Jackie Robinson: Institutional Oppression In Baseball

In 1947, Manager Branch Rickey, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Jack Roosevelt Robinson to play baseball on the Dodgers’ minor league team. From there, Jackie Robinson played his way to becoming the starting first-baseman of the Brooklyn Dodgers and helped lead the team to a division title. Robinson was the first negro ball-player to play on a Major League Ball Club, while this was an enormous accomplishment for all negro ball-players, it took its toll on Jackie. To Jackie, he was just a ball player. To the “white” world of baseball, he was a trespasser of their beloved game. Jackie played in a time where blacks and whites were meant be kept separate, so when he appeared on the same field as white ball players, people’s prejudice took over.

For example, many people have sent hate mail and death threats, and some fans harassed him from the stands during a ball game. Along with interpersonal oppression, Jackie also faced institutional oppression. There was never a law that said black men could not play baseball, but it was an “unwritten law.” This is considered Institutional oppression. People had the belief that it was against the law for blacks to play ball with whites, when, in reality, it was not. So many people believed this that it became an unwritten law. Because of this, other players, coaches, and umpires felt the need to “protect” that law and acted aggressively towards Jackie with harassment, abuse, and unfair calls on the

All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” To me, this quote is like a Chicago Cubs fan or a St. Louis Cardinals fan hating on the other team because of their rival, but when it came down to who the great players were, everyone would be in agreement. All in all, Jackie just wanted the respect that every other ball player received when he stepped on the field. Of course, he got upset and angry with what people in the stands shouted at him or the belittling he received from other teams, but Jackie came out of oppression a better person. His fight broke the color barrier for all athletes and because of that I believe he would go through the hardship of oppression all over again if