Jackie Robinson's Impact On Civil Rights

Jackie Robinson continued to make an impact on civil rights even after his retirement from baseball. With his life in baseball winding down, Jackie ramped up his off- field involvement in advancing racial justice (Schutz 116). He continued to help and make his mark as one of the most influential people in helping blacks achieve their civil rights. Jackie was very involved in the Little Rock Nine School crisis which was an early effort to begin desegregation of southern high schools (Schutz 117). Dwight D Eisenhower, the President at that time, told Jackie that all blacks needed was patience for de-segregation to occur. Robinson strongly berated the President for these comments as it was abundantly clear that he had no understanding of the incredible hardships blacks had endured (Schutz 121). Jackie participated in the March on Washington which was a signature moment for the

Sports Magazine featured Robinson as the most significant athlete of that quarter century (Schutz 157). Many things can be learned from the awe-inspiring man that Jackie Robinson was. There is the obvious lesson to never give up and to follow your dreams, no matter what obstacles are placed in front of you . The deeper lesson, however, is to fight hard for what you believe in and never accept intolerance of any kind, be it race or religion. At first, Jackie was just another black man who was subject to racism; but, he fought that with every ounce of energy he had. Throughout the course of his life and baseball career, he overcame many obstacles, unthinkable to others, and went on to not only gain the respect of blacks and whites; he went on to become one of the greatest and most admired baseball players of all time. In an interview after a game, Branch Rickey was quoted saying “He’s the indispensable man that can carry a team by himself.” Jackie will be remembered for generations to come as a role model to