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Jackie Robinson Thesis Statement

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Early life and college career, breaking the color barrier, legacy and impact.

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Jackie Robinson: A National Hero Essay (Biography)

Jackie Robinson was an outstanding baseball player. With his talents for the game, his impressive achievements, and the records he set over his ten-year career, he would have certainly made it into the history of one of America’s favorite sports. However, he was more than just a high-scoring sportsman. Years before the Civil Rights Movement, Jackie Robinson courageously opposed racial segregation and discrimination, contributing greatly to the struggle for equal opportunity and becoming a national hero.

Robinson was born in 1919 in Georgia and grew up in Pasadena, California. He discovered his pronounced aptitude for sports early, playing football, basketball, baseball, and other games at school. He had three older brothers who always supported him and encouraged him to pursue a career in sports (Falkner). However, in 1942, Robinson was drafted into the US Army. The army was segregated during that time, but throughout his service, Robinson challenged the injustice with bravery. In 1944, he was court-martialed for defying orders to sit in the back of a bus. This act resembles the same famously brave deed of Rosa Parks, but it happened eight years earlier. The court eventually decided that the order violated US Army regulations, and Robinson was acquitted (Robinson and Kerry). After being discharged, Robinson started playing baseball in Negro leagues and proved to be a very promising player. By 1946, he was already playing for a minor league team, the Montreal Royals, in Daytona Beach, Florida. While in Florida, he was not allowed to live in the same hotel as his teammates, so he had to stay at the house of a local African American (Robinson and Duckett 41). That year, Robinson became the first black player to play against a major league team, the Dodgers, and the following year, he broke the baseball color line by joining this team.

In 1947, at the age of 28, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Before this, since the 1880s, black people had been excluded from Major League Baseball. Although this so-called color line was not an official written rule, it had been there for 60 years as a symbol of segregation. Robinson played for ten seasons until 1956, demonstrating outstanding achievements, new techniques, and innovative game strategies. David Falkner has called him “the father of modern base-stealing” (171). At that time, even as a major baseball star, Robinson still had to face racism and bigotry. Dodgers President Branch Rickey wrote that Robinson repeatedly received “hate letters and death threats” and was “the target… of pitchers throwing at his head and legs, and catchers spitting on his shoes” (Robinson and Kerry). Karl Erskine, a former Dodgers player, emphasized Robinson’s inner strength when he wrote that “[m]ost mortal men would have cracked” if, while at the happiest of moments of their lives, they had been forced to deal with racial indignities on a daily basis (Williams and Sielski 1). Allan H. “Bud” Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball at that time, remembers that in 1947, he went to see the newest star, Jackie Robinson; when he and his friend were climbing to their seats, Selig noticed something that impressed him to his very core: they were the only white fans in the entire section. He writes, “I began to understand the impact that Jackie had made on his fellow African Americans” (Williams and Sielski x). In a segregated society, Robinson became more than a new baseball star.

Jackie Robinson was acknowledged with many honors throughout his life, both as a remarkable baseball player and a civil rights pioneer. He was introduced into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, and his uniform number, 42, was retired by Major League Baseball. Robinson participated in six All-Star Games and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949 (Falkner). It was an incredible success for an African-American man in an area that had been closed to African Americans for decades. He achieved this success at a time when many major universities did not admit black people, and drinking fountains in many American cities were still marked “white” or “colored.” After he retired from sports, Robinson continued his civil rights activities, co-founding the African American-owned Freedom National Bank in Harlem and founding the Jackie Robinson Construction Co. to build low-income housing (Robinson and Kerry). He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. He truly became a national hero, “a man to be emulated, a life to be studied, a legacy to be treasured” (Williams and Sielski xvi). Revealing the importance of Robinson’s pioneering role in the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called him ”a legend and a symbol in his own time” who ”challenged the dark skies of intolerance and frustration” (Robinson and Kerry).

Jackie Robinson’s life was a story of overcoming intolerance and oppression with courage and strength. He not only managed to make his way into an area from which he had been excluded because of the color of his skin, but he also managed to succeed in it. Jackie Robinson’s role in history is hugely significant: he was one of the first people in the 20th century to symbolize hope for equality and justice in American society.

