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97-538: The melting pot is an analogy for the way in which heterogeneous societies become more homogeneous. Melting pot may also refer to: Melting pot The melting-together metaphor was in use by the 1780s. The exact term "melting pot" came into general usage in the United States after it was used as a metaphor describing a fusion of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities in Israel Zangwill 's 1908 play of

194-517: A Southern exhibition tour, for example), the Montreal fan base enthusiastically supported Robinson. Whether fans supported or opposed it, Robinson's presence on the field was a boon to attendance; more than one million people went to games involving Robinson in 1946, an astounding figure by International League standards. In the fall of 1946, following the baseball season, Robinson returned home to California and briefly played professional basketball for

291-624: A single in the same game. The Dodgers briefly moved into first place in the National League in late August 1948, but they ultimately finished third as the Braves went on to win the pennant and lose to the Cleveland Indians in the World Series . Racial pressure on Robinson eased in 1948 when a number of other black players entered the major leagues. Larry Doby (who broke the color barrier in

388-475: A "fusion, as of elements in solution in a vast hot pot". The [baseball] field is the real crucible, the melting pot wherein the rival races are being mixed, combined and molded to the standards of real citizenship and the requirements of the true American. W. A. Phelon (1910), There were a number of ways that the melting pot is considered to have worked throughout American history. For example, baseball , whose unifying powers were first perceived in

485-496: A Negro player "with guts enough not to fight back." After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to racial antagonism, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month, equal to $ 10,155 today. Rickey did not offer compensation to the Monarchs, instead believing all Negro league players were free agents due to the contracts not containing a reserve clause. Among those with whom Rickey discussed prospects

582-678: A black ballplayer. In the mid-1940s, Branch Rickey , club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers , began to scout the Negro leagues for a possible addition to the Dodgers' roster. Rickey selected Robinson from a list of promising black players and interviewed him for possible assignment to Brooklyn's International League farm club , the Montreal Royals . Rickey was especially interested in making sure his eventual signee could withstand

679-439: A confidant for Robinson, a Christian. Toward the end of his PJC tenure, Frank Robinson (to whom Robinson felt closest among his three brothers) was killed in a motorcycle accident. The event motivated Jackie to pursue his athletic career at the nearby University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he could remain closer to Frank's family. After graduating from PJC in spring 1939, Robinson enrolled at UCLA, where he became

776-523: A few words into Robinson's ear", which Robinson later characterized as "words of encouragement". Greenberg had advised him to overcome his critics by defeating them in games. Robinson also talked frequently with Larry Doby , who endured his own hardships since becoming the first black player in the American League with the Cleveland Indians , as the two spoke to each other via telephone throughout

873-590: A game between the Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies , Phillies players and manager Ben Chapman called Robinson a " nigger " from their dugout and yelled that he should "go back to the cotton fields". Rickey later recalled that Chapman "did more than anybody to unite the Dodgers. When he poured out that string of unconscionable abuse, he solidified and united thirty men." However, Robinson received significant encouragement from several major league players. Robinson named Lee "Jeep" Handley , who played for

970-519: A jump of 25 ft. 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 in. on May 7, 1938. As at Muir High School, most of Jackie's teammates were white. While playing football at PJC, Robinson suffered a fractured ankle, complications from which would eventually delay his deployment status while in the military. In 1938, he was elected to the All-Southland Junior College Team for baseball and selected as the region's Most Valuable Player. That year, Robinson

1067-531: A number of countries in Southeast Asia . Given the region's location and importance to trade routes between China and the Western world, certain countries in the region have become ethnically diverse. In Vietnam, a relevant phenomenon is " tam giáo đồng nguyên " (lit. "Three spears, one point," idiomatically "three teachers, one lesson"), references the harmonious co-existence and mutually influencing teachings of

