Jackie Robinson You may know Jackie Robinson; he was the first person to break the color barrier in American baseball. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919. His mom’s name was Mallie Robinson and she single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the only black family on their block. Growing up in a large single-parent family, Jackie did well in all sports and learned to make his own way in life. Jackie became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.
Jackie Robinson was forced to leave college and eventually decided to enlist in the U.S. Army. He was in the army for about two years and he had even progressed to second lieutenant. Jackie’s army career was cut short when he was court-martialed in relation to his objections with incidents of racial discrimination. Jackie left the army because he was discharged. This lead to him playing major league baseball. In 1945, Jackie played one season in the Negro Baseball League and traveling all over the Midwest with the Kansas City Monarchs. In 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey talked Jackie about joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie accepted the offer with the Dodgers. He then made his first debut, or appearance, on April 15th of that year (1947). Keep in mind, the Major Leagues had not had an African American player since 1889, which was a time when baseball was segregated.
When Jackie first put a Brooklyn Dodger uniform on he began the integration of professional athletics in America. He changed the racial segregation in the south and north. Jackie Robinson was selected as the NL's Most Valuable player of the Year. As a result of his great success it eventually leads him into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Jackie married a young nursing student named Rachel Isum. They met for the first time at UCLA, in 1946. Together, Jackie and Rachel had three children; two boys and one girl. Their names were Jackie Jr., Sharon, and David. His family was extremely supportive of him and his dreams during his early years of baseball. Now, as stated before, Rickey had came to Jackie Robinson, and offered him a spot on the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, something that not many people may know is that Rickey and Robinson had an understanding that Robinson would be silent for three seasons. This meant that Jackie wouldn’t really be exposed to the public much and this was for his own safety and reputation. Robinson was widely revered for his show of restraint in the face of jeers, slurs, and discrimination from fans, opposing players, and even his own teammates. You can look at experiences like that and see how much of a mature and strong-willed person Jackie was. For a long, long time he was not accepted by so many people. He was humiliated, insulted, and mocked by a number of crude and unruly people. But you see, Jackie understood something that not everyone can.
He knew that if he acted out, or retaliated on all of the people who hated him, he would only be proving them right. So he