Martin Luther King, Jr., And Jackie Robinson: An Analysis

Jane Goodall once said, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” To make a difference, an individual must be willing to make a difference, no matter the consequences. An individual must be brave, smart, and they have to stick to their morals.
There have been a few individuals that have made America great. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jackie Robinson are examples of people who have changed America for the better. Martin Luther King Jr. helped to end segregation and racism. Rosa Parks was a brave woman that didn’t want to give into segregation anymore. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American in the MLBs.
Rosa Parks was a brave woman who stood up for not only herself, …show more content…
was an individual that changed the world by bringing racism to attention, and providing ways to end it. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very powerful individual in the Civil Rights movement. When Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat, groups in the black community came together to organize a boycott of the Montgomery buses. The Montgomery Improvement Association chose Martin Luther King Jr. to be the MIA’s president because they knew he would lead the group positively (Martin Luther King, Jr.,1992). MLK also led lots of marches. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also elected president for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King and other leaders traveled around the world to try and end segregation. King would give speeches and influence officials that racism is a problem (Martin Luther King, Jr., 1992). King also led the March on Washington. The March on Washington was to bring racial inequality to attention. The focus of the March of Washington was to also increase jobs and economic stability for African-Americans. This march was also to encourage the Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill (Martin Luther King, Jr., 1992). Martin Luther King, Jr. was also very well known for his empowering speech. The “I Have a Dream” speech was very emotional, and it impacted everyone in a different way. The speech was about how there is an equality issue in America. In his speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “This note was a promise that all men, …show more content…
When the Major League Baseball program started in 1869, the teams were all white. This meant that no African-Americans were allowed to play. In 1945, Jackie robinson was asked to sign with one of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ farm teams, the Montreal Royals. The Dodgers’ president, Branch Rickey signed Jackie because they wanted to start integrating baseball (Jackie Robinson, 1994). Branch Rickey didn’t want to pick just anyone to be the first African-American in the Majors, but he picked someone who wouldn’t fight back. During the time when Jackie Robinson signed, there was a lot of racism, segregation, and inequality. If Branch Rickey had picked someone who would get in fights with people who were being rude to him, this would have caused a major setback in integration in baseball. The owner of the Dodgers, Walter O’malley, said that Rickey Branch picked Jackie Robinson as the first African-American to play in the MLB because “he knew Jackie had absolutely fierce pride and determination." (Jackie Robinson, 1994). By being the first African-American in the MLB, this caused a lot of difficult situations for Jackie Robinson. According to the biography of Jackie Robinson (1994), some of the Dodgers players did not want to play with Jackie. They signed a petition saying they didn’t want to play with him. Jackie Robinson also received death threat and hate mail. When playing baseball, pitcher’s on