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1164-750: A residential plot containing two small houses at 121 Pepper Street in Pasadena. Robinson's mother worked various odd jobs to support the family. Growing up in relative poverty in an otherwise affluent community, Robinson and his minority friends were excluded from many recreational opportunities. As a result, Robinson joined a neighborhood gang, but his friend Carl Anderson persuaded him to abandon it. In 1935, Robinson graduated from Washington Junior High School and enrolled at John Muir Technical High School . Recognizing his athletic talents, Robinson's older brothers, Frank and Mack (himself an accomplished track and field athlete and silver medalist behind Jesse Owens in

1261-534: A senior at UCLA, Robinson met his future wife, Rachel Isum (b.1922), a UCLA freshman who was familiar with Robinson's athletic career at PJC. He played football as a senior, but the 1940 Bruins won only one game. In the spring, Robinson left college just shy of graduation, despite the reservations of his mother and Isum. He took a job as an assistant athletic director with the government's National Youth Administration (NYA) in Atascadero, California . After

1358-571: A single year even—transforms the English, the German, the Irish emigrant into an American. Uniform institutions, ideas, language, the influence of the majority, bring us soon to a similar complexion; the individuality of the immigrant, almost even his traits of race and religion, fuse down in the democratic alembic like chips of brass thrown into the melting pot. In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner also used

1455-506: A speaking tour of the South. Between the tours, he underwent surgery on his right ankle. Because of his off-season activities, Robinson reported to training camp 30 pounds (14 kg) overweight. He lost the weight during training camp, but dieting left him weak at the plate. In 1948, Wendell Smith's book, Jackie Robinson: My Own Story , was released. In the spring of 1949, Robinson turned to Hall of Famer George Sisler , working as an advisor to

1552-401: A stand for Robinson. Manager Leo Durocher informed the team, "I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a fuckin' zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded." Robinson was also derided by opposing teams. According to a press report,

1649-570: Is predicated upon racist hatred for the Japanese enemy: "the emotion which enables the platoon to transcend racial prejudice is itself a virulent expression of racial hatred...The final heat which blends the ingredients of the melting pot is rage against an enemy which is fully dehumanized as a race of 'dirty monkeys. ' " He sees this racist rage as an expression of "the unresolved tension between racialism and civic egalitarianism in American life". Following

1746-456: The 200 meters at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics ) inspired Jackie to pursue his interest in sports. At Muir Tech, Robinson played numerous sports at the varsity level and lettered in four of them: football , basketball , track and field , and baseball . He played shortstop and catcher on the baseball team, quarterback on the football team, and guard on the basketball team. With

1843-548: The 761st "Black Panthers" Tank Battalion . While at Fort Hood, Robinson often used his weekend leave to visit the Rev. Karl Downs, President of Sam Huston College (now Huston–Tillotson University ) in nearby Austin, Texas ; in California, Downs had been Robinson's pastor at Scott United Methodist Church while Robinson attended PJC. An event on July 6, 1944, derailed Robinson's military career. While awaiting results of hospital tests on

1940-433: The American League on July 5, 1947, just 11 weeks after Robinson) and Satchel Paige played for the Cleveland Indians , and the Dodgers had three other black players besides Robinson. In February 1948, he signed a $ 12,500 contract (equal to $ 158,518 today) with the Dodgers; while a significant amount, this was less than Robinson made in the off-season from a vaudeville tour, where he answered pre-set baseball questions and

2037-612: The Boston Braves in March 1948, Robinson took over second base, where he logged a .980 fielding percentage that year (second in the National League at the position, fractionally behind Stanky). Robinson had a batting average of .296 and 22 stolen bases for the season. In a 12–7 win against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 29, 1948, he hit for the cycle —a home run , a triple , a double , and

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2134-630: The Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Born in Cairo, Georgia , Robinson was raised in Pasadena, California . A four-sport student athlete at Pasadena Junior College and the University of California, Los Angeles , he was better known for football than he

2231-771: The Jersey City Giants ' season opener against the Montreal Royals , marking the professional debut of the Royals' Jackie Robinson and the first time the color barrier had been broken in a game between two minor league clubs. Pitching against Robinson was Warren Sandel who had played against him when they both lived in California. During Robinson's first at bat, the Jersey City catcher, Dick Bouknight, demanded that Sandel throw at Robinson, but Sandel refused. Although Sandel induced Robinson to ground out at his first at bat, Robinson ended up with four hits in his five at bats ; his first hit

