The Dream I am a 9-year-old white kid named Gavin Long. I love baseball, and my favorite player is Jackie Robinson. I have always enjoyed watching Jackie Robinson play ever since he made his Major League debut on April 15, 1947. He is my favorite player because he is the first Negro baseball player. I hope one day I will get to see him play in person. My parents don’t like Jackie. I don’t understand why people hate him just because he is a Negro. I am not prejudiced. If a Negro baseball player is better than or as good as a white baseball player then I feel they have the right to play. Why should their skin color make any difference? One time Jackie was about to come up to the plate, but my parents turned off the T.V. “I don’t want to watch …show more content…
The letter was for Branch Rickey. It was a letter telling him to get rid of Jackie. The letter was written in my mom’s handwriting. “Why did you write this?” I asked her. Mom replied, “Because you don’t need to be watching that Negro anymore.” “Mom, why are Negroes bad?” “Well, they aren’t like us, son,” she told me, “and we don’t want them around.” I went to school still thinking about the issue at home. I still didn’t understand why Negroes are treated differently. I decided to at ask my history teacher. “Mr. Anderson, Why are Negroes treated differently?” “Um… it is different for everyone. Some people like them and others feel they should have no rights. What do you think, Gavin?” “I believe all Negroes need to be treated equally to the white people. What do you think, Mr. Anderson?” “I know Negroes were brought over here as slaves, and I think it would be better for them if they went back to Africa.” “But Mr. Anderson, what about Jackie Robinson? Do you think he should have the right to remain in the United States to play in the major leagues? After all, nobody his age has ever even seen …show more content…
He got up to the plate, and first pitch he got drilled in the head. Jackie and I shared the same emotion, anger. He handled his anger differently than I handled mine. I wanted to punch the pitcher in the face, but he just took his base calmly, not letting the pitcher see how upset he was. He taught me a good lesson on controlling my emotions. “Do you want to leave now?” asked my parents. “No, why?” I responded. “Because he is going to get thrown at more often, and we are afraid it will upset you.” “But Dad, I have waited a long time for this day, and he is and will always be my idol. If you let me stay I will be able to learn a lot from him. Not only am I seeing how he handles ugly people on the other team, I’m seeing how to play the game the right way.” That game Jackie Robinson went 3 for 3 with a homerun and a hit by pitch. I learned many things from this game. Jackie Robinson is and will always be my role model. All Negroes, if they are good ball players, deserve to play in the major leagues. Skin color should not matter. I got my parents to change their hearts about Negroes. After all, before, they were sending letters against him. Jackie is now not getting as many death threats, and people have accepted him into the major leagues. I now know it is not hard to change people’s minds about Negroes if they are like my parents and listen to their
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major-League baseball. His inspiring actions and wise words are remembered even now, and on Jackie Robinson day, all baseball players wear his jersey:“42”. Many biographies have been written, and one biography, The Noble Experiment. Recently, in April 2013, Legendary Motion Pictures released a movie entitled “42”. In many ways, the film and Jackie’s autobiography are alike. However, the are also different in many ways.
Jackie Robinson decided to fight to be the first African American to integrate the Major League Baseball (MLB). His autobiography states he “was forced to live with snubs rebuffs and rejections” ( Robinson). This quote shows that he was treated unfairly and disrespectfully. In Robinson’s autobiography it also states that Jackie Robinson broke the racial barrier and created equal oppurtunity proving that a “sport can’t be called national if blacks are barred from it”
Jackie Robinson changed the way baseball is looked at by Americans. Also, he broke a huge barrier in American History. Robinson helped get rid of segregation. He also, is down as one on of the most respected men in baseball history. Not only a wonderful ball player, but also a wonderful man who went through so much and helped create a path for current and future African American baseball players.
Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to play on the professional level, he was fearless, courageous, willful and strong. He was an advocate for civil rights, as well as a great baseball player. He had to try to keep quiet, and keep to himself while playing, but became a stronger and more extreme advocate over time. A leader on and off the fields dealing with much more than just baseball, he also had to deal with the criticism and racial tensions of a prominently white game. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was a showman who knew how to make money and fame in baseball “he had made a fortune for the cardinals as well as himself, and black talent could argument his bottom line by transforming his struggling dodgers into a power house” (Zeiler, 17). He wanted to make his team great by any means possible. He put his eyes on Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson changed the game and the world, and will always be a huge figure in baseball and civil rights.
