jackie robinson Essay

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)

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.

Robinson began his role as an advocate for civil rights in America even before he was drafted onto a major league baseball team. In 1942, he was inducted into the Army. This was during World War II. At this time, there was still racial discrimination in the Army. It wasn’t as much as back in the South, however it was still prominent. Robinson was part of a segregated unit located in Camp Hood. He became a lieutenant pretty quick, although he still had to go through opposition to become one. At the time, Lieutenant Robinson’s fight against racism started when he boarded a military bus, towards the middle. Once the bus driver saw Robinson, he ordered him to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused and argued with the driver. After the altercation, Robinson was asked to move to the hospital to stay,

Jackie Robinson was told to go out to talk to Branch Rickey, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was thinking about putting Jackie on the team but at that time Mr.Robinson didn’t know that. “The truth is you are not a candidate for the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers. I've

The Dodgers got their name from the electric streetcars in Brooklyn that were so dangerous that people had to be skilled “dodgers'; of them in order not to get run over. Why was Brooklyn the place that integration could occur? After World War Two, Brooklyn had transformed from a white-middle class population to a mix of blacks, Latinos and Jews. “About half of Brooklyn’s population was Jewish; among the Dodger faithful, Jews were probably far more ready than any other major group, such as the Irish or the Italians, to identify with the fight against the Jim Crow embodied by Robinson'; (Rampersad 220-221). Obviously, the Jews related to the blacks’ plight against society’s belittlement of them and the similar discriminations they both faced. Many of the Robinson’s friends were Jewish, perhaps because “the Robinsons found Jews far more ready than other whites to accept them socially'; (Rampersad 221). Jackie Robinson was able to live successfully in Brooklyn, and not only because he was a great athletic superstar but because he had many friends and supporters that didn’t consider him an outsider. They let him live amongst them, supported him, and befriended him and his family. Rachel Robinson (Jackie’s wife) sums it up by saying that, “We didn’t think of them as Jewish, unless we were dealing with a specific organization. They were simply

“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

In November 1944, he was passing by a field in Kansas City where the Negro league team, the Kansas City Monarchs was playing and he thought, why not? The Negro Leagues were depleted of talent because of the war so they accepted Jackie with open arms. This is where Jackie would build his legend as he blossomed into a star. In 1946, Branch Dickey decided he was going to break the barrier and sign a Negro league player, the only question was who? Josh Gibson was the best talent but had a history of tempers, anger, and abuse. Satchel Paige was the best pitcher but they felt he was too old. When Rickey began to watch Jackie, he noticed his speed and ability to take over a game. Rickey also knew Robinson was an educated man and grew up with lots of racism, so he felt like Robinson could handle the absolute hell he would have to take by breaking the barrier (Daniels 167).

Jackie Robinson started to play for the Black Panthers Minor League Baseball team, where he was scouted by Branch Rickey, the President of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The retelling of Robinson’s story has been retold many times from the perspective of baseball. Jack Roosevelt Johnson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo Georgia, the youngest of five children during a Spanish flu and smallpox epidemic. When Jackie was very young his father abandoned the family. Now Jackie’s mother Mollie Robinson, had to find a better life for her family. Due to Jim Crow laws Mollie could not buy a house for her family, because they were barred from certain neighborhoods for whites only. Despite this fact Mollie didn’t care she persuaded a light skinned black man to act is if he was buying a house in Pasadena, California. (MSR News) Then the Robinson’s moved in, whites were furious and threatened to burn them out of the house. Mollie ignored the threats and went about her business. This strength and cunning shown b their mother showed the kids how to fight for what they believe in, and to never stop believing and pursuing

Rickey’s plan to get Robinson promoted to the Dodgers was to show case Jack’s skill and athletic ability therefore reducing the Dodgers defiance of having a black player on the team. If teams were able to see how talented Jackie Robinson was, there would be no reason for them

“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)

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

Robinson later moved to Florida to practice his spring training with the Royals. This is where he became the first black player to ever play in a major league baseball game. Even though Rickey knew times would get hard for Jackie, he made Jackie promise to never fight back when the racism started to hit him. Robinson’s reactions to the racism were also tested by Rickey at the beginning of his career. Some of Robinson’s team mates didn’t agree with him being on their team. Jackie and his parents were threatened by people in the crowds.

“In 1945, professional baseball was a segregated sport. There were no African Americans playing on any  Major League Baseball teams. They played in negro leagues on teams such as: Homestead Greys, The Birmingham Black Barons, and the Kansas City Monarchs”(Rappaport, 129). Shortly after, Jackie Robinson left the Army, and later played shortstop for the Monarchs. He was a good hitter, fielder and a, smart base runner.Negro league baseball attracted large crowds, sometimes even larger than all-white major League teams playing in the same city. In light of Robinson’s skills, pitch times, and batting averages, an opportunity arose and he had to take it. On August 28, 1945, Branch Ricky, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, met with Jackie Robinson. Ricky told Robison that he Would like for him to play for the Dodgers, but he could expect some trouble. To Persuade Jackie into playing, Ricky stated, “ i’m looking for ball player with the guts not to fight back.”Given a command, Jackie throughout his career adhered to his boss. But I have to say, there were times when he got so angry that he question the game of baseball, but ultimately Jackie Robinson stood