Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Leader?
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Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Leader?
Despite the numerous challenges that Jackie Robinson had to endure, he accomplished many successes. Not only was he the first ever-African American to play in the Major League Baseball but also paved the way for the admission of other minority players not just in baseball but also in other sports as well. The greatness of his achievement is magnified by the fact that African Americans and other minority groups were excluded from all professional leagues or segregated and that they could not achieve their true potential for much of the 20th century and periods before. The achievement is also unusual when the difficulties that Robinson had to endure are taken into account. Like most African American players of the time, he found it difficult to break into the professional baseball league. However, when he finally joined Brooklyn Dodgers and later played for the Montreal Royals, he had to stoically endure the racial insults thrown at him by other white players and fans and suffer from catcalls and bean balls (1).
Robinson’s leadership on the pitch was exemplary and this factor also helped to lay the ground for the entry of other minorities into the elite sports leagues and competitions. Other achievements attributable to Robinson are that he helped to raise money and mobilize resources to support several civil rights groups and that he enabled African Americans and other minority groups get equal opportunities in the business world through his activism (1).
His greatest achievement perhaps is his contribution to the advancement of civil liberties and the fight for equality of all the races and ethnicities. This activism is evidenced by the numerous letters in defense of civil liberties addressed to prominent personalities such as President Dwight Eisenhower, President Richard Nixon, President Kennedy, President Johnson, and Attorney General Kennedy. His presence at the Civil Rights March that took place in Washington D.C. in 1963 also helped to galvanize support for civil liberty and helped to raise the profile of the event, which ultimately was decisive in breaking the yoke of racial discrimination. In addition, Robinson’s testimony to the Congress on African Americans’ loyalty to the United States following the Cold War fight with Soviet Union is also testament of his credentials as a civil rights leader (1).
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