Sports and Civil Rights Movement
By: Jake Johnson Jackie Robinson became the first black athlete to play Major League Baseball in the 20th century when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. After his discharge in the Army in 1944, Robinson began to play baseball professionally. The sport was segregated at the time and whites and African-Americans had different leagues. After playing couple games in the Negro league Robinson was soon chosen by Branch Rickey the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson joined the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1946. Robinson later moved to Florida for spring training with the Royals. Ricky knew for Robinson it’d be a difficult time for him, so Ricky made Robinson promise he wouldn’t fight back when confronted to racism. Some of Robinson’s new teammates even went behind his back
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On April 15, each season every team in the majors celebrates Jackie Robinson Day in honor of when he truly broke the color barrier in baseball. Robinson stood up for equal rights even before he played baseball. He was arrested and court-martialed during training in the Army for refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus. In his decade-long career with the Dodgers, Robinson and his team won the National League pennant several times. Finally, in 1955, he helped them achieve the ultimate victory: winning the World Series. After failing before in four other series matchups, the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees. He helped the team win one more National League pennant the following season. In December 1956, Robinson was traded to the New York Giants, but he never played a game for the team. He retired on January 5, 1957. After he has opened a door for all African-Americans to play the sport and the sport is mostly all African-Americans today. He was a inspiration to baseball and taught everyone colored can play with