Jackie Robinson loved playing
baseball. He grew up always dreaming that he would someday be on
a major league team. There was one problem, he was black and the
year was 1945. Black players were not allowed to play in the major
leagues before 1945. They had their own league to play in called
the Negro league.
However, one day, Branch
Dickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, called Jackie Robinson and asked
him if he would like to play. Jackie was excited, but Branch told
him some sad news. He told Jackie that many people would boo Jackie
and yell at him just because he was black. Branch also told Jackie
that since he was the first black player in the Major Leagues, he would
have to be self-controlled because if he yelled back at the fans, the league
would kick him out!
Branch was right.
Jackie did get booed and yelled at, even by his own fans. But Jackie
remembered to stay self-controlled and ignore the fans.
The more Jackie played,
the more fans he won. In fact, Jackie won Rookie of the Year at the
end of his first season!
Jackie had shown that the
color of his skin did not matter and that being self-controlled helped
him gain the respect of players and fans all over the country!
Learn more about Jackie
at:
http://www.sound.net/~vivan/jackie2.html
http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/
robinson01.html
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons
/jackie_robinson/jackie_robinson.html
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