Born into a society of racial discrimination, Jack Roosevelt Robinson, known as Jackie Robinson, became an inspiring African American who stood up to racial hate and became the first black man to play major league baseball outside of a segregated black league (Biography.com).
Robinson was born into a sharecropping family in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919 (umass.edu). At 6 months of age, his father, Jerry Robinson, left the family in 1920. After this happening, his mother, Mallie Robinson, decided to move the family to a white neighborhood in Pasadena, California.” Manfred Weidhorn noted in his biography, Jackie Robinson,“Jackie was proud of his mother, who would not allow the white neighbors to drive her away or frighten her or mistreat her kids. From her he learned to stand up for his rights. He learned to respect himself, demand respect from others, and never back down”(solipsis.com).
Growing up Robinson suffered from racial torment, but then learned that being good at sports brought him friendships with other white children. In 1939, he enrolled at UCLA after graduating from PJC. At UCLA, he was the first person to letter in four varsity sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track (solipsis.com). He even met his future wife, Rachel Annetta Isum, while attending at UCLA.
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His fortunate year with the Royals led to his promotion to join the Brooklyn Dodgers.”Robinson played his first game at Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, making history as the first black athlete to play Major League Baseball in the 20th century”(Biography.com). Once Robinson did that, he opened gates for many black people who did not have the courage to stand up for what they wanted. He encouraged people to strive for their goals and ignore all the hate that would be thrown at them. He showed everyone how talented of not just a baseball player he was, but how passionate and caring of a human he