Tribute To Jackie Robinson Major League Baseball example essay topic

Throughout history many different minority groups have been discriminated against. Although some of these minority groups are hated many members of these groups continue to make positive contributions to American society that help shape our country. One of these individuals is Jackie Robinson. His influence on the game of baseball has set standards for all of baseball fans to admire. The message he made Americans realize is that Blacks are just as capable of doing things as whites are, and any other group for that matter. Throughout most of American history African Americans have been discriminated against for no reason other that the fact that their skin is a different color.

Hatred of blacks stems back to the days of slavery. Blacks have arguably had it the toughest out of all of the minority groups in American history. From being able to use the same bathrooms as whites to not being able to attend school to not being able to hold a job just because of the color of their skin. The end of the civil war marked the time when the fight for equality took full swing.

After the war southern state legislators, dominated by former confederates, passed laws known as black codes that severely limited the rights of black. The codes were slightly different from state to state but they usually contained limitations on black occupations and property owning. In response to these laws, Congress, in 1866 seized the initiative of the remaking of the south. Congress, especially the Republicans, wanted to ensure that the south was correctly rebuilt with the newly freed blacks as visible members of society. By 1868 integrated southern legislators had repealed most of the laws that blatantly discriminated against blacks. Many of these unjust codes in the south led to th creation of three new constitutional amendments.

The 13th amendment abolished slavery. The 14th amendment made blacks citizens of the united states and prohibited state laws that denied citizens equal protection under the law. the 15th amendment, which was passed in 1870, prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Congress also passed a number of enforcement acts designed to implement the new amendments. However, by 1877 the democratic party had regained control of the southern states, ending reconstruction.

The strides that blacks had made, holding political offices, having the right to vote, and participating as equal members of society, were reversed. With the Democrats in power, the south gradually re-imposed racially discriminatory laws. In order to take away black political power gained during reconstruction, the democratic party in the south began to prevent them from voting. There were a variety of methods to stop blacks from voting, including poll taxes, fees which were charged at voting booths that most blacks could not afford, and literacy test, which required that voters were able to read and write.

Since it had been illegal to teach slaves how to read, most adult former slaves were illiterate. The democrats also began to create a segregated society that separated blacks from whites in almost every sphere of life. They passed laws that created separate schools and separate facilities. In addition the supreme court turned its back on racial equality.

In the civil rights cases, the court declared that congress had no power to prevent private acts of discrimination. Discrimination still exists today as much as you would like to believe otherwise. It is unfortunate that it does and in some cases there is nothing you can do about it. If I was to write this paper on the amount of discriminations that blacks alone had to face it would be impossible. Before the 20th century several predominately white baseball teams had at one time fielded black players. The first black player to become widely known was John Jackson.

For unknown reasons, he played baseball under the name John Bud Fowler. The earliest mention of Fowler a player appeared in 1878, when he pitched for a team in Che alsa, Mass. Fowler also played second base for several other primary white minor league clubs during the 1870's and 1880's. In 1883 manager Cap Anson of the Chicago White Stockings (later the Chicago Cubs) announced that he would not allow his team to play any team that had black players on their roster.

When the White Stalking's played Toledo the teams black catcher was kept out of the starting lineup, although he joined the game later. In 1887 Anson carried out his threat, and a game with Walker and black pitching star George Stove was cancelled. Other owners and managers later adopted Anson's policy. Fleet Walker and his both Wel day Walker were the last black players in baseball until 1947. Jackie Robinson was the next African American to play major league baseball. Jackie was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919.

He was the youngest child of Jerry and M allie Robinson. In his high school attending John Muir Technical High School Jackie was a star athlete in football, baseball, track and basketball. Unfortunately for Jackie and much to the disappointment of his family, he was only able to achieve the minimum average necessary to be eligible for varsity athletics. Luckily for Jackie he was able to achieve an athletic scholarship for football to attend UCLA. While attending school there Jackie became the 1st UCLA student athlete to achieve varsity letters in 4 sports. In 1941 Jackie left college to join the US army.

