jackie robinson Essay -- essays research papers

The grandson of a slave, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was natural on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia he was the youngest of five children. Jackie grew up very(prenominal) poor, but little did he know that his athletic ability would readable the doors for his future. After his father deserted the family when Jackie was six months old, his mother, Mallie Robinson, moved the family to California in search of work. California also subjected lightlessnesss to segregation at that measure, but to less(prenominal) of a degree than in the Deep South. The young Jackie defused his anger over this prejudice by immersing himself in sports. He displayed extraordinary athletic skills in high school, excelling at football, basketball, baseball, and track. After helping Pasadena junior(a) College win the Junior College Football Championship, Robinson took his athletic ability to the University of California at Los Angeles and became a surmount collegiate running back in 1939. Having used up his athletic eligibility, as well as having some financial trouble, Robinson left UCLA earlier graduating. After college he held a job with the National Youth plaque work camp until the camp was closed due to the onset of cosmea War II. In the fall of 1941 he joined the Honolulu Bears professed(prenominal) football team. In 1942, Jackie Robinson was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was accepted into Officer Candidate condition in Ft. Riley, Kansas and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in January 1943. spot stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas, Robinson worked with heavyweight champion Joe Louis to eradicate raw treatment of blacks in the military. However, inequities would persist in the armed forces for decades to come. He was posterior transferred to Ft. Hood, Texas where an incident in which he refused to move to the back of the bus put Court Martial charges brought up against him. He was found innocent, but was uprightly discharged in 1944 on the grounds that his ankles had been weakened during his years of acting football. Robinson joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League in 1945 for a inform $450 a month. Although he soon became one of the leagues top players, he was not fond of the low pay and relentless traveling and apparently had no intention of making baseball a career. That attitude was changed due to the efforts of Brooklyn slyboots president Branch Rickey. Starting in 1943, Rickey had been searching for a black playe... ...ckie Robinsons debut. On that day, Major League Baseball announced that the fare forty two would be retired throughout the Major League, an issuing that was exemplary of the impact that Robinson had on baseball. Jackie Robinson always went his own way, answering to his own instincts and refusing to be swayed by those who objected to his choices. He never took for granted his role as a trailblazer in the integration of sports and the opening of opportunities for blacks in the United States. By being a man with incredible physical skills, mental fortitude, and private-enterprise(a) fire who arrived in the right place and at the right time in history, Robinson had a major impact on the black skin for equality in the twentieth century.Jackie Robinsons signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers was the most significant event to occur in baseball since World War II. Although Robinson may not have been the best athlete in the Negro Leagues it was his overall character, education, and accessible upbringing that appealed to Branch Rickey. Collectively, they paved the way for integrating the game, allowing some of the superior players to participate who had previously been restricted to their own league.