2328-725: The St. Louis Cardinals threatened to strike if Robinson played and spread the walkout across the entire National League. Existence of the plot was said to have been leaked by the Cardinals' team physician, Robert Hyland, to a friend, the New York Herald Tribune ' s Rud Rennie . The reporter, concerned about protecting Hyland's anonymity and job, in turn leaked it to his Tribune colleague and editor, Stanley Woodward , whose own subsequent reporting with other sources protected Hyland. The Woodward article made national headlines. After it

2425-521: The "racial masquerade" that was involved in creation of a white "melting pot" culture through the stereotyping and imitation of black and other non-white cultures in the early 20th century, historian Michael Rogin has commented: "Repudiating 1920s nativism, these films [Rogin discusses The Jazz Singer , Old San Francisco (1927), Whoopee! (1930), King of Jazz (1930) celebrate the melting pot. Unlike other racially stigmatized groups, white immigrants can put on and take off their mask of difference. But

2522-410: The "salad bowl" or the "symphony" are more often used by sociologists to describe how cultures and ethnicities mix in the United States. Mayor David Dinkins , when referring to New York City, described it as "not a melting pot, but a gorgeous mosaic...of race and religious faith, of national origin and sexual orientation – of individuals whose families arrived yesterday and generations ago..." Since

2619-605: The 1960s, much research in Sociology and History has disregarded the melting pot theory for describing interethnic relations in the United States and other countries. Whether to support a melting-pot or multicultural approach has developed into an issue of much debate within some countries. For example, the French and British governments and populace are currently debating whether Islamic cultural practices and dress conflict with their attempts to form culturally unified countries. Today

2716-415: The American is one who "leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater . Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in

2813-591: The Brooklyn Dodgers, who thought he would be the perfect candidate for breaking the color line in MLB. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to

2910-470: The Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 in his first year of eligibility. Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence , and his talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation that had then marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement . Robinson also

3007-450: The Dodgers' organization in January. In Sanford, Florida , the police chief threatened to cancel games if Robinson and Wright did not cease training activities there; as a result, Robinson was sent back to Daytona Beach. In Jacksonville , the stadium was padlocked shut without warning on game day, by order of the city's Parks and Public Property director. In DeLand , a scheduled day game

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3104-558: The Dodgers, for batting help. At Sisler's suggestion, Robinson spent hours at a batting tee, learning to hit the ball to right field. Sisler taught Robinson to anticipate a fastball, on the theory that it is easier to subsequently adjust to a slower curveball. Robinson also noted that "Sisler showed me how to stop lunging, how to check my swing until the last fraction of a second". The tutelage helped Robinson raise his batting average from .296 in 1948 to .342 in 1949. In addition to his improved batting average, Robinson stole 37 bases that season,

3201-682: The European tribes—of the Africans, and of the Polynesians—will construct a new race, a new religion, a new state, a new literature, which will be as vigorous as the new Europe which came out of the smelting-pot of the Dark Ages, or that which earlier emerged from the Pelasgic and Etruscan barbarism. These good people are future 'Yankees.' By next year they will be wearing the clothes of their new country, and by

3298-618: The Los Angeles Bulldogs. Robinson then accepted an offer from his old friend and pastor Rev. Karl Downs to be the athletic director at Samuel Huston College in Austin, then of the Southwestern Athletic Conference . The job included coaching the school's basketball team for the 1944–45 season. As it was a fledgling program, few students tried out for the basketball team, and Robinson even resorted to inserting himself into

3395-571: The Melting-Pot (1915), and Randolph Bourne in Trans-National America (1916), laid the foundations for the concept of cultural pluralism . This term was coined by Kallen. In the United States, where the term melting pot is still commonly used, the ideas of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism have, in some circles, taken precedence over the idea of assimilation. Alternate models where immigrants retain their native cultures such as