Falkner, David. Great Time Coming: The Life of Jackie Robinson, from Baseball to Birmingham . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. Print.

Robinson, Jackie, and Alfred Duckett. I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson . Hopewell, N.J: Ecco Press, 1995. Print.

Robinson, Rachel, and John F. Kerry. “A Pioneer in Civil Rights.” The Boston Globe 2005. Web.

Williams, Pat, and Mike Sielski. How to Be Like Jackie Robinson: Life Lessons from Baseball’s Greatest Hero . Deerfield Beach, Fla: Health Communications, 2004. Print.

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1. IvyPanda . "Jackie Robinson: A National Hero." June 2, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/jackie-robinson-a-national-hero/.

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IvyPanda . "Jackie Robinson: A National Hero." June 2, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/jackie-robinson-a-national-hero/.

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Jackie Robinson

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Jackie Robinson (January 31, 1919–October 24, 1972) was a professional baseball player who made history when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. When he stepped onto Ebbets Field that day, he became the first Black man to play in a Major League Baseball game since 1884. The controversial decision to put a Black player on a major league team prompted a barrage of criticism and initially led to Robinson's mistreatment by fans and fellow players alike. But he endured the discrimination and rose above it, going on to serve as a symbol of the civil rights movement and win both Rookie of the Year in 1947 and the International League MVP Award in 1949. Hailed as a civil rights pioneer, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.

Fast Facts: Jackie Robinson

Known for: Jackie Robinson is known for being the first Black player on a major league baseball team since 1884 and for lifelong civil rights activism

Also Known As: Jack Roosevelt Robinson

Born: January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia

Parents: Mallie Robinson, Jerry Robinson

Died: October 24, 1972 in North Stamford, Connecticut

Education: Pasadena Junior College, UCLA

Awards and Honors: National League Rookie of the Year in 1947, Intern`ational League Most Valuable Player in 1949, first Black man inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Spingarn Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom

Spouse: Rachel Annetta Robison

Children: Jackie Robinson Jr., Sharon Robinson, and David Robinson

Notable Quote: “There’s not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.”

Jackie Robinson was the fifth child born to parents Jerry Robinson and Mallie McGriff Robinson in Cairo, Georgia. His great grandparents had worked as enslaved people on the same property that Jackie's parents, both sharecroppers , farmed. In 1920, Jerry left the family and never returned. In 1921, Mallie received word that Jerry had died, but never made efforts to substantiate this rumor.

After struggling to keep the farm going by herself, Mallie was ordered off of the farm by the owner and forced to look for other forms of employment and a place to live. She decided to move the family from Georgia to California. Instances of violent racial riots and lynchings of Black people were growing more and more common in the summer of 1919 , especially in the southeastern states, and Mallie did not feel that her family was safe. Seeking a more inclusive environment, Mallie and several of her relatives pooled their money together to buy train tickets. In May 1920, when Jackie was 16 months old, they all boarded a train for Los Angeles, California.

Growing Up in California

Mallie and her children moved into an apartment in Pasadena, California with her brother Samuel Wade, his wife Cora, and their family. She found work cleaning houses and eventually earned enough money to buy a house in a mostly-White neighborhood at 121 Pepper Street, but the family was still relatively poor in the abundantly wealthy city they now inhabited. The Robinsons continued to face extreme discrimination when they arrived in Pasadena, where Jim Crow and racial prejudice were in full force. Neighbors shouted racial insults at the family, attempted to buy them out of their home, and circulated a petition demanding that they leave the area. Mallie stood firm, refusing to abandon the house she had worked so hard to earn, but she was also conciliatory toward her oppressors. The neighbors called the cops on her children often and Mallie tried hard to keep the peace, eventually achieving some degree of acceptance from most.

With their mother away at work all day, the Robinson children learned to take care of themselves from an early age. Cora Wade did not work and looked after the Robinson siblings during the day, but Robinson entertained himself often. Determined to find companionship in a cruel neighborhood, he joined the "Pepper Street Gang."

