Jackie Robinson’s impact on culture and race

Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to play baseball as a professional sport

 Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) was the first African American to become a professional baseball player to join the Major Leagues. Today it may not be a surprising thing to see a Latino or African-American player when you watch a TV channel showing Major League Baseball. For some their favorite player could be someone of color. However baseball game in America has not always been all that welcoming to diversity as it the case now. This essay will discuss the accomplishments and life of Jackie Robinson and the impact of his role as a baseball player towards the Civil Rights movement. The essay clearly shows how Robison fought back against racial segregation and discrimination throughout his life.

 Jackie Roosevelt Robinson became famous in 1947 for he became the first African American to join the team in Major League Baseball. Through taking this road, it became a crucial but difficult one. The athlete was born on Jan. 31, 1919, in Georgia, as the youngest of five children. His father and mother separated when he was only one year old, and his mother took him and the other siblings to Pasadena California. Robinson grew up in poverty despite her mother’s effort to provide the family by doing odd jobs. When Robison joined high school, he was encouraged by his siblings to get involved in a sports team in school. He excelled in basketball, football, baseball, and track and broke various school records. Even in junior college, he continued to play these sports. He considered baseball to be his weak point in all sports. He joined UCLA to undertake his degree and was the first athlete to succeed in all the four sports. At that time UCLA had college sports teams that were highly racially integrated, but Robison was among the small minority non-white athletes to join these teams.

 Fighting against racism and cultural impact

 From an early age, Robinson was aware of the racism that existed in the society. While at a junior college in 1938 he was arrested disputing the detention of one of his African- American friends by the police. He also managed to escape jail sentences lasting several years, but this including many other run-ins with the police enabled him to earn a reputation of being highly combative against the oppression faced by the blacks. Robinson joined the U.S Army a time when the U.S joined the World War II. His military career was filled with lots of racial problems. For instance, he boarded a noun -segregated bus in Texas but was given instructions to sit in the back seat, but he refused. He faced custody for failure to a subordinate. Fortunately, he was acquitted a month later by the all-white jury, and this event foreshadowed many other prejudices that he had to face in his life.

            With the goal of joining the Major League teams, Robinson established relationships with the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager called Branch Rickey. Rickey saw that Robison had great potential. He was also sure that Robinson would face racial injustice and discrimination by joining the Major Leagues. Robison became the first black man to break the racial and color barrier as a baseman in 1880 at the age of 28. Many African Americans became his fans and started flooding the Dodgers games. Robinson became famous since the press, and general public gave him a positive view. He faced racial discrimination from his team members some saying they will not play if Robinson is in the game but the management took his side. Players were forced to play or quit by the managements. It was the racism that the Dodgers faced the other teams that made the later start uniting and more accepting of him.

            More African-Americans were allowed to join the Major Leagues after seeing the success of Robinson by helping the Dodgers won the National League pennant in 1949. His use of nonviolence approach in handling racial discrimination and insults as well as his unquestionable talent were the main points in challenging the traditional basis of segregation which marked the various aspects of American life. Robinson influenced the culture of American racially segregated life and also contributed significantly to the movement of civil rights. After being recognized for his talent through the Baseball Hall of Fame of 1962, he encouraged voters to only look at his qualifications in the field and not his cultural impact on the sports.

 He became the first black player to get inducted to the Cooperstown museum. Robinson through his effort made it easier for other blacks to ignite fires towards full equity. After the Truman’s decree of 1948, the quest for equal rights did gather momentum. The doctrine of separate but equal that had governed the relations of race in the US since the start of the 1900s gave way to the Board of Education of Topeka vs. Supreme Court decision in Brown in 1954, which struck down the legal barriers that the blacks had to face. Other changes also followed, and the pace of the civil rights movement quickened with black celebrities like Willie May, Larry Dobby, Monte Irvin, and Don Newcomb continued to prove that they could play and compete alongside the white ballplayers.

 Conclusion

Thus the way Robinson managed to break down the cultural and racial barriers in baseball it had a direct impact on other areas specifically the social, political and economic life. Robinson’s efforts had implications in all these areas in advancing the civil rights as well as other general human rights in the United States and beyond.

 Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in Write My Essay Today services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from pay for research paper services.