3492-528: The Monarchs, hitting .387 with five home runs , and registering 13 stolen bases . He also appeared in the 1945 East–West All-Star Game , going hitless in five at-bats. During the season, Robinson pursued potential major league interests. No black man had played in the major leagues since Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884, but the Boston Red Sox nevertheless held a tryout at Fenway Park for Robinson and other black players on April 16. The tryout, however,

3589-438: The National League for five years. This is the United States of America and one citizen has as much right to play as another." Woodward's article received the E. P. Dutton Award in 1947 for Best Sports Reporting. The Cardinals players denied that they were planning to strike, and Woodward later told author Roger Kahn that Frick was his true source; writer Warren Corbett said that Frick's speech "never happened". Regardless,

3686-403: The Negro leagues, and black talents Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson were upset when Robinson was selected first. Larry Doby , who broke the color line in the American League the same year as Robinson, said, "One of the things that was disappointing and disheartening to a lot of the black players at the time was that Jack was not the best player. The best was Josh Gibson. I think that's one of

3783-496: The Negro leagues. Robinson accepted a contract for $ 400 per month. Although he played well for the Monarchs, Robinson was frustrated with the experience. He had grown used to a structured playing environment in college, and the Negro leagues' disorganization and embrace of gambling interests appalled him. The hectic travel schedule also placed a burden on his relationship with Isum, with whom he could now communicate only by letter. In all, Robinson played 47 games at shortstop for

3880-459: The New York Yankees at Ebbets Field with 24,237 in attendance. On April 15, Robinson made his major league debut at the relatively advanced age of 28 at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, more than 14,000 of whom were black. Although he failed to get a base hit, he walked and scored a run in the Dodgers' 5–3 victory. Robinson became the first player since 1884 to openly break

3977-840: The Phillies at the time, as the first opposing player to wish him well. Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese once came to Robinson's defense with the famous line, "You can hate a man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." In 1947 or 1948, Reese is said to have put his arm around Robinson in response to fans who shouted racial slurs at Robinson before a game in Boston or Cincinnati. A statue by sculptor William Behrends , unveiled at KeySpan Park on November 1, 2005, depicts Reese with his arm around Robinson. Jewish baseball star Hank Greenberg , who had to deal with ethnic epithets during his career, also encouraged Robinson. Following an incident where Greenberg collided with Robinson at first base, he "whispered

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4074-497: The Rev. Karl Downs. In 1946, Robinson arrived at Daytona Beach, Florida , for spring training with the Montreal Royals of the Class AAA International League . Clay Hopper , the manager of the Royals, asked Rickey to assign Robinson to any other Dodger affiliate, but Rickey refused. Robinson's presence was controversial in racially segregated Florida. He was not allowed to stay with his white teammates at

4171-593: The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City strongly revived the melting pot image, returning to a bedrock form of American nationalism and patriotism. The reemergence of Olympic melting pot discourse was driven especially by the unprecedented success of African Americans , Mexican Americans , Asian Americans , and Native Americans in events traditionally associated with Europeans and white North Americans such as speed skating and

4268-778: The United States into World War II and ended Robinson's nascent football career. In 1942, Robinson was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit at Fort Riley, Kansas . Having the requisite qualifications, Robinson and several other black soldiers applied for admission to an Officer Candidate School (OCS) then located at Fort Riley. Although the Army's initial July 1941 guidelines for OCS had been drafted as race-neutral, few black applicants were admitted into OCS until after subsequent directives by Army leadership. The applications of Robinson and his colleagues were delayed for several months. After protests by heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis (then stationed at Fort Riley) and with

4365-461: The United States took inspiration from these ideas. Man is the most composite of all creatures.... Well, as in the old burning of the Temple at Corinth, by the melting and intermixture of silver and gold and other metals a new compound more precious than any, called Corinthian brass , was formed; so in this continent—asylum of all nations—the energy of Irish, Germans, Swedes, Poles, and Cossacks, and all

4462-405: The academic debates on identity, adaptation and integration of immigrants into various political, social and economic spheres. The concept of immigrants "melting" into the receiving culture is found in the writings of J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur . In his Letters from an American Farmer (1782) Crèvecœur writes, in response to his own question, "What then is the American, this new man?" that

