...Jackie Robinson was a legendary baseball player who impacted American history by breaking the color barrier and becoming the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. Throughout his career, he faced lots of challenges, including racism and discrimination. However, Jackie's courage and his skill on the field inspired many people. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier through baseball and has inspired many others. To begin, Jackie Robinson has fought for equality his whole life. For example, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by being the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Add more to the list! He also faced racial discrimination and segregation during his time in MLB. Next, Jackie Robinson not only broke...
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...Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson, the best baseball player in the twentieth century, was the first African American to play in the Major League Baseball and opened up the generation for colored people to play baseball. He courageously changed and challenged the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the north and the south. He also gave the African Americans a different focus for life then just stepping back and letting them get walked all over by the words form the whites. Jackie proved a lot from when he made major achievements in high school from a one parent family, to trying out for the Major Leagues. Then put in his will to create a foundation after he was deceased to help out teens that struggled through life like him. Jackie Robinson came from a hardworking single-parent family with the strength to shake the world. He attended John Muir High School and also Pasadena Junior College (Jackie Robinson Foundation). At UCLA, Jackie became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track (Official website). After he was turned away for wanting to play major league baseball, he put a lot of thought in to it and decided he needed to do something else first. He volunteered for the Army one year before war was declared and got sent on April 3rd (Mary 33). From 1942 to 1944, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in World War II, and was discharged from the Army in 1944 (The Biography)....
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...issue, however new racial problems have risen in professional sports. Early in the Civil Rights Movement sports were one of the major entertainments for most Americans due to the fact that television did not yet exist (Breaking the Color Line: 1940 - 1946). In 1946 Jackie Robinson was the first African-American person to play in a professional baseball league (Krogstad). Also in 1946 football began desegregating (African American Celebrity and the Civil Rights Movement). Four African-American athletes were added to the football roster (African American Celebrity and the Civil Rights Movement). Bill Willis...
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...30, 2014 Jackie Robinson Robinson, Jackie (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) baseball player, civil rights activist was born in Cairo, Georgia the youngest of five children. His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson. Mallie Robinson worked several different jobs after her husband Jerry left the family in 1920. At Muir Tech, Robinson played several sports at the varsity level and lettered in four of them: football, basketball, track, and baseball. Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College (PJC), where he continued his athletic career by participating in basketball, football, baseball, and track. After graduating from PJC in spring 1939, Robinson transferred to UCLA, where he became the school's first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. Robinson was one of four black football players on the UCLA Bruins football team. Robinson was also the 1940 NCAA Track and Field Champion in the long jump. Ironically baseball was Robinson worst sport at UCLA he only hit .098. While at UCLA, he met his future wife, Rachel Isum. Robinson's eligibility ended at the end of 1941, UCLA asked Robinson to stay and even offered financial support to him. He didn’t have much money, but he turned down the offer respectively. An interesting fact is Robinson never graduated from UCLA. Robinson then became an assistant athletic director with the government's National Youth Administration (NYA) in Atascadero, California. Robinson moved to Honolulu...
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...Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children. Jackie’s father left the family shortly after he was born. Jackie never saw his father again. His mother raised him and his three brothers and one sister. About a year after Jackie was born, the family moved to Pasadena, California. There Jackie grew up watching is older brother excelling in sports. His brother became a track star who won a silver medal in the 200 meter dash the 1936 Olympics. Jackie loved to play sports. In high school he ran track like his older brother and also played other sports like football, baseball, tennis, and basketball. He was the quarterback of the football and the star player on the baseball team. Jackie had a deal to racism all through high school. Most of his teammates were white. Most of the white people would cheer him on the field. He was treated second class citizen off the field. After college, Robinson went to play professional football, but his career to a quick end with the start of World War II. He was drafted into the army. Jackie met the famous boxing champion Joe Lewis at basic training and they became friends. Joe helped Robinson get accepted into officer training. Once Jackie finished his officer...