This group, comprised of poor boys from minority groups, committed small offenses and acts of vandalism or pranks, at times fighting when they were assaulted by White children. Though these activities could scarcely be called crimes and some were merely acts of defense, Robinson had to answer to the police on many occasions—once escorted by the authorities at gunpoint for swimming in the city reservoir. Mallie sometimes pleaded with the police to go easier on her children, but the police captain in charge of youth activity in the area, Captain Morgan, was mostly a fair and paternal authority figure to the boys, guiding them and defending them as needed. Robinson later credited Morgan, Reverend Karl Downs, and a local car mechanic by the name of Carl Anderson with encouraging him to get off the streets and involved in safer activities. Anderson took it upon himself to mentor Black children in the area who faced near-constant oppression due to their race.

Becoming Involved in Sports

Robinson's siblings helped instill in him a fierce sense of competition and appreciation for sports. Brother Frank encouraged him by attending all of his sporting events. Willa Mae, also a talented athlete, excelled in the few sports that were available to women in the 1930s. Mack, the third eldest, was an inspiration to young Robinson. A world-class sprinter, Mack Robinson competed in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 and came home with a silver medal in the 200-meter dash. (He had come in a close second to sports legend and teammate Jesse Owens .) But despite Mack's success, he was largely ignored when he returned home and forced to take a low-paying job as a street sweeper. At times, he proudly wore his Olympics jacket while sweeping and this provoked the White people in the area who refused to celebrate a Black athlete's accomplishment.

As early as first grade, Jackie Robinson showed athletic skill, but he quickly realized how many ways he was disadvantaged for being a Black American. He was not allowed to use the YMCA, which contained sporting equipment and facilities that would have allowed him to practice sports, and many arenas and fields were strictly segregated. Still, Robinson managed to draw attention for his athletic prowess, and his talent became even more evident when he reached middle school. A natural athlete, Robinson excelled at whatever sport he took up, including football, basketball, baseball, and track. He earned a reputation for being fiercely competitive and was only happy when he won. Highlights of his early sports involvement include an undefeated football season, winning the Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament in singles, and playing for the Pomona all-star basketball team.

College Athletic Career

Upon graduation from high school in 1937, Robinson was sorely disappointed that he hadn't received a college scholarship despite his track record of athletic success. But determined to pursue a college degree anyway, he enrolled at Pasadena Junior College where he distinguished himself as a star quarterback, high scorer in basketball, and record-breaking long-jumper in track and field. And of course, he showed much promise in baseball. Boasting a batting average of .417, Robinson was named Southern California's Most Valuable Junior College Player in 1938.

Several universities finally took notice of Robinson, now willing to offer him a full scholarship to complete his last two years of college. Robinson couldn't decide where to attend. In May 1939, the Robinson family suffered a devastating loss. Frank Robinson sustained injuries from a motorcycle collision that soon took his life. Robinson was crushed by the loss of his big brother and his greatest fan, but he did not give up. He decided to enroll at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to stay near his family and was determined to honor his brother's memory with a strong college career.

Robinson was as successful at UCLA as he had been in junior college. He was the first UCLA student of any race to earn letters in all four sports that he played —football, basketball, baseball, and track and field—a feat he accomplished after only one year of enrollment. However, he later participated in only football and track. As a Black man, his involvement in mainstream college sports was unprecedented, and people were taking notice of his role in integration. At the beginning of his second year, Robinson met Rachel Isum, and the two would later date. Isum was in school pursuing a nursing degree.

Bettmann / Getty Images

Leaving College

Robinson was a good student in addition to being a formidable athlete, but he was not convinced that earning a college degree would make him successful. He worried that despite getting a college education, he would have few opportunities to advance himself in any profession since he was Black. Jackie also had the welfare of his family on his mind, with his mother still struggling to make ends meet and his brother gone. In March 1941, only months before he was to graduate, Robinson dropped out of UCLA.

Robinson found a temporary job as an assistant athletic director at a camp in Atascadero, California in order to support his family financially. He later had a brief stint playing on an integrated football team, the Honolulu Bears, in Hawaii. Robinson returned home from Hawaii just two days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Army Career

In 1942, Robinson was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Fort Riley in Kansas. Although the Army enforced barriers to Black enlistment during this time, Black Americans were part of a universal draft started in 1917 that did not contain provisions for race or ethnicity. Black Americans comprised a larger percentage of drafted young men in proportion to population than did White Americans. Paul T. Murray, author of "Blacks and the Draft: A History of Institutional Racism" in the Journal of Black Studies , speculates that Black Americans did not receive equal treatment in the draft and were drafted more often due to institutional racism. For reference, during World War I, 34.1% of Black draft registrants were selected for service while only 24.04% of White registrants were selected for service. In addition, Robinson's unit was segregated.

