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
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the Negro baseball player anymore!” yelled dad. “But, Daddy, he is my favorite player.” “I know, son, but he is a Negro.” “Well,I still hope one day I’ll get to see him play.” “NO! You will never get to see him play EVER! Now go to bed” “Yes, sir.” I woke up this morning, and lying on the table was a letter.
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
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Africa.” I walked away, feeling sick to my stomach. I just didn’t understand why he believed that way. By this time school was over, and I was excited to listen to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ broadcast of the game. Then one day not long after that I came home to find three tickets to a Brooklyn Dodgers game on the table.. “What is this all about?” I asked. “We know you think all Negroes should be accepted In the United States and should have all the rights we do.“ “Mom and Dad, what changed your minds?” “We thought about what you said, and we really put deep thought into the issue. When we did, we realized there is no reason why they should be treated any differently. One of the things you will learn when you get older it is okay to change your mind when you learn more about an issue.” I felt really good that they took me seriously and listened to my opinion. A week later, there he is, standing right in front of me. The excitement I feel is beyond words. I am finally seeing my idol play baseball in real life! Before the game, I got a baseball out of my pocket and a pen so he could sign it. He walked up to me, smiling, and grabbed the ball and the pen and signed perfectly. This is the best day of my life! He played second base and hit first.
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
children.
In “Jackie’s Debut: A Unique Day,” is written by Mike Royko, and appeared in the Chicago Daily News on Wednesday, October 15, 1972, the day after Jackie passed away. This article is about one of the most famous and cultural African Americans to ever play the game of baseball. In the beginning of the story, there were wise men sitting in the tavern that had something to say about Jackie. They weren’t the kindest words and said that he would ruin the game of baseball. Jackie was going to be at Wrigley Field and the kid had to see him perform. Him and his friend always walked to the baseball games to avoid streetcar fare. On that day, Wrigley Field was packed. He had never seen anything like it, there were about 47,000 people there and at the
Jackie went through a lot. Coaches and players would say awful things off to the side, and Jackie would just have to block them out. Players would purposely throw balls at his head and step on him when they ran through the bases. Jackie never once fought back. He would just try and beat them in baseball.
Jackie Robinson stands at front plate, with the bat gripped firmly in his hands. The crowd, rather than cheering, was booing and shouting at him. Racial slurs were throw before the baseball ever was, but Jackie kept calm. He couldn't let them win. The pitcher finally threw the ball. Crack! The ball sails over the stadium and the crowd is full of convoluted cries and shouts. Jackie jogged home. He had won that round.
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.
(Robinson). This proves that he broke a racial barrier that needed to be broken. Although Jackie faced threats racial slurs and more he got through it and integrated into the MLB and changed his
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.
Although Jackie Robinson was not the best African-American baseball player of his time, his attitude and ability to handle racist harassment led the way for the rest of his race to play Major League Baseball, amongst other sports. Being accepted into professional sports also helped African-Americans become more easily accepted into other aspects of life. Jackie's impact in the world for the black population is enormous.
To the average person, in the average American community, Jackie Robinson was just what the sports pages said he was, no more, no less. He was the first Negro to play baseball in the major leagues. Everybody knew that, but to see the real Jackie Robinson, you must de-emphasize him as a ball player and emphasize him as a civil rights leader. That part drops out, that which people forget. From his early army days, until well after his baseball days, Robinson had fought to achieve equality among whites and blacks. "Jackie acted out the philosophy of nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr., before the future civil rights leader had thought of applying it to the problem of segregation in America"(Weidhorn 93). Robinson was an avid member of the NAACP and helped recruit members because of his fame from baseball. Jackie had leadership qualities and the courage to fight for his beliefs. Unwilling to accept the racism he had run into all his life, he had a strong need to be accepted at his true worth as a first-class citizen. Robinson was someone who would work for a cause - that of blacks and of America - as well as for himself and his team.
Jackie Robinson’s ability to successfully integrate his sport set the stage for many others to advocate for an end to segregation in their respective environments. His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception of 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.
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
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.
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...
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
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...
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