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...The first man to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball in the 20th century, Jackie Robinson is one of the most celebrated baseball players in history. Jim, the moral center of Mark Twain’s The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn .Who doesn’t portray a baseball player, yet both Jackie Robinson and Jim both share the same heroic qualities. Both are courageous, noble, and strong-minded. Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919 and grew up in Pasadena, California, where he attended UCLA. While attending there he won letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track. He was regarded as the most all-around athlete in the U.S. at the time. After serving three years in the army, he began playing baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues. After hid successful season in 1946 with the team’s Farmclub he became the first African American major league baseball player since the 19th century. In 1947 he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But before Jackie Robinson there was Moses Fleetwood Walker, he was the 1st African American major league baseball player to play baseball in the late 1800’s. On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson became the 1st African American to play major league baseball. He broke the color line, which led to many white teams playing against all black teams or interracial teams: Jackie Robinson caught many Americans attention and his story was widely retold through American culture in many different forms. Such as through...
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...chose to do my Capstone was Jackie Robinson. He was a very influential man for many reasons. Jackie Robinson once said, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives”. Robinson had a difficult childhood. His father left his entire family when Robinson was only 6 months old. Being the only African-Americans in their California neighborhood was hard. Robinson’s mother taught him about self-respect and to keep his head held high. Robinson was a star in just about every sport he played. When Robinson was in the Army. He was only one of few African-Americans that became a second lieutenant. Robinson was arrested and court-martialed in 1944 for refusing to give up his seat and move to the back of a segregated bus.. Robinson's excellent reputation shed public light on the injustice, and he was ultimately acquitted of the charges and received an...
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...and Contrast Essay Major League Baseball Greatest Two of the world’s greatest baseball players were Jackie Robinson, and Babe Ruth. Both of the men established a career in a game they both truly loved. Jackie Robinson, and Babe Ruth have accomplishments that will remain a part of life’s history in the spirt of baseball. However both are known as baseball legends, they offer their differences and similarities amongst not only by their careers but by their personal lives. Throughout my essay I will explore their history and career also what makes them legends that they are today. Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia. Robinson was the youngest of five siblings. Jackie attended Washington Junior High School, and enrolled at John Muir High School, recognizing his talents Jackie oldest brother Frank inspired Jackie to pursue his interest in sports. In 1936 Robinson won the junior boys championship in the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament, earned a place on the Pomona annual baseball tournament All Star Team. After attending Muir High School, Robinson went on to Pasadena Junior College where he continued his athletic career. Toward the end of Robinson’s term, Frank Robinson, Jackie’s oldest brother whom he felt closest was killed in a motorcycle accident. The incident motivated Jackie to pursue his athletic career at a nearby college known as UCLA, where Robinson felt close to his eldest brother’s...
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...already knew some of Jackie Robinson’s history, but I was still moved by this revealing depiction of his life during the years 1945-1947. This true story, which was released April 12, 2013, followed what I had learned about Jackie and stayed accurate while still being extremely entertaining. Jackie Robinson’s number on his jersey was 42, he wore that number his entire Major League career with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The movie “42” is a biopic of the legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, when in 1947 Jackie became the first African-American player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier. The great directing, acting, and writing made this film enjoyable to watch. This well-made movie primarily tells the story of Jackie Robinson under the direction of his general manager Branch Rickey, while showing us Jackie’s battles with racism and a classic love story. “42” is a snapshot in the life of Jackie Robinson, which allows the movie to run at a nice pace. As Bernard Beck points out, in The Dark Knight Rises: In 42 Jackie Robinson Saves The American Dream, “Our attention is not fixed on how he became a great player, on how he succeeded in his career after that first year, or how they built a family. We are shown the great pressure they were under and that they handled it” (89). The movie starts out in 1946, when Branch Rickey the legendary general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers decides that he is going to bring a Negro to play for the team, breaking Major League Baseball’s notorious...
