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Brief history of racism in sports
Brief history of racism in sports
Why jackie robinson playing baseball changed the usa
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In this passage, i will discuss the hardships of Brooklyn Dodgers and Major League Baseball legend, Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in all professional and amature sports. I will discuss the ways that Jackie Robinson changed the way America thought about Segregation and white supremacy. Also in This paper i will discuss the hardships felt by his wife Rachel Robinson, as well as Wendell Smith, The man who solely reported on Jackie Robinson. Lastly, I will report over the hardships of the head man himself, Branch Rickey.
Jackie Robinson started off his days as a member of the Negro League where he played for Franchise Team, The Kansas City Monarchs. Where he would begin to make a name for himself on the baseball
Jack Roosevelt Johnson was born in the very segregated south in Cairo, Georgia around 1919. Jackie grew up loving baseball and knew that is what he wanted to do. About two decades before Jackie was born the MLB was split between white and Negro leagues. Jackie being an African-American, of course played for the Negro Leagues. He strived in this sport. He lead the Negro League with most stolen bases and had a great batting average. Both his statistics and love for the game brought the name Jackie Robinson to the attention of the Brooklyn Dodger's manager Branch Rickey.
“In 1946, there were sixteen Major League Baseball teams, with a total of 400 players on their rosters, every one of the players was white. But when opening day came in 1947, that number dropped to 399, and one man stood apart. (42 2:30)” Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut on April 15, 1947, as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Making Jackie Robinson the first African-American to play Major League Baseball (MLB). Jackie’s transition from the Negro Leagues to MLB was not an easy one. As a player, he transitioned very well, but it was Robinson’s teammates, Dodgers fans, the opposing teams and their fans that tested Jackie every chance they got, some hotels even prohibited the Dodgers to stay in their establishments
America’s pastime has been complicated in the last couple centuries, and integration has been a big key in the game of baseball. Like most of America in the 1940’s, baseball was segregated, with whites playing in the Major League system and African-Americans playing in the Negro Leagues. There were many factors that made whites and blacks come together, including World War II. Integration caused many downs in the time period, but as baseball grew and grew it was one of the greatest accomplishments in the history. It was hard to find the right black man to start this, they needed a man with baseball abilities and a man who didn’t need to fight back.
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 played baseball in 1944 for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro American League where he caught the eye of Clyde Sukeforth, a scout working for Branch Rickey.
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, born Jack Roosevelt Robinson, is known for being the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia as the grandson of a slave. He was the youngest of five children and at six months old his father left them. At this time, because it was so hard for African-Americans in the south, his mother Mallie Robinson decided to move them to Pasadena, California where it was easier for African-Americans to live and find jobs.
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.
All groups noted above didn’t have a place in this era of baseball; they were on the other side of the race barrier. With the growing of the sport arose a lack of a cheap talent pool. Segregation hindered the ability to introduce cheap talent from other races. The management of teams was looking for a solution in order to widen the talent pool for their respective leagues. People began to notice talent in the “American colonies” like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines; it seemed as if everywhere there was an American presence there were talented ball players. Even before America was involved in these nations, America had begun to envision the game as intercultural exchange that would build relations. The decision to include Latinos into the leagues allowed an expansion of the talent pool while still barring African Americans from participating in organized baseball. A racial structure established during Jim Crow upholds the notion of a color line as an exclusionary measure to prevent the influence of blacks into the game that represents American
"Over the decades, African American teams played 445-recorded games against white teams, winning sixty-one percent of them." (Conrads, pg.8) The Negro Leagues were an alternative baseball group for African American baseball player that were denied the right to play with the white baseball payers in the Major League Baseball Association. In 1920, the first African American League was formed, and that paved the way for numerous African American innovation and movements. Fences, and Jackie Robinson: The Biography, raises consciousness about the baseball players that have been overlooked, and the struggle they had to endure simply because of their color.
The time came on April 15, 1947 when the man who would change all this stepped up to bat marking the first time an African American played in the major leagues. Jackie Robinson was the man and the hero of baseball to the black people. With much hope Jackie Robinson and the African American race marked the beginning of the struggle for the ultimate goal which was equality. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the son of a sharecropper and life wasn’t ea...
Historical and sociological research has shown, through much evidence collection and analysis of primary documents that the American sporting industry can give an accurate reflection, to a certain extent, of racial struggles and discrimination into the larger context of American society. To understand this stance, a deep look into aspects of sport beyond simply playing the game must be a primary focus. Since the integration of baseball, followed shortly after by American football, why are the numbers of African American owners, coaches and managers so very low? What accounts for the absence of African American candidates from seeking front office and managerial roles? Is a conscious decision made by established members of each organization or is this matter a deeper reflection on society? Why does a certain image and persona exist amongst many African American athletes? Sports historians often take a look at sports and make a comparison to society. Beginning in the early 1980’s, historians began looking at the integration of baseball and how it preceded the civil rights movement. The common conclusion was that integration in baseball and other sports was indeed a reflection on American society. As African Americans began to play in sports, a short time later, Jim Crow laws and segregation formally came to an end in the south. Does racism and discrimination end with the elimination of Jim Crow and the onset of the civil rights movement and other instances of race awareness and equality? According to many modern sports historians and sociologists, they do not. This paper will focus on the writings of selected historians and sociologists who examine th...
One of the major stands that were made during a black athlete’s tenure during his or her sport were their statements on racism. Racism in America was an ongoing situation in the 1900’s that seemed to have no resolve before black athletes took a stand. One prime example can be Jackie Robinson who became the first African-American athlete to play baseball in the modern era. Jackie grew up in one of the most racist towns in Pasadena, California and came from a poor family as his parents were sharecroppers and...
Simon, Scott. 2002. Jackie Robinson and the integration of Baseball. Turning points. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons.
The first African American to play Major League baseball once said, “a life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives”; this was, of course, Jackie Robinson. Similar to Muhammad Ali, he faced problems head on a...