Jackie Robinson Life Of Baseball And Change

811 Words4 Pages

Ryan Gross
English III
Mr. Pearson
2 November 2015

Jackie Robinson's life of baseball and change
Jackie Robinson's amazing plays in baseball and his legacy forever changed the US that we now live in. He grew up in a time where segregation still raged on and separated Americans based solely on the color of their skin. His rise to fame is remarkable given that he was African American and played in a league that was filled with Caucasians athletes. As people began to see that he was a good player, to started to question the age old belief of racism. By no means did his time in the majors cool off tensions betweens blacks and whites, but it did leave a starting point for others to take on, such as Martin Luther King. Jackie robinson is remembered …show more content…

In the 1940s racism and segregation were just about everywhere, bathrooms, busses and restaurants. It was very strict and controlled, especially during the war. For African Americans getting drafted to the war was very common. Jackie was drafted from 1942 to 1944, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He never saw combat, however. During boot camp in 1944 in Fort Hood, Texas, Robinson was arrested and court-martialed after refusing to give up his seat and move to the back of a segregated bus when ordered to by the driver.(bio.com) Jackie obligation for what was right got all of his charged dropped and he was discharged from the war. His courage and disapproval toward segregation was just a step on how jackie impacted major league …show more content…

On April 15th 1947 at Ebbets Field Jackie broke the color barrier and was the first African American to play Major League Baseball with all whites. Rickey knew that it was going to be hard for jackie to deal with the racism so he told jackie not to fight back. (bio.com) Jackie was tested early on, he got racial slurs yelled at him during his games. Some of his teammates didn't want to play with an African American, and refused to play. So manager Leo Durocher informed them that he would sooner trade them than Robinson (bio.com) . Durocher's statement hit the players hard and they had to accept the fact that they were playing with an African American. With the loyalty to Jackie the players knew how the rest of the season was going to be like.Through out Jackies season his teammates and coaches started to feel more comfortable with have him on the team, and started to stick up for Jackie when people were criticizing him. The biggest and most famous incident is when Pee Wee Reese walked over and put his arm around his teammate, a gesture that has become legendary in baseball history. (bio.com). Jackie learned that is wasn't worth listening to all the terrible things that were being said, and rather than taking it out on the people he decide to take his anger out on the ball.That season Jackie hit 12 home runs and helped the dodger win the