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...very influential based on their actions. When it comes to breaking the color barriers, many people think of big names like Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.. Most do not think of those who were influential on the sports side of smashing the racial barriers. Branch Rickey was the most influential person, in baseball, to break down these barriers, who many will over look. If it were not for people like Branch Rickey, we may have never known the names of people like Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente. It is crazy to think how different baseball could have been if these players never were given the opportunity to play the game, and it is mostly all thanks to Branch Rickey. History...
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...The Integration of Baseball & its Effect on Social Movements The integration of baseball during 1947-1959 was a time period where barriers were broken resulting in positive social changes that would alleviate class conflicts. Social changes through integration of baseball helped the Civil Rights movements although its major impacts weren’t made until the late 1960s. Baseball players were praised within the sport of baseball; however, their social status still remained the same. What was the impact of the integration of baseball on the Civil Rights movement and the social status of African Americans? These players did great things to help change the game of baseball, but were not respected by majority of their peers. The challenges that did players had to face were ridiculous. Recognized as superstars on the field, baseball players like Jackie Robinson were looked down upon by society because of their skin color. Therefore, the effects of baseball integration on society was crucial for the Civils Rights movement, but its impact was limited at best for individual baseball players and for the collective African American society since their social status as a whole remained the same. This would lead to residual class conflicts. Even the process of baseball integration was not smooth as some teams embraced integration for various reasons such as competitive advantage or box office potential, but others such as the American League’s old guard faced public pressure to limit the integration...
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...world. Jackie Robinson is considered a hero to me and that is why I chose him. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season by Jonathan Eig tells us all about Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. This book was published on April 17, 2007 by Tantor Media. On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson took the field wearing Brooklyn Dodger’s Jersey. He was the first African American to join a MLB team and he did it with pride. Jackie Robinson created so many oppurtunites for so many different people. It took alot of strength and courage to become the first African American athlete to compete in Major League Baseball. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy but he was willing to go through whatever he needed to in order to set a standard for future generations to come. I did learn some different characteristics about Jackie from this book that I never new about before. It tells all about how Jackie Robinson had an anger problem and played baseball very aggressively. He was going to have to change his ways if he wanted to protect his safe in this new league. The current players would not take it very nicely if he continued to play that way. I also learned that he didn’t always have that sweet swing that we know him for today. You would think that his uneasy swing would make things difficult for him, but Jackie showed what he was capable in his first game. Jackie went on to become the MLB Rookie of the Year in 1947. Even though Robinson’s baseball abilities...
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...Melba Beals, I Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson, and “Father of Chinese Aviation” by Rebecca Maksel that highlights Feng Ru. Melba Pattillo Beals, Jackie Robinson, and Feng Ru, faced life changing experiences, and at the end they all impacted their lives and country in a positive way. Melba Pattillo Beals helped improve education for blacks by integrating Central High School which had many objections and hardships. Her reaction also impacted her country by breaking the color barrier for blacks in schools. In...
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...Jackie Robinson, Why Him? 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 Rickey’s motivation? While Robinson was the first Negro player to break into the ranks of professional baseball, it can be argued that he was not the first to attempt the undertaking. In actuality, Jackie possibly was not even the first player the Brooklyn Dodgers’ organization considered for the job. The Warner Brothers film, 42, The Jackie Robinson Story (2013), highlights the accomplishments of Jackie and rightfully so, as he was an amazing man. The story actually starts prior to 1947 and ends years later in 1959, three years after his retirement in 1956. Early in his career at Ohio Wesleyan University, where Branch Rickey played and coached baseball, an incident occurred with one of his young black players, Charlie Thomas, which...
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...Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African American Baseball player to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Despite obvious struggles such as race, social class, and the absence of his father, he managed to turn himself into an African American Icon throughout his era. Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children born to Mallie and Jerry Robinson. His parents gave him his middle name after Theodore Roosevelt, who passed away only twenty-five days before Jackie’s birth. When Robinson was only 6 months his father decided to leave them. After the fact, Mallie decided it was time to move to Pasadena, California. Jackie was a great athlete who played many sports besides baseball. He participated in Football, Basketball and Track....
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