Jackie Robinson's Impact On The Civil Rights Movement

Jackie Robinson, The man who fought to play baseball with the greatest, to be known as one of the greatest, to actually be heard and seen by those who thought what he did was of the impossible. Through the eyes of many he was just another African-American. But to those who could see through the colour, could see a gift.

Jackie Robinson, born January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia became known as the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the Modern Era and also the first African-American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Robinson was the youngest in a family of 6 which consisted of his mother who raised her 5 children single-handedly. He attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College, where he was seen to

This was seen as a great change in racial segregation and had a huge impact on the civil-rights movement in America.

Many years after the American Civil War, The civil rights of the African American population was constrained due to state laws and discrimination, which led to them not having the right to vote, the right to be treated equally and have the freedom of speech. By the 1950’s racial segregation became legal due to “Jim Crow” laws in many states which resulted in the separation of colours in public places, work places, transport, Education and of course Sport which include Baseball at the time. Civil rights movements commenced in the following years which led to the de-segregation of Public Schools in 1954.

The MLB enacted Jim Crow Laws on baseball during the late 1880’s in which they unofficially banned all African-Americas from playing in Professional baseball. These Laws would remain in Baseball for 60 years until Jackie Robinson broke the barrier in

He went beyond his winnings and statistics on the field and opened a door for his entire race to play professional sports and for them to finally gain acceptance in a sport they loved as de-segregation quickly took place. Larry doby is a fine example of this. Like Robinson, was a superb all-around athlete. Larry Doby became the first African-American to play in the American baseball League. Larry Doby had appeared as a seventh-inning pinch hitter for the Cleveland Indians against the Chicago White Sox only three hours after signing his contract on July 5, 1947. Following Branch Rickey’s lead, a small majority of Major League clubs soon began to integrate black sportsmen, with the Dodgers having around four or five blacks on their team roster by the mid-1950s. Other teams held off on this as long as possible due to public opinion, with the last team to hire a black player, the Boston Red Sox, doing so only in 1959. Overall in the first decade, only a small number of black players were hired by the Major League teams. However by the 1960s, younger blacks came to excel at