. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier several times. Here are several ways how. Jackie Robinson was born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. Jackie was the youngest of 5 children and he was he was raised in relative in relative poverty by a single mother.
“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
Born on January 31, 1919 Jack Roosevelt Robinson was the youngest of five children. His father left the family before Jackie turned one and shortly after his mom moved the family from Georgia to California in search of work (Contemporary Black Biography). Segregation was still present in California, but was less harsh than in the south. To get away from the problems and racial prejudice, Jackie turned to sports. He was an exceptional athlete excelling in football, baseball, basketball, and track in both high school and college. He played four sports for the University of California Los Angeles (commonly known as UCLA). He was mostly a football and basketball star and had no intentions of playing Major League baseball due to the fact that it was all white. Jackie had always wanted to become a social worker to help underprivileged boys and hoped that travelling the nation for sports would expose him to a job in that field
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
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.
Jackie Robinson is known for his will and determination, in a game where African Americans were not allowed to play. Major league baseball (MLB), was the biggest professional baseball league in the country but was racially segregated. Growing up in poverty, Jackie Robinson faced many struggles. Jackie was a great athlete that could play multiple sports, just not major league baseball. He competed and excelled at numerous sports, including basketball and football. As good as an athlete he was, Jackie Robinson obtained a college degree and attended UCLA. He played baseball in the all black, Negro leagues, until he broke the MLB’s color barrier in 1947. Though Jackie was mostly known for his athletic abilities, he did his part as a civil rights
To begin, on January 30th, 1919 Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. His parents were Mallie Robinson and Jerry Robinson. He was the youngest of 5 children. His siblings were Edgar, Frank, Mack, and Willa Mae. After Jackie was born His father left home. Mallie Robinson and the kids had to move to California when Jackie was young. It took over a week on the train ride to California. Jackie’s family was the only black family on their tree lined block in Pasadena. Jackie liked to watch his brother Mack play baseball in the sandlot. One day there wasn’t enough players on a team,
Before 1947, Major League Baseball had never had a black player, although there were Negro Leagues. Jackie Robinson broke that. It takes courage and dedication to chase after something you love. Jackie had that for the game of baseball. The Civil Rights Movement was occurring during the time Jackie enter the Major Leagues, so the times were tough for him. Jackie did more than just play baseball; he introduced a whole new way to play the game, with blacks and whites. He did this by breaking the color barrier and introducing blacks into the Major Leagues, facing discrimination and showing his true passion for the game, and showing that he was looking to help all African-Americans in the civil rights movement.
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
Jackie was born January 31, 1919 to a five sibling family. He looked up to his oldest brother who in 1936 won a silver medal in the Olympics. Jackie went to college at UCLA and join the military, and when refusing to move to the back of the bus was honorably discharged. He ended up leaving two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.For a short time Jackie play semi pro football. In 1947 he was drafted to the Brooklyn Dodgers and received rookie of the year that same year. Jackie led the NL with 29 steals, second with 125 runs scored, and co-lead Dodgers at 12 homers. Also he was batting at .300 that pulled together a 21 game hitting streak. In 1957 Jackie retired and 9 days before he died Jackie said he wants to live to see a black
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
“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.