FREE ESSAY ON JACKIE ROBINSON

JACKIE ROBINSON

In 1947 Jackie Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and was the first black to do
so. Before that there were separate leagues. Segregation was a big issue and Jackie made
it even bigger by calling for it to stop and letting every one have a chance to show
their talent. He led the path for a less difficult life for blacks, but that path had
hate, misery, and pain as obstacles and only a special person like Robinson could
overcome those obstacles.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in a small farmhouse near Cairo,
Georgia. He had a tough up bringing and did not have good housing. Jackie and his family
lived on a white owned farm and his father worked on the farm(Falkner 22). Jackie did not
have a clear path to the right future. The overriding reality of Robinson's early years
was that, for black youth, the future was closed. Simple as that. It didn't take
sociologist or a Jim Crow sign to tell him that schools, jobs, opportunities, careers
were severely limited(Falkner 28). Jackie had his eyes opened to prejudice at a very
young age. Everyday prejudice was Robinson's silent companion wherever he went, to and
from school, to the neighborhood parks, to the segregated movie theaters, to the curbside
markets where the Bond- Bread truck, the vegetable truck, the milk truck, sold their
wares because most local food merchants refused to welcome nonwhites in their stores
(Falkner 30). Jackie grew up in the era of segregation. During the period of segregation
in the United States racial controversies were, of course, serious issues that often held
deadly consequences. Lynchings were common. And each time blacks attempted to expand
their limited citizenship, the response was usually accompanied with violence(Dorinson
159). For Jackie to take all the horrible injustices that he saw an had done to him is an
extraordinary sign of what kind of man Jackie was.
When Jackie was young he and his friends used to sneak into the local reservoir to escape
the unbearable heat. In one incident a sheriff's deputy taunted them, Look there, niggers
swimming in my drinking water. And then, when the youths were arrested and taken to jail,
one of the sixteen, crowded into a small cell, pleaded that he was hot and thirsty. The
sheriff said, The coon's hungry. Go buy a watermelon. According to the story, watermelon
was actually purchase and sliced and handed to Robinson and his friends, who were
mockingly photographed by the police as they ate the fruit(Falkner 33). This was a very
painful experience for Jackie he never wanted anyone else to feel that way maybe that is
why he never gave up his dream to break the color barriers of major league baseball.
Jackie had a tough time getting his chance to play in the majors. The owners besides
sharing in the general prejudice, were afraid that integration would cost them business
by driving away the white fans without bringing in enough black fans to make up the
difference(Weidhorn 34). A lot lot of black athletes had trouble make it to the big
leagues. Though black talent was obviously out there, not many owners- or players, fans,
or reporters- were eager to change things(Weidhorn 34). When Jackie was playing for a
minor league team he had many encounters with racism. When Robinson's team was playing
the Orioles in an exhibition game they beat them 4-2 and the white fans of the Orioles
were not happy. Jackie and two other black teammates stayed in the locker room all night
due to lurking lynch mobs waiting outside the ballpark. Vigilantes were screaming, Come
out of there Robinson, you nigger son of a bitch, we'll getcha! We'll getcha(Falkner
139). When Jackie was playing in Georgia the KKK had said they were going to kill him if
he showed his face after the game or even before (Weidhorn 118). Robinson kept going to
make is dream of playing pro ball happen. Jackie was getting closer to breaking the race
barrier in baseball, He went to try out in Boston and during the whole try out there
screams from the fans saying Get those niggers off the field(Weidhorn35). This inncedent
still did not set him back and he kept working and fighting to be were he belonged.
Finally at age 28 Robinson made history by being the first black player to be signed by a
major league baseball team. The Brooklyn Dodgers signed him and a man named Branch Rickey
made it happen. He told Robinson that now matter how bad it got and how many people
messed with him the only way he could get back at them was hitting homers (Shapiro 127).
As soon as Jackie was brought up to the majors the abuse began, with hate mail and
threats,Get out of the game or be killed. Get out or your wife is dead(Dorinson 18). In
one of Jackie's first games they were playing the Phillies. One of the players on the
Phills yelled Hey nigger, why don't you go back to the cotton fields were you belong,
Jackie responded by going 4 for 6 that day with two homerun and 5 RBI's(Rowan 182). While
the Dodgers were in Chicago playing the Cubs Jackie could not stay at the same hotel as
his teammates because of his color (Shapiro112). Even though Jackie could play ball he
was still limited to what he could do. After 1949, a black person could be accepted on
the ball field, but the country would still witness bloodshed over the issue of
integrated bathrooms, restaurants, or schools(Dorinson 8). Jackie ignored it all,
everything from racial slurs to not being able to stay or eat somewhere because of his
color, and he became the first black man to play in the major's.
Jackie Robinson is a great American hero. Robinson opened doors for many black athletes.
Jackie showed blacks that they could succeed in life during that time and he made it less
difficult for other black athletes to succeed. He also showed people that every slander
and ethnic slur anybody ever said or wrote about him was wasted effort because he was too
strong and to brave to give up his dream to be a pro baseball player.
Bibliography
Working Bibliography
Rowan, Charles. Wait till Next Year. New York: Random House, 1960.
Dorinson, Joseph. Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream. New York: 
M.E. Sharpe, 1998.
Falkner, David. Great Time Coming. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995.
Weidhorn, Manfred. Jackie Robinson. New York: Macmillan, 1993.
Shapiro, Milton J. Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1973.