Jackie Robinson

JACKIE ROBINSON While Jackie Robinson competed in baseball, he lived a life filled with racism especially in his early life, endured threats that helped him become a great baseball player, and made a positive impact on civil rights. Jackie Robinson came into the world on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia to a family of sharecroppers. Jackie has three older brothers and one older sister making him the youngest of five children. The prejudice Jackie’s family ran into only strengthened their bond. From this humble beginning would grow the first baseball player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier that segregated the sport for more than fifty years (http://www.jackierobinson.com/about/bio.html). As a child, Jackie went to school like any other kid, but he went to an all black kids school. Jackie earned good grades during school and still played sports. He went to college at UCLA and became the first four-letter man playing the following sports: baseball, football, basketball, and track. While attending UCLA, he met Rachel Issum and married her on February 10, 1946. They had three children: Jackie Jr. (died in 1971), Sharon, and David. Jackie had enjoyed playing sports in his childhood, but who knew that one day he would change American history. Sports had an impact in a big part in Jackie’s life. In 1941, Jackie went to Honolulu, Hawaii to play football for the racially integrated and semi-pro Honolulu Bears. He went back to California to become a running back for the Los Angeles Bulldogs, but the United States had gotten attacked at Pearl Harbor, and his football career did not go on. Jackie served in the US Army in 1939 to 1941. After serving in the army, he decided to play for the Kansas City Monarchs all black baseball team. In 1946, Jackie met Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ manager, and signed a baseball contract to play for the Dodgers. Finally Jackie’s baseball career began. On April