Jackie Robinson Impact On Society

America’s favorite pastime since the early 1800s has been baseball. Ever since Alexander Cartwright of the New York Knickerbockers set the rules for the sport, many amateur baseball teams arose (Zeiler, p. 4). This sport was primarily dominated by the white race, but many African Americans enjoyed the sport as well. One of which was Jackie Robinson. After being honorably discharged from the United States Army, Robinson started playing for the Kansas City Monarchs baseball club before he transitioned into white baseball. During this transition, he received plenty of negative resistance and backlash from society. This did not stop Robinson though. He kept pushing for integrated baseball teams and eventually became a respected, influential figure

Robinson first signed a contract to play for the Montreal Royals, a white baseball team, in 1946 (Zeiler, p. 19). This is the moment when the resistance and backlash started. He experienced lots of hostility from everywhere (Zeiler, p. 21). During one of the Montreal Royals games in Deland, Florida, a policeman threatened to have him arrested if he continued to play because black men and white aren’t allowed to play on the same field since it was against the law in that city (Robinson and Smith, “Facing Jim Crow,” p. 66). This was not the first and only time that Robinson experienced any sort of backlash. Teams planned to strike if he played like, for example, the St. Louis Cardinals (Zeiler, p. 24). Not only did Robinson experience the negative effects of him joining the team, but his family did as well. They received many threats in the mail and verbal abuse at games (Zeiler, p. 24). While all of these setbacks would be discouraging to most, Robinson stayed strong and pushed through to further his baseball

When asked about the significance of being the first black man in organized baseball, he dedicated his actions by saying he was doing it for his race (Zeiler, p. 38). His stance allowed him to become a prominent member of the civil rights movement (Zeiler, p. 28). As stated in his autobiography, “I suffered them because I hoped to provide a better future for my children and young black people everywhere, and because I naively believed that my sacrifices might help a little to make America the kind of country it was supposed to be” (Robinson, “I Never Had it Made,” p. 129). Robinson wanted to pave the way and set an example for his children and future generations, so they could see what was possible. He wanted to change the social landscape of the US so that, in the future, they would hopefully have better opportunities. His beliefs resonated with many other African Americans who believed that change was needed for equality and justice. Robinson proved to be one of the prominent members that helped propel this movement forward, causing more people to take