4559-632: The aftermath of the 1860s Civil War , was often said to play a significant role in integrating immigrants in particular. In New York City, where the modern version of baseball began , immigrants invented variations of the game in the streets at the turn of the 20th century in their rush to integrate themselves. Baseball also improved race relations: Jackie Robinson was a major black baseball-playing icon who crossed Major League Baseball's color line by 1947, which helped to reduce racial segregation. White Americans long regarded some elements of African-American culture quintessentially "American", while at

4656-414: The ankle he had injured in junior college, Robinson boarded an Army bus with a fellow officer's wife; although the Army had commissioned its own unsegregated bus line, the bus driver ordered Robinson to move to the back of the bus. Robinson refused. The driver backed down, but after reaching the end of the line, summoned the military police , who took Robinson into custody. When Robinson later confronted

4753-552: The bobsled. The 2002 Winter Olympics was also a showcase of American religious freedom and cultural tolerance of the history of Utah's large majority population of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , as well as representation of Muslim Americans and other religious groups in the U.S. Olympic team. In Henry Ford 's Ford English School (established in 1914), the graduation ceremony for immigrant employees involved symbolically stepping off an immigrant ship and passing through

4850-589: The charts; Count Basie recorded a famous version. Ultimately, the Dodgers won the National League pennant, but lost in five games to the New York Yankees in the 1949 World Series . Summer 1949 brought an unwanted distraction for Robinson. In July, he was called to testify before the United States House of Representatives ' Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) concerning statements made that April by black athlete and actor Paul Robeson . Robinson

4947-557: The depiction of a multiracial American unit. At the time blacks and Japanese in the armed forces were still segregated, while Chinese and Indians were in integrated units. Historian Richard Slotkin sees Bataan and the combat genre that sprang from it as the source of the "melting pot platoon", a cinematic and cultural convention symbolizing in the 1940s "an American community that did not yet exist", and thus presenting an implicit protest against racial segregation. However, Slotkin points out that ethnic and racial harmony within this platoon

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5044-425: The field. In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number, 42, across all Major League teams; he was the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, " Jackie Robinson Day ", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears no. 42. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, into a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia . He

5141-428: The first black player to openly play for a minor league team against a major league team since the de facto baseball color line had been implemented in the 1880s. Later in spring training, after some less-than-stellar performances, Robinson was shifted from shortstop to second base , allowing him to make shorter throws to first base. Robinson's performance soon rebounded. On April 18, 1946, Roosevelt Stadium hosted

5238-589: The following year they will be speaking its language. Their children will grow up and will no longer even remember the mother country. America is the melting pot in which all the nations of the world come to be fused into a single mass and cast in a uniform mold. No reverberatory effect of The Great War has caused American public opinion more solicitude than the failure of the 'melting-pot.' The discovery of diverse nationalistic feelings among our great alien population has come to most people as an intense shock. Blacks, Chinese, Puerto Ricans, etcetera, could not melt into

5335-445: The freedom promised immigrants to make themselves over points to the vacancy, the violence, the deception, and the melancholy at the core of American self-fashioning". This trend towards greater acceptance of ethnic and racial minorities was evident in popular culture in the combat films of World War II, starting with Bataan (1943). This film celebrated solidarity and cooperation between Americans of all races and ethnicities through

5432-624: The government ceased NYA operations, Robinson traveled to Honolulu in the fall of 1941 to play football for the semi-professional, racially integrated Honolulu Bears. After a short season, Robinson returned to California in December 1941 to pursue a career as running back for the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the Pacific Coast Football League . By that time, however, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place, which drew

5529-495: The help of Truman Gibson (then an assistant civilian aide to the Secretary of War ), the men were accepted into OCS. The experience led to a personal friendship between Robinson and Louis. Upon finishing OCS, Robinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in January 1943. Shortly afterward, Robinson and Isum were formally engaged. After receiving his commission, Robinson was reassigned to Fort Hood , Texas, where he joined

