Chapter Two 2. Jackie Robinson and his Breakthrough to the Major League 2.1 Early life of Jackie Robinson The story of Jackie Robinson parallels the life of many African Americans, who ore whose family, left the South in the hope of better living conditions. He was born in Cairo, Georgia as the youngest of five children to his mother, Mallie and father, Jerry (Robinson and Duckett 13). As Robinson puts it, although slavery had ended by the time he was born, a new kind of slavery began, where blacks were physically free, but were still working in plantations and were struggling to make a living (12). His mother could not accept that, so after his father left the family she decided to move to Pasadena, California with the children. First, they …show more content…
Although no segregation in training was allowed, only a few blacks were admitted, and no blacks were working as officers until boxing champion Joe Louis came. Louis protested against segregation in the OCS and as a result, Robinson’s (and Louis’s) application was accepted (Robinson and Duckett 41). After OCS he was assigned as a special service officer. Seeing how black troops were treated, he decided to do something to overcome discrimination and humiliation in the army. He appealed to the commanding officer. After Fort Riley he was reassigned to Camp Hood, Texas. He appealed for overseas service despite his limited service status which did not allow that. Finally, he could not go as he got into trouble in the army. He was hospitalized with his injured ankle. When going home, he met a friend’s wife and they took the bus and were talking. Soon the bus driver came and ordered Robinson to the back seat. He refused as the segregation in army transportation was forbidden. The bus driver reported the incident and stated that Robinson was drunk. Although charges were dropped, the incident gained publicity. In the end, he was transferred to a different unit. While in the army, he corresponded Rae, who also enlisted, she was working as a nurse. After a short break up, they finally made up and got engaged (Robinson and Duckett