Who was Jackie Robinson?
Many Americans my age (or older) remember who Jackie Robinson was and what he represents in modern American history. In 1947, two years after WWII had ended, Jackie Robinson became the first black man to play the sport of baseball in the until-then segregated major leagues of baseball in the USA. That is to say, by 1945 Hitler’s Nazi Europe had been defeated, and Americans had begun to come home from war committed to make the playing fields of America more fair and just than had ever been the case before. NOTE: In other words, throughout WWII America’s military armed forces-like American baseball-had been segregated. There were white Air Force squadrons in WWII. There were also black air force squadrons. There was a Navajo Indian signals corp. There were also Japanese American army regiments. America was a relatively segregated country-i.e. in many ways not living up to its image, ideals, dreams, or passions. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t be until the end of the decade, 1948, that P
60 years ago today, on April 15th, 1947, Jackie Robinson played in his first major league baseball game. I learned about Jackie Robinson from my Dad, back when Henry Arron was chasing Babe Ruth’s record. My kids learned about him from me, when his number went up over right field at Fenway Park. Please, tell your kids about Jackie. “A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives.” ~ Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson – Wikipedia www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson Jackie Robinson, National Baseball Hall of Fame www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bi… The Jackie Robinson Foundation – www.jackierobinson.org TIME 100: Jackie RobinsonHe thrilled fans, shattered baseball’s color barrier and changed the face of the nation. www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/robinson01.htm… Baseball and Jackie Robinson (American Memory from the Library of Congress) www.memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/ ESPN.com: Jackie changed face of sport. www.espn.
• Read the book to the entire class. As you encounter each of the following words, ask students to define them (segregation, prejudice, self-control, intimidate, humiliation and hostility). The book contains many context clues. • After reading the book to the students, divide students into four groups. Assign an area in the classroom for each group and ask each group to choose a leader (or co-leaders). The leader’s responsibility will be reporting to the class the group’s answer to one of the four questions. Each group will be assigned a question (or two) which are to be written on a separate piece of paper for each group. Another individual in the group is to write on the piece of paper a summary of the group’s discussion. Ask the person who records information to write group members’ names on the paper. Questions: • Group 1: Explain the statement, “I want a man with the courage not to fight back.” • Group 2: What did it mean when PeeWee Reese put his arm around Jackie Robinson in fro