Perhaps beginning with his selection for service, Robinson faced harsh discrimination in the Army. However, this didn't stop him from fighting for his rights. When he was first enrolled, Robinson applied to Officers' Candidate School (OCS) although Black soldiers were informally restricted from joining this program. He was told privately that he couldn't join because he was Black. With heavyweight champion boxer Joe Louis, also stationed at Fort Riley, on his side, Robinson petitioned for and won the right to attend OCS. He was promoted to second lieutenant in 1943.

Already known for his talent on the baseball field, Robinson was soon approached to play on Fort Riley's baseball team, but this offer was conditional. The team policy was to accommodate opposing teams who refused to play with a Black player on the field by granting their request to remove Black players for that game. In other words, Robinson would have been expected to sit out if a team didn't want to play against him. Unwilling to accept this restriction, Robinson turned down the offer.

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Court-Martial of 1944

Robinson was later transferred to Fort Hood, Texas, where he continued to advocate for civil rights. Riding on an Army bus one evening with a female friend, he was ordered to go to the back of the bus by the bus driver, who mistakenly believed the woman to be White (she was Black, but her lighter skin made him think her White) and assumed she did not want to sit with a Black man. Fully aware that the Army had recently outlawed segregation on its vehicles and tired of being persecuted for the color of his skin, Robinson refused. Even when military officers arrived, Robinson stood his ground, shouting at them in defense and demanding fair treatment.

Following this event, Robinson was arrested and court-martialed for insubordination. The Army dropped its charges when no evidence could be found of any wrongdoing on Robinson's part, and Robinson was honorably discharged in 1944.

Back in California, Robinson and Isum got engaged.

Playing in the Negro Leagues

In 1945, Robinson was hired as a shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs, a baseball team in the Negro Leagues . In major league professional baseball, there was an unwritten rule that Black players were not allowed to join. This rule, referred to as "the gentlemen's agreement," was established by MLB team owners to keep Black players from making it onto major league teams and thus out of professional baseball as much as possible. This ban was specific to Black people and did not strictly extend to players of other minority ethnic groups, a fact that professional baseball recruiters and managers exploited when they wanted Black people playing for them but did not want to integrate the sport. Specifically, some teams would require Black players to "pass" as Latinx or Indigenous—two ethnicities that were generally allowed to play because their lighter skin made them appear more White than Black—in order to play. The New York Cuban Giants, comprised of Black players, is just one example of a team that used this tactic. Members who actually identified as Black would go so far as to pretend to speak Spanish to convince spectators that they were Cubans. Minority players still faced extreme racism and discrimination but were able to play in the major leagues and this made Robinson's entry into MLB possible. As more and more Latinx, Indigenous, and Black players with lighter skin were recruited to the league, the strict color barrier was blurred and players with darker skin stepped up to the plate.

Black and White players had played together in the mid-19th century until Jim Crow laws, which legalized segregation, were passed in the late 1800s. The Negro Leagues were formed in the early 20th century to accommodate the many talented Black players who were shut out of Major League Baseball. Players in the Negro Leagues were paid much less and subjected to substantially worse treatment than major league players, who were almost all White.

The Monarchs had a hectic schedule, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles by bus in a day. Racism followed the men wherever they went, and players were turned away from hotels, restaurants, and restrooms simply because they were Black. At one service station, the owner refused to let the men use the restroom when they stopped to get gas. A furious Robinson told the proprietor they would not buy his gas if he didn't allow them to use the restroom, persuading the man to change his mind. Following that incident, the team made a habit of not buying gas from anyone who refused to let them use the facilities.