He attended Officers Candidate School, and after graduating he became a second lieutenant in what was then a segregated army. Jackie often did not agree with the way blacks in his unit were treated. He was such a strong believer in equal rights that he had to be arrested by military police when he refused a bus drivers orders to sit in the back of the bus. A court martial a quitted him and in 1944 he received an honorable discharge with the ranks of 1st lieutenant. After his discharge he coached for a semester at the Samuel Houston College for Negroes in Austin, Texas. There he set up the schools first complete physical training program and coached the basketball team to the city championship.

Many of his athletic medals and trophies remained on display there after Jackie decided to accept a $400 dollar a month position playing baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American Baseball leagues. Later that year, Robinson signed with Branch Rickey, the general manger of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson spent the 1946 season playing with the Montreal Royal's of the international league which was a minor league team of the Dodgers. After one season with the Royal's Jackie was called up to the Brooklyn team in 1947, becoming the first black player to play major league baseball in the 20th century.

He made his Dodger debut at first base on April 15, 1947. Breaking baseballs color barrier was a serious challenge, and Robinson met fierce resistance from many players and fans who believed in the separation of people on the basis of race. Warned by Branch Ricky not to retaliate or acknowledge taunts, Robinson endured malicious catcalls and racial slurs from the stands. He also received unsigned death threats saying if he continued to play baseball he would be killed.

Some rival players went beyond verbal abuse to intimidate Jackie. They threw pitches at Robinson's head, spat on him, when they slid into the base he was covering they would attempt to injure him with the spikes on their shoes. With the support of Branch Rickey and a little encouragement from his teammates, the determined Robinson survived these attacks and helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant in 1947. During the season he led the NL with 29 stolen bases; sportswriters named the courageous and talented Robinson rookie of the year.

Graceful fielding, timely hitting, and aggressive base running typified Robinson's exiting style of play. Over ten seasons Robinson executed on of baseballs most exciting plays, stealing home, not once but 19 times. Robinson's contributions won new Dodger fans, increased attendance, and helped make the Dodgers one of the most competitive teams in baseball. His success with the Dodgers also opened the way for other black players to sigh major league contracts. It wasn t until 1959 that all 16 major league teams had at least one black player on their roster. Robinson retired from baseball after the 1956 season.

He finished with a. 311 career batting average. Robinson was introduced to the National Baseball hall of fame in 1962, the first black player to receive that honor. Robinson also wanted to be the first black manager of a major league team but unfortunately no team offered him that position. There is a reason why so many young black men have tried to follow in Robinson's footsteps, pouring all their ambition into the hope of becoming a professional athlete. Sports is one of the few arenas of American society in which the playing field is really level.

If you get across the finish line first, you win; no one claims that you are lowering standards. If you are as good as Robinson was, your acclaim transcends racial boundaries. But unless you get a chance to compete, you can never demonstrate your ability. Robinson had the guts to speak out against racial injustice after he retired from baseball. In 1963 he traveled to Birmingham to be with Martin Luther King Jr. after four little black girls were blown to bits in the bombing of a church.

The answer for the Negro is to be found, not in segregation or separation, but by his insistence upon moving into his rightful place, the same place as that of any other American within our society, he argued. He didn t back down from his integrationist stance even when more militant blacks called him an uncle tom. As a tribute to Jackie Robinson Major league baseball recently held the 50th anniversary to his entrance into the majors. As a remembrance of Jackie Robinson's contributions not only to baseball, but to all of society his number 42 is retired from all teams from now on. Jackie Robinson has won a place in many Americans hearts as well in many history books. I think this is a good thing and his message should be tought to many new generations.

I feel that if one person could realize the injustices of our society that why cant the rest of the people realize the same thing. Is the color of someone's skin a justifiable reason to hate them. I guess the answer to that question is up to you. If you are going to be ignorant enough to hate someone because of the color of their skin you leave yourself open to be hated for something as minute as that as well. If people would just sit down and think about why they hate a certain race or religious group they would realize that there is no point, life is to short to spend hating people.

Bibliography

John M Rosenberg, The Story of baseball, Random House, New York 120,121. Current Biography 1947, The H.
W. Wilson Company Chadwick, Alex. Illustrated History Of Baseball. London England: Bison Group, 1988 pp 77 78 84 87 Segregation in the United States, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia.
c 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation.