ipl-logo

The Significance Of Jackie Robinson's Breaking The Color Barrier In Major League Baseball

562 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racial in sports

pril 15 marks the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier in Major League Baseball. A student once asked me: "What is the color barrier?" Baseball's "color barrier" signifies the time in American history when black- and brown-skinned ballplayers were kept out of the Majors. In 1947, my father, Jackie Robinson, broke through that barrier and opened the door for others to follow.
Fifty years later, Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life was created to help diverse students understand Jackie Robinson's legacy of change. By participating in this program, you'll come to understand the values that made my father successful on the field, and which also guided him as a parent. You'll likewise discover strengths in your own character …show more content…

Briefly in the late 1800s, two black players, Bud Fowler and Moses Fleetwood Walker, played alongside whites. But by 1890, Major League Baseball, like most of America, was "segregated." Until 1947, black- and brown-skinned players were in the Negro Leagues, while whites played in the Majors.

In 1945, Branch Rickey, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers™, stepped

forward to break baseball's color barrier. He studied the field, using scouts to explore the pool of players. There were many Negro League players who were well-known and proven professional baseball players. Players such as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson certainly headed the list provided by Mr. Rickey's scouts, but they agreed on Jack Roosevelt Robinson.
The scouts told Mr. Rickey that, during his season with the Negro League team the Kansas City Monarchs, Jackie Robinson played shortstop. He hit .387, perfected his skill at stealing bases, and was selected for the league's All-Star Game.

They presented my father's college statistics next. Rickey learned that while at UCLA, my dad was the leading basketball scorer in his conference, the national champion in the long jump, an All-American halfback in football, and a varsity baseball shortstop. In fact, he was the first athlete at UCLA to letter in four sports in a single

Show More
Related
208 Words | 1 Pages

Jackie Robinson was the first African American to “break baseball’s color barrier” and play as a part of a white league. Robinson stepped out if the negro leagues to play for the all-white Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first black person to play in Major League Baseball. There were, of course, obstacles. People were racist to him because most of the country was segregated, and Robinson faced rejection from players from other teams, their team owners, bigoted white fans, and even his own teammates.

Read More
439 Words | 2 Pages

Branch Rickey was set out to find an African American player who could handle racial insults in a league dominated by whites. Rickey believed that Jackie Robinson could show restraint while being successful, and Robinson promised never to show anger on the field. This promise was soon put to the test. Ben

Read More
1609 Words | 7 Pages

Jackie Robinson that same year integrated into professional baseball, breaking the color barrier. The harassment Black players endured was horrendous but the impact they left on sports and society as a whole made the pain worth something. In the next decade, a scarce amount of African American athletes began to enter the professional

Read More
1291 Words | 6 Pages

It is hard to believe at one point in time that African Americans were not allowed to participate in all the same activities as whites were. Something as simple as drinking out of a drinking fountain wasn’t quite as simple for someone of color and African Americans playing baseball, America’s sport, was not even thought of. Well, not until Jackie Robinson came along that is. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American successful in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. To do so, Robinson presented with a few of the characteristics that Malcolm Gladwell introduced us to in his book “Outliers.”

Read More
242 Words | 1 Pages

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he became the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and was named Rookie of the year that year, national league mvp in 1945, and a world series champ in 1955. Born january 31st, 1919, in cairo georgia, Robinson became the first african american athlete to play major league baseball of the 20th century. Throughout his decade long career, Robinson thought of himself as talented player, and a vocal civil rights activist. In 1955, he helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win the world series.