Robinson had a successful year with the Monarchs, leading the team in batting and earning a spot in the Negro League's all-star game. Absorbed in this game, Robinson was unaware that he was being closely watched by baseball scouts for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Transcendental Graphics / Getty Images

Meeting With Branch Rickey

Dodgers president Branch Rickey, determined to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball, was looking for the ideal candidate to prove Black players had a place in the majors. This has often been referred to as "Baseball's Great Experiment." Rickey saw Robinson as that man, as Robinson was not only a talented athlete but also educated and strong, the latter a trait that Rickey felt would be critical when Robinson's recruitment inevitably resulted in an eruption of racism. Explaining his careful choice of Robinson years later, Rickey said:

"I had to get a man who would carry the badge of martyrdom. The press had to accept him. He had to stimulate a good reaction from the Negro race itself for an unfortunate one might have solidified the antagonism of other colors. And I had to consider the man's teammates."

Essentially, Rickey wanted someone who would not lash out when he was terrorized or make White people too uncomfortable. This player needed to be resilient enough to tolerate racism and threats without getting defensive or defeated, and brave enough to face whatever backlash breaking the color barrier would bring. Robinson had played alongside White people in college, so he had experience facing public scrutiny and discrimination from people who felt he shouldn't be allowed on the field. But even though Robinson fit the description Rickey was hoping for, he was still relieved to hear that Robinson had his family and Isum in his life to encourage and support him, as he knew leading the charge of integrating major league baseball would be a trying experience.

Meeting with Robinson in August 1945, Rickey prepared the player for the kind of abuse he would face as the lone Black man in the league. He would be subjected to verbal insults, unfair calls by umpires, pitches intentionally thrown to hit him, and more. Off the field as well, Robinson could expect hate mail and death threats. For the player's safety and the long-term possibilities this opportunity presented, Rickey wanted to know that Robinson could deal with such adversity without retaliating, even verbally, for three solid years because he felt that this was the only way White people would tolerate a Black player. Robinson, who had always stood up for his rights, found it difficult to imagine not responding to such abuse, but he realized how important it was to advance the cause of civil rights in this way and agreed to do it.

Rickey's motives for breaking the color barrier are thought to have stemmed both from a belief in racial equality and a desire to sell more tickets for his teams by shaking up the game. Rickey had for years felt that baseball's absence of Black players was problematic and unnecessary, so he took it upon himself to facilitate integration as peacefully as possible—so as to promote lasting change and protect Black players—with Robinson as the face of his important "experiment."

Playing for the Montreal Royals

Like most new players, Robinson started out on a minor league team and became the first Black player in the minors. In October 1945, he signed with the Dodgers' top farm team, the Montreal Royals. Before the start of spring training, Robinson and Rachel Isum were married in February 1946 and headed to Florida for training camp two weeks after their wedding.

Enduring vicious verbal abuse at games — both from those in the stands and the dugout — Robinson nonetheless proved himself especially skilled at hitting and stealing bases, and he helped lead his team to victory at the Minor League Championship Series in 1946. Topping off Robinson's stellar year, Rachel gave birth to Jack Robinson Jr. on November 18, 1946. Shortly after, Robinson began making the transition to the Dodgers.

Breaking the MLB Color Barrier

On April 9, 1947, five days before the start of baseball season, Branch Rickey made the announcement that 28-year-old Jackie Robinson would play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The announcement came on the heels of a difficult spring training. Several of Robinson's new teammates had banded together to sign a petition insisting that they would rather be traded off the team than play with a Black man. Dodgers manager Leo Durocher chastised these men, demanding that they get rid of the petition and pointing out that a player as good as Robinson could very well lead the team to the World Series.

Robinson started out as first baseman and later moved to second base, a position he held for the rest of his career. Fellow players were slow to accept Robinson as a member of their team. Some were openly hostile while others refused to speak to him or even sit near him. It didn't help that Robinson began his season in a slump, unable to make a hit in the first five games. But Robinson, following the advice of the team's manager, stoically took the mistreatment without fighting back. While Robinson endured this, Black baseball fans also experienced discrimination. Though usually allowed to attend MLB games ("White" baseball), they were granted the worst seats and often harassed by racist White fans. The other option Black fans had was to attend Negro League games, where they could watch all-Black teams compete against each other.