5626-663: The inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate National and American League Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). That year, the Brooklyn Dodgers won the National League pennant and went on to face the Yankees in the 1947 World Series . Robinson became the first black player to play in the World Series. He appeared in all seven games, with the Dodgers ultimately losing in Game 7. Following Stanky's trade to

5723-429: The inevitable racial abuse that would be directed at him. In a famous three-hour exchange on August 28, 1945, Rickey asked Robinson if he could face the racial animus without taking the bait and reacting angrily—a concern given Robinson's prior arguments with law enforcement officials at PJC and in the military. Robinson was aghast: "Are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?" Rickey replied that he needed

5820-483: The investigating duty officer about racist questioning by the officer and his assistant, the officer recommended Robinson be court-martialed . After Robinson's commander in the 761st, Paul L. Bates , refused to authorize the legal action, Robinson was summarily transferred to the 758th Battalion —where the commander quickly consented to charge Robinson with multiple offenses, including, among other charges, public drunkenness, even though Robinson did not drink. By

5917-550: The lineup for exhibition games. Although his teams were outmatched by opponents, Robinson was respected as a disciplinarian coach, and drew the admiration of, among others, Langston University basketball player Marques Haynes , a future member of the Harlem Globetrotters . In early 1945, while Robinson was at Sam Huston College, the Kansas City Monarchs sent him a written offer to play professional baseball in

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6014-518: The major league baseball color line. Black fans began flocking to see the Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning their Negro league teams. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspapers and white major league players. However, racial tension existed in the Dodger clubhouse. Some Dodger players insinuated they would sit out rather than play alongside Robinson. The brewing mutiny ended when Dodgers management took

6111-470: The melting pot , entering at one end in costumes designating their nationality and emerging at the other end in identical suits and waving American flags. In response to the pressure exerted on immigrants to culturally assimilate and also as a reaction against the denigration of the culture of non-Anglo white immigrants by Nativists, intellectuals on the left, such as Horace Kallen in Democracy Versus

6208-682: The metaphor of immigrants melting into one American culture. In his essay The Significance of the Frontier in American History , he referred to the "composite nationality" of the American people, arguing that the frontier had functioned as a " crucible " where "the immigrants were Americanized, liberated and fused into a mixed race, English in neither nationality nor characteristics". In his 1905 travel narrative The American Scene , Henry James discusses cultural intermixing in New York City as

6305-602: The nation's three major religious schools, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, demonstrating a process described as "cultural addivity". In contrast to the melting pot theory, Malaysia and Singapore promote cultural preservation of their various ethnicities. In Malaysia they say "agama, bangsa, negara" which means "various religions, various ethnicities, one nation." Malaysia is made up of different religions and ethnicities yet all are citizens and everyone should respect one another, join hands, and work together. Each ethnicity should work to preserve their own ethnic identity while at

6402-475: The outstanding athlete at Muir, starring in football, basketball, track, baseball, and tennis." After Muir, Robinson attended Pasadena Junior College (PJC), where he continued his athletic career by participating in basketball, football, baseball, and track. On the football team, he played quarterback and safety . He was a shortstop and leadoff hitter for the baseball team, and he broke an American junior college broad-jump record held by his brother Mack with

6499-445: The picture's leading role, displays a calm assurance and composure that might be envied by many a Hollywood star." Robinson's Hollywood exploits, however, did not sit well with Dodgers co-owner Walter O'Malley , who referred to Robinson as "Rickey's prima donna ". In late 1950, Rickey's contract as the Dodgers' team President expired. Weary of constant disagreements with O'Malley, and with no hope of being re-appointed as President of

6596-504: The pot. They could be used as wood to produce the fire for the pot, but they could not be used as material to be melted into the pot. Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for

6693-477: The reaction to this doctrine is ambivalent; some say that it was a necessary measure in the founding years, while others claim that it amounted to cultural oppression . Others argue that the melting pot policy did not achieve its declared target: for example, the persons born in Israel are more similar from an economic point of view to their parents than to the rest of the population. The term has been used to describe

