Why Did Jackie Robinson Want To Accomplish?

Jackie Robinson was one of the most historically well known people in the civil rights movement. So as the first man to integrate major league baseball, Jackie Robinson had a game changing impact on the way the game was played. Having the courage to fight for what is right, Jackie broke the imaginary color barrier that has covered major league baseball for years. Through his resiliency and tenaciousness in the face of seemingly unconquerable odds, Jackie Robinson set the course for African Americans to continue the expansion for equality and true freedom while he was becoming one of the greatest Major League baseball players in history.

Jackie fought racism in his California childhood, at collage and throughout his whole life. During his childhood at California he was always picked on at school. Kids taunted him so much and so badly that he developed a hot temper.

Jackie Robinson started playing baseball in 1947. He was the first player who played in the black man league and joined the white man team. He was used to playing in the Negro League and the style of play; it was a hard transition for Jackie to get used to the white man league. Jackie was the main symbol of hope to millions of people.

Later on, the Brooklyn Dodgers hired him to play. At first, he faced a lot of prejudice. He didn't care and sooner, people loved him. He was everywhere; there was articles about him in the newspaper, there were pictures of him everywhere, and everyone knew him. He was an amazing player. Soon people started hiring more and more African American players. The baseball league started getting integrated.In the text( Biography) it states,” ..he pioneered the integration of professional athletics in America. By breaking the color barrier in baseball, the nation’s favorite sport, he courageously challenges the deeply rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and South.” Jackie Robinson achieved his goal of integrating major league baseball teams.

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

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.

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

Brave, courageous, daring, bold, these all describe the baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Jackie was the first African American major league baseball player. (Jackie Robinson official website) Things were not always easy but he had many supporters and motivators to keep him going.( Britannica encyclopedia) Since Jackie never gave up through all of the harsh comments and criticism as he carried on being the first African American baseball player, African Americans are now allowed to play in the major leagues and all around the world.

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 thefirst African American to play modern major league baseball.Jackie's teammates got up a petition to keep him off the ball club. Histeammates would also disrespect him and call him foul names. Some of the ‘fans’would send him death threats. The team jockeys would holler at him to carry theirbags and shine their shoes. There were base runners who dug their spikes into hisshin.Some of his famous quotes are “A life is not important except in the impactit has on other lives.” Also “I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... AllI ask is that you respect me as a human being.” And my favorite one is “Baseball islike a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you toquit when you're ahead.”Jackie Robinson had a normal size family. He had his mother named MallieRobinson and a father named Jerry Robinson. He had four siblings by the name ofMack Robinson, Willa Mae Robinson, Edgar Robinson, and Frank Robinson. Hethen went off and married a lady by the name of Rachel Robinson. They then hadthree children named David Robinson, Sharon Robinson, and Jackie Robinson Jr.Jackie died on October 24th, 1972. The cause of his death was from heartproblems and diabetes complications which occurred in Stamford,

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

“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.

Jackie Robinson was a very important man to American history because he was the first black major league baseball player. Some might think it was easy for Jackie Robinson, but it was quite the opposite. He received stacks of hate mail, threats to his family, and even some of his own teammates didn’t accept him, but he didn’t stop trying. There were some good things that came with this though, black people supported him with total loyalty and there were many kids and some adults that didn’t

Jackie believed that God had plans for him that were beyond what anyone would have thought. In 1942 more than ten years before the famous Rosa Parks incident happened, Jackie was involved in a similar conflict. He was told by an officer to leave his seat on the white section of the bus and move to the back of the bus but Jackie refused. The scene quickly escalated but Jackie stood still and refused to answer to the officer. This resulted in a court trial for Robinson, who was facing "dishonorable discharge." He fought in court and proved that what happened was a violation against the segregation code of the army and won this case. This led for him to leave the army without this incident on his record. His way of acting against racism was a strong part of his personality, a part that people will see never die. He used his talent which is his amazing athletic ability to reach the pinnacle of where he was trying to be. When it came to sports it did not take long to realize that Jackie was extremely gifted. In College at UCLA Jackie excelled in sports more than anyone else. (SABR)