Robinson's teammates finally rallied to his defense after witnessing several incidents in which he was physically and verbally assaulted by opponents. One player from the St. Louis Cardinals intentionally spiked his thigh so badly that he was left with a large gash, prompting outrage from Robinson's team. In another instance, players on the Philadelphia Phillies, knowing that Robinson had received death threats, held their bats up as if they were guns and pointed them at him. These unsettling events served to unify the Dodgers—not only as a team with Robinson but also against inequality. Robinson overcame his slump and the Dodgers went on to win the National League pennant. They lost the World Series to the Yankees, but Robinson performed well enough to be named Rookie of the Year in 1947. In 1949, he was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the International League. He was the first Black man granted this esteemed title.

Baseball Prior to 1884

Contrary to popular belief, Jackie Robinson was not the first Black man to play in the MLB and break the color barrier—that title goes to Moses Fleetwood Walker. Walker played on Toledo's minor league team in 1883 and was a catcher for their new major league team, the Toledo Blue Stockings, for the 1884 season. Playing for the Stockings, he received many threats from spectators (especially in southern states) and was openly discriminated against by his White teammates. He was cut from the team when the 1884 season came to a close, likely because his team manager was receiving threats of violence if he was allowed to play. Walker rejoined the minor leagues to play for Newark. Later, after years of pain and suffering due to racism, he began to support a Black nationalist agenda

Walker's treatment is an accurate depiction of how nearly all Black baseball players at this time were treated, whether they played for the minor leagues, the Negro Leagues, or universities. Jim Crow laws were in full effect and there were very few Black baseball players, and what few players there were weren't always allowed to play with their teams due to threats and racial tensions where they were to play and they were often barred from staying in hotels with their teammates. In 1887, the International League made the decision to ban Black players from being signed at all, and only those already on teams could play. By 1889, Walker was the only Black player still playing in the International League. Before long, the major league followed suit, and the ban on Black players was unofficially instated.

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MLB Career With the Brooklyn Dodgers

By the start of the 1949 season, Robinson got the go-ahead from Rickey to be himself. He no longer had to stay silent — he was free to express himself, just as the other players were. Robinson now responded to the taunts of opponents, which initially shocked a public who had seen him for three years as quiet and docile. He was called an agitator, short-tempered, and "hot," but he was merely rightfully angry with everything he had endured over the years. But he was still admired by fans across the country. Rachel and Jackie Robinson moved to a house in Flatbush, Brooklyn, where several neighbors in this mostly-White neighborhood were thrilled to be living near a baseball star. The Robinsons welcomed daughter Sharon into the family in January 1950 and son David was born in 1952. The family later bought a house in Stamford, Connecticut.

As Robinson's popularity grew, so did his annual salary. At $35,000 a year, he was making more than any of his teammates. He used his celebrity status to promote racial equality. When the Dodgers went on the road, hotels in many cities refused to allow Black players to stay in the same hotel as their White teammates. Robinson threatened that none of the players would stay at the hotel if all of them were not welcome, and this tactic often worked.

In 1955, the Dodgers once again faced the Yankees in the World Series. They had lost to them many times, but this year would be different. Thanks in part to Robinson's brazen base-stealing, the Dodgers won the World Series. During the 1956 season, Robinson, now 37 years old, spent more time on the bench than on the field. When the announcement came that the Dodgers would be moving to Los Angeles in 1957, it came as no surprise that Jackie Robinson had decided it was time to retire in spite of an offer to play for the New York Giants. In the nine years since he had played his first game for the Dodgers, several more teams had signed on Black players. By 1959, all Major League Baseball teams were integrated.

Life After Baseball

Robinson kept working after his retirement from baseball, accepting the position of vice president for personnel for Chock Full O' Nuts, a restaurant chain. He also organized fundraisers for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a role he took very seriously. He even required that his Chock Full O' Nuts contract allow him as much time as he needed for his civil rights work. Robinson also helped to raise money to found the Freedom National Bank, a bank that primarily served minority populations. This bank was established to serve patrons turned away from other establishments for the color of their skin or socioeconomic status and extend loans to people who might not have otherwise been granted them due primarily to deep-seated racial prejudice.

In July 1962, Robinson became the first Black American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He thanked those who had helped him earn that achievement—among them, his mother, his wife, and Branch Rickey.

Robinson's son, Jackie Jr., was deeply traumatized after fighting in Vietnam and developed a substance use disorder upon his return to the United States. He successfully managed his disorder but was tragically killed in a car accident in 1971. The loss took a toll on Robinson, who was already battling the effects of diabetes and appeared much older than a man in his 50s.

Robinson will always be known by many as the first player to break the MLA color barrier after segregation, but his contributions to society were much greater than this alone. He was a champion for civil rights throughout his life, even outside of his baseball career. His activism could be seen in his unwillingness to go to the back of the bus while he was in the Army, his refusal to purchase gas from a station that discriminated against Black people, and his courage in the face of adversity on the baseball field with the Dodgers, which made it possible for the public to accept Black players more readily even though doing so went against his very nature and negatively impacted his mental and physical wellbeing. Robinson's example also proved to the world that integration could be successful and prosperous, even without legislation forcing it.

Robinson's nonviolence was also a form of activism in and of itself. Though Robinson played ball aggressively and was seen by many as short-tempered—a perception that likely had more to do with racial prejudice than his true temperament—he was not an aggressive person. And when he was finally allowed to fight back against his oppressors, Robinson took the opportunity to speak out against years of hate toward Black Americans and set an example for the world of the power of peaceful protest. He is still seen as a champion of nonviolent activism today.

Once he retired from baseball, Robinson was able to devote much of his attention to the Civil Rights Movement. His involvement with the NAACP, specifically with the NAACP Freedom Fund, was of particular significance. Robinson helped raise more than $1 million for this organization by hosting concerts and campaigning. This money was used to bail out civil rights activists that had been wrongfully jailed for advocating for Black rights. Robinson himself took part in many protests including the March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the site of the historic "I Have a Dream" speech . In 1956, the NAACP awarded him the 41st Spingarn Medal for distinguished achievement as a Black man. It was this work that Robinson felt he was meant for, not baseball. It was never his intention to keep quiet about the struggle for Black equality—he did so when he played baseball for just long enough to build a platform from which he could speak. Toward the end of his life, Robinson wrote the following:

"If I had a room jammed with trophies, awards and citations, and a child of mine came into that room and asked what I had done in defense of black people and decent whites fighting for freedom, and I had to tell that child that I had kept quiet, that I had been timid, I would have to mark myself a total failure at the whole business of living."

Baseball Today

Although Robinson's recruitment to the major leagues helped to open the door for Black Americans in professional baseball, there is still much progress to be made before Black and White players can play on equal grounds. Race relations continue to be a significant issue in the sport as Black Americans are underrepresented in nearly every facet of baseball.

As of the start of the 2019 season, only 68 Black players could be found amongst the MLB's 882 players, or about 7.7%. There are three teams with no Black players, one of them the Dodgers, and 11 with only one each. There are also no teams with Black majority owners—only minority Black owners like Derek Jeter, who holds a 4% stake in the Miami Marlins. Similarly, coaches, commentators, and managers are predominantly White.

Afro Newspaper / Gado / Getty Images

On October 24, 1972, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack at the age of 53. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1986 by President Reagan . Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired by both the National League and the American League in 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson's historic major league debut. This is the only number retired by every MLB team.

After his death, Rachel Robinson took over the Jackie Robinson Construction Corporation, which she and Jackie had founded together, and renamed it the Jackie Robinson Development Corporation. She served as president for 10 years. The company developed low- to moderate-income real estate and built over 1,000 units. Rachel also founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) in 1973. The Jackie Robinson Foundation is a nonprofit that awards college scholarships to high-achieving minority students who, among other things, "show leadership potential and demonstrate a dedication to community service." Alumni of the JRF Scholars Program have a 98% high school graduation rate and are likely to continue serving their communities in some capacity, and they often obtain master's degrees and managerial positions in their careers as well.