Read More
1003 Words | 5 Pages

After leading the league in batting, Rickey knew Robinson was ready for the majors. In his first year playing for the Dodgers, Jackie stole more bases than anyone else in the league and won the first ever rookie of the year award. In 1955 he would go on to help the Dodgers defeat the Yankees in the World Series, and at the end of his career would finish with a .311 batting average, and 137 home runs to his

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

Jackie Robinson changed American history forever in 1947, when he became one of the most influential athletes to break the color barrier in pro sports, and many believe, the color barrier in America. Jackie Robinson was significant do to the way he handled all the criticism, and the way he persevered and showed courage to still play ball. Jackie Robinson faced a large amount racism in his attempt to get rid of the color barrier. Past rules didn’t allow African Americans to play in the Major League until 1946 (Robinson 46). His goal since he was a young kid was to play baseball despite the color of his skin.

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

There are many factors, decisions, and spects of American History that contributed to Jackie Robinson breaking barriers in his life, but the most significant to impact it were his values of hard work, courage, and determination. I believe this because broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball to pave the way for all races and ethnic groups to play the sport they love professionally. Jackie Robinson knew the value of hard work. "Jackie excelled early at all sports and learned to make his own way in life. At UCLA, Jackie became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.

Read More
580 Words | 3 Pages

His actions in life help to break the color barrier in baseball. A color barrier is a barrier that does not allow colored people to do things that white people could do. One example of some of the actions he took to break the color barrier was that he was involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s (Pebble. Go). The Civil Rights Movement was a protest to make colored people have the same rights as white people.

Read More
288 Words | 2 Pages

The reason for having the Negro Leagues was because it very unlikely to have a colored person be on the same field as a white person. However, one man who stands alone Jackie Robinson’s defeat to break the color barrier in baseball with the help of Branch

Read More
875 Words | 4 Pages

Jackies career consisted of many obstacle and barriers that he had to jump over, through his childhood times, his come up to being a MLB player, and lastly his time of becoming a hall of famer. I. With Jackie being persistent which his choice of a sport only known as a white sport overall, trying to make his way to the MLB created a huge stir in the game of baseball. a. In this biography it states that Jackie said that “You might say that I turned professional at an early age,”

Read More
1317 Words | 6 Pages

(Of course though Jackie Robinson was the first African American to join a major league baseball team after integration). Walker was best known for being the bare handed pitcher. Walker was the first African American to join the Major Leagues by his team joining the American Association. George Stovey was the first best African American pitcher that was ever documented. Stovey even played for some white teams as their pitcher and that was not very heard of at that time.

Read More
2122 Words | 9 Pages

Branch Rickey, the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, decided that he wanted to integrate baseball and bring an African American into the MLB. He went through many, many different players and had to look at much more than their ability to see if he wanted to give them an opportunity to play for his baseball club. Rickey finally decided that Jackie Robinson was the one he wanted to take a chance on, not because he was the best African American baseball player, but because he would be able to handle himself in the extremely difficult environment he was asking him to play baseball through (1). From being an outstanding multi-sport athlete to refusing to give up his seat in Texas, to Robinson’s courageous outlook on breaking the color barrier, Rickey knew that he was the right man for the job. In 1946, Robinson played in first year on the Montreal Royals, a minor league team in the Brooklyn Dodgers Organization.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Jackie Robinson not only made impacts on the field that were monumental, but he made impacts off the field that were equally as important. Jackie helped presidents get elected, get kids off the streets and into the most prestigious schools there is, and most importantly he broke the black color barrier in baseball. Jackie Robinson is one of the most influential people to ever live, he did things that people would dream about, he stood up for what he believed. To begin, Jackie’s biggest accomplishment was breaking the black color barrier on baseball, “ Jackie Robinson broke through the color barrier that kept blacks out of the Major League Baseball [MLB].

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

October 23, 1945, Jackie Robinson shook hands with Branch Rickey, officially changing baseball and society, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson grew up in a poor household in Pasadena, California. He attended UCLA, making himself a four sport star athlete . Major league baseball had been segregated at the time, with the only black men playing in separate Negro Leagues. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Dodgers, wanted to break the color barrier.

Read More

More about The Significance Of Jackie Robinson's Breaking The Color Barrier In Major League Baseball

Related Topics

Open Document