jackie robinson breaking the color BARRIER
Jackie Robinson was surely a significant figure during the Civil Rights movement. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. The MLB (Major League Baseball) before 1947 only allowed whites to play in it. They let the African Americans play, but they had to play in their own league called the Negro Leagues. This emphasized the "separate-but-equal" saying, since both colors could play baseball, but just in separate leagues. These Negro Leagues had an abundance of great baseball players that never got to play in the MLB just because of their skin color. Jackie Robinson was not about to let his skin color prevent him from making a name for himself in the MLB.
Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, officially becoming the first African American to be a part of the MLB. His electrifying style of stealing bases and showing his tremendous speed showed the MLB what the Negro Leagues were all about. He stole home a total of 19 times in his career, which is completely amazing. While in the MLB, Jackie Robinson won 6 pennants in 10 seasons, and was National League MVP in 1949 because of his .342 batting average, 37 steals, and 124 RBIs. He retired in 1956. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Robinson's legacy will definitely live forever. He has made changes in two different things. One thing was how African Americans acted in response to people taunting them for their race. Jackie Robinson had a reputation of being cool and never losing his temper, even when most people would have. The fans at the games could taunt him all they wanted, but Robinson was never affected by anything people had yelled to him while he was on the field. This contributed towards the nonviolent forms of Civil Rights movements, like sit-ins, and what Martin Luther King Jr. had promoted. Another thing Jackie Robinson had changed was the style of play in America's past time (baseball). Jackie Robinson brought a quick style of play to baseball, and there are many videos of him sprinting on the base paths and people just amazed at his speed. His speed was a large part in Jackie Robinson's success. Before Jackie Robinson was in the MLB, there weren't many ballplayers that made as big as an effect on baseball games by always being a threat to steal any base. He had also made stealing home seem so easy and almost a casual thing, when in reality, it is one of the toughest things to do in baseball. The positive contributions that Jackie Robinson had done to the United States will never be forgotten.
Question 1: How had the other baseball players reacted towards an African American being in the MLB?
Answer: Most baseball players acted angrily and harsh towards him. Pitchers threw at him, and players in the field tried spiking them with their cleats. They attempted anything to try and get him hurt and injured so he cannot play in the MLB anymore. Some of Jackie Robinson's teammates did not even want him on their team and ignored him. However, there were some players that respected him, and they were some of his very few friends he had to trust and play baseball with.
Question 2: What symbol did Jackie Robinson mostly show for African Americans?
Answer: Jackie Robinson showed many symbols, but arguably the greatest symbol was hope. In the first half of the 1900s, African Americans were still treated as garbage by most American citizens. Robinson just integrating into the previously all-white MLB from the Negro Leagues where he played on the Kansas City Monarchs gave African Americans a tremendous amount of hope. They had now seen a light at the end of the tunnel, and they kept their heads up for greater things to come; like a society where blacks were treated as equals, with no segregation.
http://baseballhall.org/hof/robinson-jackie
Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, officially becoming the first African American to be a part of the MLB. His electrifying style of stealing bases and showing his tremendous speed showed the MLB what the Negro Leagues were all about. He stole home a total of 19 times in his career, which is completely amazing. While in the MLB, Jackie Robinson won 6 pennants in 10 seasons, and was National League MVP in 1949 because of his .342 batting average, 37 steals, and 124 RBIs. He retired in 1956. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Robinson's legacy will definitely live forever. He has made changes in two different things. One thing was how African Americans acted in response to people taunting them for their race. Jackie Robinson had a reputation of being cool and never losing his temper, even when most people would have. The fans at the games could taunt him all they wanted, but Robinson was never affected by anything people had yelled to him while he was on the field. This contributed towards the nonviolent forms of Civil Rights movements, like sit-ins, and what Martin Luther King Jr. had promoted. Another thing Jackie Robinson had changed was the style of play in America's past time (baseball). Jackie Robinson brought a quick style of play to baseball, and there are many videos of him sprinting on the base paths and people just amazed at his speed. His speed was a large part in Jackie Robinson's success. Before Jackie Robinson was in the MLB, there weren't many ballplayers that made as big as an effect on baseball games by always being a threat to steal any base. He had also made stealing home seem so easy and almost a casual thing, when in reality, it is one of the toughest things to do in baseball. The positive contributions that Jackie Robinson had done to the United States will never be forgotten.
Question 1: How had the other baseball players reacted towards an African American being in the MLB?
Answer: Most baseball players acted angrily and harsh towards him. Pitchers threw at him, and players in the field tried spiking them with their cleats. They attempted anything to try and get him hurt and injured so he cannot play in the MLB anymore. Some of Jackie Robinson's teammates did not even want him on their team and ignored him. However, there were some players that respected him, and they were some of his very few friends he had to trust and play baseball with.
Question 2: What symbol did Jackie Robinson mostly show for African Americans?
Answer: Jackie Robinson showed many symbols, but arguably the greatest symbol was hope. In the first half of the 1900s, African Americans were still treated as garbage by most American citizens. Robinson just integrating into the previously all-white MLB from the Negro Leagues where he played on the Kansas City Monarchs gave African Americans a tremendous amount of hope. They had now seen a light at the end of the tunnel, and they kept their heads up for greater things to come; like a society where blacks were treated as equals, with no segregation.
http://baseballhall.org/hof/robinson-jackie