Symbols Of Jackie Jackson And Jackie Robinson Vs. Cassius Clay

Christina Pheil

4/23/15

Additional Assignment: Paper #2 Malcome X once said “Clay is the finest Negro athlete I have ever know, the man who will mean more to his people than any athlete before him. He is more than Jackie Robinson was, because Robinson is the white man’s hero.” While Jackie Robinson and Cassius Clay were seen as two different, opposing sides of the Civil Rights Movement, they each used their spotlight and fame as athletes in the public eye to make their political stance during this time. Malcolm X makes a bold statement with his ideas, but Jackie Robinson made just as much if not more of a political statement that impacted America during this time even more than Muhammad Ali. Branch Rickey’s great experiment, Jackie Robinson

Jonathon Eig wrote in his book, Opening Day, “It was unclear if black American were on the brink of great gains or terrible troubles, but they were clearly on the brink.” Jackie Robinson served as a symbol for Black Americans success and therefore inspired other African Americans to take their own risks and action in order to challenge the structure of separation between the races at the time. Robinson’s infectiously appealing personality and actions helped him to attract to both audiences of the white and black population. What makes Robinson so successful was the constant pressure he felt not to fail and disappoint, because he was the one who could change the ideas of while and blacks. Eig quotes Robinson on the great effort he was challenged with: “There were times when deep depression and speculation as to whether it was all worthwhile would seize me.” Robinson did succeed in his efforts on the field as well as off the field. He is considered one of the original “pushes” in the civil rights movement and his efforts went a long way to help. While he did face lots of disapproval and hate from as a result of the actions and words he did and said, Robinson was celebrated as the leader and part of the developer of integration. At the time of the movement, the Vietnam War, Jackie Robinson was a figure that appealed to

Ali proved to be a strong-willed individual that did leave a huge impact on America, but what impact had increased as time continued and his faults have been somewhat forgotten. Those believing that Muhammad was more of a hero than Jackie Robinson most likely feel that Ali’s action of standing up against the United States government, when he was drafted, was an act of courage and bravery. The main reason why Ali didn 't wish to go to war in Vietnam was because he believed he shouldn 't be fighting for a country that ultimately didn 't support his own people within its own borders. Ali has developed into a figure of courage after the time that his happened. In the 1960s when this originally happened, Ali had more enemies as a result of his religious and social views and ideas than fans. Today we see that what he did may be considered heroic, but back when it actually occurred, Ali was seen as a nuisance to America. He was spreading word and influencing people to act against their own country in a time of war. Since Muhammad Ali’s retirement from boxing the course of time has faded criticism of Ali and left mostly just the positive parts of his life and career. As a society we’ve buried the controversial side of Ali’s existence in our minds and history simply remembers his greatness as an athlete. Robinson had an impact on