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Sports and African Americans: John "Jackie" Robinson Essay

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What would you feel like to be the first modern African American to play major league baseball? Well, you don’t because this courageous man named John(Jackie) Robinson took over that role. On January 31, 1919, a kid by the name of Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. He surely did not know that he would be one day an american hero. His father was Jerry Robinson, a plantation worker. His mother was Mallie, she was a domestic worker. Jackie had three brothers and one sister. The four brothers were: Edgar, Frank and Mack. The sister was Willa Mae. Frank and Edgar are no longer alive, but Mack and WIlla still live in Pasadena, California. His dad left Mallie and the children, never to return, when Jackie was six months old. When …show more content…

Robinson saw that athletic success did not guarantee full freedom in the racially and economically unequal American society. Opposing players often reminded him of his race arguments, rougher hits, and racial slurs. (Gale) “Robinson won letters in football, baseball, basketball and track at Muir Technical High School. He also attended Pasadena Junior College. When he left in 1939, he declined offers from the major colleges around the nation and chose, University of California at Los Angeles.” Also known as UCLA. It was close to his mother, which made it more of an attractive choice. Robinson’s only had two years at UCLA because of financial pressures. He was very impressive in his two years. He was the highest scorer in basketball competition, he was the national champion in long jump, All-American running-back, and he played shortstop for the varsity baseball team. He was the school’s first athlete to letter in four sports. Sounds like a freak of nature to me. (News Break) After UCLA, Jackie was an athletic direct for a few months for the National Youth Administration in Atascadero, California. Robinson’s dream of playing professional sports pushed him to go to Hawaii in 1941 to join a semipro, racially integrated football team. They were called the Honolulu Bears. He worked as a construction worker for the during the week. On the weekends, he was a member of the team. He returned after the short football season to the United States, right after

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