The Great Gutsy Jackie Robinson

Racism was a major issue in the 1900s. Jackie Robinson was a great baseball player who stood up against racism. To me a hero is a person who helps others and themselves stand up for their rights peacefully. That's Jackie Robinson. Robinson was the first African-American player in Major League Baseball. He was harassed and abused but he didn't fight back. Through all this he achieved some great things in baseball. Someone great had to help stop racism.

Jackie was an amazing athlete. In college, Jackie won letters of achievement in football, basketball, track and baseball but in 1945 he chose to play baseball professionally (wikipedia.org). At that time African-American and white leagues were separate (biography.com). Robinson played for the Kansas City Royals of the Negro League when Branch Rickey the vice-president of the Brooklyn Dodgers wanted to recruit a black player (wikipedia.org). Rickey chose Jackie Robinson. The following season Robinson played for the Montreal Royals the AAA farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers (wikipedia.org). On April 15, 1947, Robinson played his first MLB game in Brooklyn, New York starting at first base (wikipedia.org). He became the first African-American player in the modern-era to play in Major League Baseball. Jackie's athletic ability would help change baseball and the rights of African-Americans.

When Branch Rickey recruited Robinson he made him promise he wouldn't fight back against racial comments or abuse. Rickey told him he was looking for a Negro "with guts enough not to fight back" (wikipedia.org). At first, some players on the Dodgers said they would rather sit out than play with Robinson. Other teams also opposed. The St. Louis Cardinals threatened to strike and one game when the Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies players called him a "n*****" and told him to "go back to the cotton fields" (wikipedia.org). Players sometimes slid into first to spike him intentionally or threw pitches at him. Even with all this hatred toward Robinson, he never fought back (even though he probably wanted to). People started to support Robinson. Pee Wee Reese of the Dodgers came and put an arm around his shoulder whenever the fans or players harassed him (wikipedia.org). Leo Durocher, the manager of Brooklyn finally got his team to stick up for Jackie when he told them "I do not care if the guy is yellow or black or if he has stripes like a f***in zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays..." (wikipedia.org). It must have been really hard for Jackie Robinson to go through all that and not fight back.

Jackie achieved some great things in his baseball career and did great things after he retired. Robinson had a .311 career batting average, stole 197 bases including 19 straight steals of home and earned the 1947 MLB Rookie of the Year award (wikipedia.org). He has also made 6 all-star appearances and helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win the 1955 World Series (wikipedia.org). His number 42 is retired by all teams in the MLB (wikipedia.org). After he retired in 1957, Robinson served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People for 10 years (wikipedia.org). In 1972, Jackie Robinson died at the age of 53 (wikipedia.org). Robinson had an amazing career in baseball and he did many good things in his life.

Jackie Robinson; a great baseball player, stood up against racism without fighting back. Branch Rickey helped him become the first black player in the modern era promising he wouldn't retaliate to racists. He also had some pretty good statistics in baseball. I don't think many of us would "have the guts enough not to fight back" against all that racism while still playing amazing baseball.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Famous Biographies and TV Shows. n.d. A + E Television Networks LLC. 20 Oct 2011

http://biography.com/people/jackie-robinson-9460813.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 09 Oct 2011. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.. 20 Oct. 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson.