Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson, solely one of the most important people to the equality of all people regardless of race, is a hero. Not only did he break the color banner of Major League Baseball (MLB) he also joined the army, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, has a foundation founded in his honor which to this day provides scholarships to people, along with his Jackie Robinson Construction which built homes for low income families. These directly didn't have an influence on the equality of African Americans and but it showed that an African American man could participate and compete at the same levels as white men, at times even excel. This, for the time period, had been unheard of.

One of the things that at the very least many people know Jackie Robinson for was his baseball. Jackie Robinson was an unbelievably good player with an astounding .342 batting average, which helped him win the batting championship as well as rookie of the year, and MVP. He received all of these while he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1956. That in itself is an amazing feat because he showed that African Americans could play and be just as good as most white people at the time. Before all of this could happen Jackie also played for the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro league team at the time. Along with baseball he also played on a minor league football team in Hawaii, and ran track for The University of Los Angeles (UCLA.)

Jackie was drafted into the army in 1942. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant Morale Officer, a person who watches after the food service, lodging, fitness, mortuary, recreation, child development and leisure functions of other soldiers, a year later in 1943 after participating in Officer Candidate School. He was court martialed after disobeying an order to sit at the back of a bus. Charges were dropped, but he did refuse honorable discharge. This is important because it shows that the equality at the time was segregated even in the military. Instead of giving into that segregation and inequality Jackie proved that he was just as good as any other man by refusing to move to the back of the bus.

Jackie Robinson did not contribute as much as maybe Martin Luther King Jr., but he was amazing influential to the eventual equality of African Americans . By showing perseverance to play baseball at a level which hadn't ever seen African Americans before, despite the racial comments, and name calling. He showed courage by not following an order in the army to sit at the back of a bus and even though he was punished. He didn't just help with segregation either he even founded the Jackie Robinson Construction Company which helped people who had low income. He even has a foundation that lasts to today called the Jackie Robinson Foundation which provides 4-year college scholarships to people of color to ensure their educational success. If it hadn't been Jackie Robinson how many more years would African Americans have had to wait to get their opportunity to show their equal ability to compete and win?