Profiles of Great Americans: Jackie Robinson

10 Oct
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson

We all want justice but sadly, in a sinful world like the one in which we live, injustice is all too common. However, there will always be heroes who fight for justice and lead the charge for a better life. Not all of these heroes are soldiers or even political activists. The Jeffersons, Washingtons and Kings are not the only ones who can lead a charge against injustice. Sometimes something as simple as baseball can change the world. The Civil Rights Movement was a dynamic revolution in American society. It occurred in the courtroom, the Congress, the streets of Birmingham, and the baseball parks of Brooklyn. Jackie Robinson was a Civil Rights leader in his own, special way. He was a baseball player, one who changed the world.

Jackie Robinson was born in Georgia in 1919. His father, Jerry, left the family when Jackie was quite young and Jackie’s mother moved the family to Pasadena, California. There they encountered poverty and young Jackie began to turn down a path of gang activity. The turning point in Jackie’s life came when he attended John Muir High School and got involved in sports. He played football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis during his high school years and excelled at them all. He continued playing a variety of sports in college. He played football for UCLA and it seemed that Jackie would find a career in football. However, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941 brought Jackie to the next season of his life: military service.

Jackie was never deployed to combat overseas due to a court-martial regarding his refusal to move to the back of a military bus. Robinson received discriminatory treatment during his time in the army and received an honorable discharge in 1944. He then went back to athletics and tried out for the Kansas City Monarchs, a baseball team in the Negro Leagues. Jackie continued to play hard and was drawn into the Minor Leagues in 1946. In 1947, Jackie was brought up as the first African-American player in the segregated Major Leagues. History had been made. Jackie played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Although there were many who were disgusted by Robinson’s presence in the Major Leagues, there were also many players who stood beside Robinson and encouraged him to press on. And press on he did. Robinson lead the Dodgers to the World Series in 1955, where they beat the New York Yankees. Robinson retired soon after.

Robinson’s number (42) was retired by the MLB so that no other player in the entire Major Leagues can wear that number except on “Jackie Robinson Day” where all players wear it in remembrance. Jackie Robinson’s entrance into the Major Leagues paved the way for dozens of other African-American baseball greats to make their own mark in the world of Major League baseball. Robinson had proved to the country that racial prejudice was based on foolish concepts and it did not rest on reality. When Robinson died in 1972, his life was remembered and celebrated by thousands. He was posthumously granted the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2005.

Jackie Robinson’s legacy was one of justice and equality. He was the first baseball player to break the “color line” but not the last. He struggled through the adversity of desegregating the Major Leagues and his sacrifice and hard work ‘lead the charge’ for further breakthroughs. Justice and equality are great virtues, Robinson was a great Civil Rights leader and a great baseball player. The measure of athletic greatness is not how many home-runs one player hits but rather the good that one player does to improve the lives of others. Trophies collect dust, statistics become meaningless but the cultural impact of a player changes history.