His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception for the Civil Rights revolution. By becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the major leagues he brought down an old misconception that black athletes were inferior to white athletes. Successively his example would inspire those advocating for their civil rights, he lived out a message of nonviolence similar to the one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out. Despite the constant prejudice he faced in his sport, he was able to keep himself composed and never retaliate. Instead of fighting hate with hate, Robinson was able to gain the respect of his white peers for his calmness and his courage. In ending segregation in baseball before any other institution in America, Jackie Robinson demonstrated to American society that African Americans were to be treated with respect and dignity. Robinson was never afraid to speak up against injustices, on one occasion when a service station attendant refused to allow Robinson to use the restroom, Robinson protested by refusing to fill the bus’s 50-gallon tanks at that gas station (cite to pg 47). His protests are a foreshadowing of civil rights movements such as the montgomery bus boycott. Robinson’s moral indignation with the injustices in his world would serve to inspire
In the film (A Jackie Robinson Story) Branch Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, tells Jackie that he does not want a player who is strong enough to fight back, but a player who is strong enough to not fight back. He wanted Jackie to focus solely on playing the game and not on what the fans had to say about him. Rickey also knew that Jackie would be strong enough to not fight back or get angry when the fans started yelling at him. I think that because Jackie was so strong in his character and stood up for himself and other people of color that he was very successful by the end of his career. Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish superstar, was highly respected among his fellow Jews however he was not accepted by Americans during this time. Although he was almost always ridiculed every time he stepped up to bat, Greenberg continued to pursue his dreams of being a Major League baseball player. As a Jew, Greenberg participated in many Jewish holidays and religious practices. Some of these practices were required for Greenberg to attend given his religion but because all other baseball players were not Jewish, or practicing the same Jewish holidays that he was, they would not have the conflict of dealing with said holidays. Sometimes baseball games and Jewish holidays would
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. He attended UCLA where he became the first athlete to receive varsity letters in 4 sports; baseball, basketball, football, and track. Jackie did not have enough money to afford college and was forced to drop out. He then decided to enlist in the U.S. Army. With very swift progress, after only two years Jackie earned the rank of lieutenant. Jackie’s career in the army was cut short when he was court-martialed in relation of objections to racial discrimination. No scene was made and Jackie received an honorable discharge when he decided to resign from the army. He took a stand when he was in the army and made changes against racial discrimination that stood until racial discrimination completely ended. Jackie stood up for what was right and was not afraid to voice his opinion. Jackie said, “A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie never knew what was coming when he gets recognized by Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Rickey’s decision upon signing Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs to the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1946, and later bringing him up to the Brooklyn Dodgers, a Major league team, in April of 1947, impacted more lives than he ever would have imagined (“Robinson as a Dodger: 1947-1956”). Breaking the color line in professional sports contributed to the elimination of greater social issues...
Jackie Robinson’s career escalated into the big leagues due to a guy named Branch Ricky taking a chance on him. Ricky knew that it would be hard for him to do, but he knew what Jackie was capable of, he knew that Jackie wouldn’t retaliate to all the threats he got in the news, by both fans and teammates alike. Branch Ricky knew that it was going to be a challenge for a young, black athlete to do, but Jackie promised, to Ricky and himself, that he wouldn’t fight back. Jackie’s own teammates, of the
From his influence in baseball and his team to his great impact on the civil rights movement he is a person that people try to mirror. "There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free." This was Robinson’s goal. He assisted a huge step in civil rights and freedoms in the United States. For these reasons, there is no doubt that Jackie was one of the top influences in the civil rights
Jackie Robinson has made one of the biggest impacts on the game of baseball to date. Jackie was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919. He was born to Mallie and Jerry Robinson and was the fifth child and the fourth son. Jackie’s father ran out on his family in hopes of a better life when Jackie was only one years old. After his father left, they moved to an all white suburb. At that time most neighborhoods were segregated, so his neighbors made a petition to relocate his family which fortunately did not work. Jackie was raised by a single mother and in poverty. When Jackie was about fourteen years old, he was part of a street gang. One of the people on his street told him that if he would keep hanging out with the gang he would disappoint his mother (Scott 31). In my opinion those words saved
Known for his speed, Jackie Robinson was not one of the most notable Negro League stars at the time of his signing. He tried out for the Monarchs in 1945 after leaving the military. While he got accepted, his stats were not up to par with some of the other more famous Negro League players. He was good enough to play shortstop and he spent the whole of his Negro League career with the Monarchs. He might not have been the best player in the Negro Leagues, but he was better than some of the Major League players. It was this fact in combination with his attitude toward integration that got him signed into the Minor Leagues in 1945. He was willing to remain humble toward the hate he would receive in the white leagues. His goal would not be to boost his ego, but to make integration easier for the black players to come after him. He was a reasonable man, who took his job serious...
People might say that Racism is a part of life in history and you have to deal with it, but it fails the support because back in the day, there was a thing called the middle passage and was very harmful. The middle passage was where people chained slaves to the bottom of a ship and barely fed them and they also went to the bathroom on themselves. The theme is racism is not acceptable and can cause a lot of issues between human beings. Jackie Robinson was a person who was humble and treated all humankind equally.
According to Jessie Jackson, "A champion wins a World Series or an Olympic event and is hoisted on the shoulders of the fans. A hero carries the people on his shoulders" (Robinson 3). This is what made Jackie Robinson a hero to African-Americans. Robinson's achievement goes beyond the statistics and championships he earned on the field. He opened the door for his entire race to play professional sports and gain acceptance as more desegregation took place. After fighting in World War II from 1941 until 1944, Jackie played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues from 1944 until 1946. In 1946, he was selected as the best person to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
Jackie Robinson was one of the most profound individuals to ever walk on this earth. Robinson established a reputation as a man who never tolerated insults to his dignity (Kahn 6). One of his accomplishments was entering the major leagues and is one of the most remarkable and inspiring accomplishments in sports history. When Robinson became the first black to play in Major League Baseball, he changed Americans’ views on racism forever.