Jackie Robinson Impact On Society

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.

Over 500 Major and Minor League baseball players traded in their bats for rifles and joined the Armed Forces during the Second World War.Two of these baseball players included, “Jumpin Joe” DiMaggio of the New York Yankee’s and Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. But it wasn’t just baseball players that made sacrifices for their country, all athletes did. Multiple professional and collegiate athletes gave up promising futures in athletics to help in the fight. All American sports were affected by the Second World War.

“Robinson faced death threats, vulgar insults, and hate-filled fans”(Jackie Robinson para 3). It’s because he was the first African-American baseball player in major league baseball and nobody liked him because of that. Jackie Robinson was a brave, hardworking men that accomplished a lot in his life for baseball and African-American community. Jackie Robinson had a positive influence on African Americans because he was the first African-American baseball player in major league baseball, he was a founder of ways to help African-American and he was a civil rights advocate for African-Americans.

Jackie Robinson was an important figure in the civil rights movement. His greatest accomplishment, however, was integrating baseball. He made many Americans excited about it because he was the first African American to ever play in Major League Baseball. Also, he did many things for the civil rights movement. The integration of baseball set off a reaction of different movements to desegregate places like schools, public facilities, and the army.

According to the YouTube video made by Biography, “With the negro leagues as his only opportunity to play baseball.” The evidence supports the idea that Robinsons ability to excel under extreme pressure peaked the inherent injustice of segregation for all that were different. Jackie Robinson went through so much racism and segregation, but in the end, he was an historical figure with an impact on all that wanted to follow their dreams. Jackie Robinson's impact on baseball extended beyond baseball and served as an inspiration to anybody that wants to achieve their dreams. The author of “ESPN” stated that “Jackie Robinson's impact was greater than just that of baseball.”

Since the abolition of slavery in the USA in 1883 and through the first half of the 20th Century, African Americans had been in a constant struggle to try and gain an equal footing in society. Like many aspects of American life, black sportsmen were segregated, and no African American had played professional baseball since 1884. For this reason, the integration of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first African American to play Major League baseball in the modern era had a grand impact on the entire country. From the moment that Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey decided that Robinson would break the colour lone, the history of sport and the history of African Americans would not be the same again. The importance of his integration and the effect it had on civil rights can be looked at in many different ways. It had great effect on the African American community, instilling pride and belief once again in the American Dream for many who had once thought it impossible. It also had significant importance for civil rights groups, and brought about a figure who would fight his peoples quest for equal rights until the day he died. It was a significant risk taken by both Rickey and Robinson, professionally and personally. But it was a risk that both in the short term for African American sport, and in the long run for African American civil rights, was ultimately well worth taking.

Baseball has always been more than just a sport to the American people. For many, it is a way of life, teaching not just brute skills but life lessons and morals. In the wake of World War I, racism and bigotry abounded in the United States. Even though the integration of schools had recently been instated, Jim Crow laws severely limited the activity of African Americans in society, resulting in baseball teams being limited to whites. Jackie Robinson made an important step in gaining rights for African Americans when he broke the color barrier of baseball in 1947. He did this by making civil rights his ambition even before the protests began (Coombs 117). Jackie Robinson’s fame as a baseball player and determination to defeat adversity

Jackie Robinson brought baseball fans of all races together and it improved race relations because even though their was still hatred, white people were getting eased into racial integration since Jackie Robinson was laying the foundations of civil rights. Robinson was loved by many and hated by plenty, every game he played he packed the stands whether it be fans who are cheering for him or booing him. According to the biography by Wilson “Many fans came out to cheer Robinson, and a lot came out to boo him but both groups bought tickets” (75). He performed so well on the baseball field that the fans would lose sight of his color, and the stands were predominantly white so he was doing so well with a very unsupportive fan base. In the biography

“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 harassed and yell at, but still managed to be one of the greatest at baseball. During his book, Jackie claimed “ bigoted fans screaming "n-----." The hate mail piled up. There were threats against me and my family and even out-and-out attempts at physical harm to me.” Looking at that evidence proves Jackie was very courageous and knew he would make history someday. Many people say Jackie was the best baseball player ever.

First of all, Jackie Robinson showed and proved his heroism for how he went against the social norms to be the first African-American to play in a previously all-white sport;the courage required to break this barrier is an example of social heroism. In “What is Heroism?” it states, “Yet social heroism is costly in its own way, often involving loss of credibility or financial stability, lower social status, arrest, torture, risks to family, and, in some cases, death.” This statement rings true to Jackie Robinson because, when Jackie went against the strict views of racist baseball players and fans, he risked everything that the evidence stated! In the text,” How Jackie Robinson Changed Baseball,” the hero broke the “color barrier” by joining Major League Baseball, a professional sport. This hero defied discrimination at a time when people of color were not allowed to play baseball. He did not accept the racist idea of what a professional baseball player should look like cause he just wanted to be a part of baseball.

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 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

The Civil Rights Movement was a very important event in the African-American’s push for equality. Many major events happened throughout the movement that involved violence, criticism, and racism towards the blacks. African-American’s were being treated extremely unfairly and unequal to white people, almost like they were not human. Many individuals had a huge impact on this movement such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Robinson, and Emmit Till. The Civil Rights Movement was a very influential period in American history that impacted millions of lives.

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.