Additional References

• " Biography ." Jackie Robinson, 2020.
• " Breaking the Color Line: 1940 to 1946 ." Library of Congress.
• Johnson, James W. The Black Bruins: The Remarkable Lives of UCLA's Jackie Robinson, Woody Strode, Tom Bradley, Kenny Washington, and Ray Bartlett. University of Nebraska Press, 2017.
• Johnson, Michael Simon, and Daisy Rosario. " Latino Players Blurred MLB's Color Line Before Robinson's Debut ." WBUR, 11 July 2015.
• " JRF Scholars Program: 47 Years of Narrowing the Achievement Gap in Higher Education and Preparing Leaders ." Jackie Robinson Foundation.
• Hylton, J. Gordon. " American Civil Rights Laws and the Legacy of Jackie Robinson ." Marquette Sports Law Review , vol. 8, no. 9, spring 1998, 387–399.
• Keeney, Stephen R. " Blurring the Color Line: How Cuban Baseball Players Led to the Racial Integration of Major League Baseball ." The National Pastime: Baseball in the Sunshine State , 2016.
• Kelly, John. " Integrating America: Jackie Robinson, Critical Events and Baseball Black and White ." The International Journal of the History of Sport , vol. 22, no. 6, 2005, pp. 1011–1035, doi:10.1080/09523360500286742
• Murray, Paul T. " Blacks and the Draft: A History of Institutional Racism ." Journal of Black Studies , vol. 2, no. 1, Sep. 1971, pp. 57–76.
• Pope, Exavier. " The State of African-Americans in Major League Baseball ." Forbes , 29 Oct. 2019.
• Rampersad, Arnold. Jackie Robinson: A Biography . Ballantine Books, 1997.
• " Robinson's Later Career: 1957 to 1961 ." By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s–1960s . Library of Congress.
• Shafer, Ronald G. " The First African American Major League Baseball Player Isn't Who You Think ." The Washington Post , 15 Apr. 2019.
• Negro Baseball League Timeline
• Black History Timeline: 1880–1889
• Black History Timeline: 1920–1929
• Black History from 1950–1959
• Famous Players in the Negro Baseball Leagues
• Black History Timeline: 1970–1979
• Black History Timeline: 1940–1949
• Black History Timeline: 1930–1939
• Biography of Louis Armstrong, Expert Trumpeter and Entertainer
• Black History and Women's Timeline: 1920-1929
• Black History Timeline: 1965–1969
• Black History Timeline: 1890–1899
• Black History and Women's Timeline: 1950–1959
• Biography of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Black Historian
• How to Develop and Organize a Classification Essay
• Biography of Babe Ruth, Home Run King

Home > Student Work > Honors Theses > 1477

Honors Theses

Beyond baseball : jackie robinson’s commitment and contribution to the civil rights movement.

Meredith H. Katz , Union College - Schenectady, NY

Date of Award

Document type.

Union College Only

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

First Advisor

Melinda Lawson

robinson’s, civil, rights, thesis, robinson

This thesis examines Jackie Robinson’s contribution to and involvement in the civil rights realm. Due to his affiliation and collaboration with influential white men, Robinson has been accused of being an Uncle Tom and criticized for his opposition of Malcolm X and Black Power. In addition, the works of various scholars and historians seem to overlook Robinson’s work as a civil rights and political activist in their literature. Thus, to determine how Robinson is underappreciated this thesis draws on a myriad of secondary material along with relevant primary sources such as Robinson’s autobiography, several civil rights letters to and from Robinson, and various newspaper articles from The New York Times and The Chicago Defender. First, the thesis examines the roots of Robinson’s civil rights activism. It explores his early life experiences with racial prejudice up until 1946 when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke baseball’s color barrier. With a focus on race consciousness, the thesis then scrutinizes Robinson’s major league career and the effects that his remarkable accomplishment had on American society. The main focus of the thesis is on Robinson’s prestigious post-baseball career—the heart and soul of his civil rights and political activism. It explores Robinson’s commitment and contribution to the civil rights movement, which includes his involvement with a myriad of organizations and political demonstrations. Lastly, the thesis refutes the allegations made against Robinson and furtherdefends his dedication to the struggle, thus recognizing how and why Robinson’s work was and is significant, if underappreciated.

Recommended Citation

Katz, Meredith H., "Beyond baseball : Jackie Robinson’s commitment and contribution to the Civil Rights Movement" (2008). Honors Theses . 1477. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1477

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