Jackie Robinson Thesis

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson did more in his short baseball career than anyone else ever did for the sport. He was always able to push on despite the criticisms and punishment he took from others. No other man can say that they broke the color barrier or that they changed the sport of baseball forever. To do what he did required strength and the ability to endure physical and mental pain. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player. He knew that if he failed to integrate baseball he could delay civil rights. By doing what he did, Jackie Robinson contributed greatly to the civil rights movement. His life experiences and hardships allowed him to leave a mark on civil rights that extended farther than just baseball.

His middle name was chosen after Teddy Roosevelt because of his public opposition to racism. He had four brothers and sisters (Rampersad 15). As an infant Jackie Robinson’s father left him and his brothers and sisters. He would later try and return but Mallie, Jackie’s mother, had already moved on and wanted nothing to do with him. Mallie was eager to leave things behind so she moved. Robinson and his family moved to Pasadena, California (Rampersad 18). After two years she was able to collect enough money to move to a new house on Pepper Street which was an all-white neighborhood. Later on in his life Robinson went to The University of California, Los Angeles (Johnson 480). While at UCLA Robinson became the first person to letter in four different sports. It was also at UCLA where he met Rachel Isun, who would play a major role in his life. In 1941

When he returned from Hawaii he would be drafted into the army and entered Officers’ Candidate School in Fort Riley, Kansas. While he was in the army Jackie spoke against discrimination to the point that it got him in trouble. Robinson was court martialed but ended up leaving with an honorable discharge. The army did not want to keep a black man who did not know his role.

Jackie Robinson first played baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues in 1945. Robinson was first pursued by the Boston Red Sox, a Major League team, but they never replied back to him after his workout (Rampersad 89). Later on in August of 1945 Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent a scout to observe and bring in Jackie Robinson (Rampersad 125). When the scout approached Robinson he told him that Rickey was going to start a Negro League team called the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers. What the scout and Robinson did not understand was the persistence of Rickey to meet and speak with him. Robinson eventually agreed and on August 28 in Brooklyn met with Branch Rickey. Rickey immediately told him to marry because he knew that if Robinson accepted he would need the support of a loving wife (Rampersad 126). Rickey then shocked him when he said he wanted