Turning Point
History was made when Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut. His success opened the door for other African American players. Soon other teams saw Jackie’s success and teams like the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Bruins decided to recruit black players. It took a total of twelve years for all Major League teams to take the step to sign on a black player, but racism was finally taking a turning point.
When Jackie joined the Dodgers, it was still seven years before the US Supreme Court outlawed separate schools for whites and blacks (known as the Brown vs. Board of Education), eight years before the Birmingham bus incident when Rosa Parks sat in the white section, 16 years before Martin Luther King Jr. made his “I Have a Dream” speech, and 17 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was Jackie Robinson’s courage that broke the long standing color barrier in professional sports and proved that blacks and whites could be successful together.
When Jackie joined the Dodgers, it was still seven years before the US Supreme Court outlawed separate schools for whites and blacks (known as the Brown vs. Board of Education), eight years before the Birmingham bus incident when Rosa Parks sat in the white section, 16 years before Martin Luther King Jr. made his “I Have a Dream” speech, and 17 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was Jackie Robinson’s courage that broke the long standing color barrier in professional sports and proved that blacks and whites could be successful together.