6790-616: The reasons why Josh died so early—he was heartbroken." Rickey's offer allowed Robinson to leave behind the Monarchs and their grueling bus rides, and he went home to Pasadena. That September, he signed with Chet Brewer 's Kansas City Royals, a post-season barnstorming team in the California Winter League . Later that off-season, he briefly toured South America with another barnstorming team, while his fiancée Isum pursued nursing opportunities in New York City. On February 10, 1946, Robinson and Isum were married by their old friend,

6887-471: The release of a film biography of Robinson's life, The Jackie Robinson Story , in which Robinson played himself, and actress Ruby Dee played Rachel "Rae" (Isum) Robinson. The project had been previously delayed when the film's producers refused to accede to demands of two Hollywood studios that the movie include scenes of Robinson being tutored in baseball by a white man. The New York Times wrote that Robinson, "doing that rare thing of playing himself in

6984-456: The report led to Robinson receiving increased support from the sports media . Even The Sporting News , a publication that had backed the color line, came out against the idea of a strike. Robinson nonetheless became the target of rough physical play by opponents (particularly the Cardinals). At one time, he received a seven-inch gash in his leg from Enos Slaughter . On April 22, 1947, during

7081-485: The same name . The desirability of assimilation and the melting pot model has been rejected by proponents of multiculturalism , who have suggested alternative metaphors to describe the current American society, such as a salad bowl , or kaleidoscope , in which different cultures mix, but remain distinct in some aspects. The melting pot continues to be used as an assimilation model in vernacular and political discourse along with more inclusive models of assimilation in

7178-488: The same time treating African Americans as second-class citizens. White appropriation, stereotyping and mimicking of black culture played an important role in the construction of an urban popular culture in which European immigrants could express themselves as Americans, through such traditions as blackface , minstrel shows and later in jazz and in early Hollywood cinema, notably in The Jazz Singer (1927). Analyzing

7275-445: The same time working together to build Malaysia as a national effort, living in peace and harmony. The Caribbean has a substantial amount of mixing between different ethnic groups, due to the history of various labor groups being imported into the region. Mexico has had a significant amount of cultural and ethnic fusion among its many groups, with its government pursuing a " mestizo " (mixed heritage) ideal. Civil rights reformers in

7372-593: The school's first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. He was one of four black players on the Bruins' 1939 football team ; the others were Woody Strode , Kenny Washington , and Ray Bartlett. Washington, Strode, and Robinson made up three of the team's four backfield players. At a time when only a few black students played mainstream college football, this made UCLA college football's most integrated team. They went undefeated with four ties at 6–0–4. Robinson finished

7469-581: The season with 12.2 yards per attempt on 42 carries, which is the school football record for highest rushing yards per carry in a season as of 2022. Robinson also led the NCAA in punt return average in the 1939 and 1940 seasons. In track and field , Robinson won the 1940 NCAA championship in the long jump at 24 ft 10 + 1 ⁄ 4  in (7.58 m). Baseball was Robinson's "worst sport" at UCLA; he hit .097 in his only season, although in his first game he went 4-for-4 and twice stole home. While

7566-483: The season. Robinson finished the season having played in 151 games for the Dodgers , with a batting average of .297, an on-base percentage of .383, and a .427 slugging percentage . He had 175 hits (scoring 125 runs) including 31 doubles , 5 triples , and 12 home runs, driving in 48 runs for the year. Robinson led the league in sacrifice hits , with 28, and in stolen bases, with 29. His cumulative performance earned him

7663-405: The short-lived Los Angeles Red Devils . In 1947, the Dodgers called Robinson up to the major leagues six days before the start of the season. With Eddie Stanky entrenched at second base for the Dodgers, Robinson played his initial major league season as a first baseman . Robinson made his debut as a Dodger wearing uniform number 42 on April 11, 1947, in a preseason exhibition game against

7760-551: The team hotel, and instead lodged at the home of Joe and Dufferin Harris, a politically active African-American couple who introduced the Robinsons to civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune . Since the Dodgers organization did not own a spring training facility, scheduling was subject to the whim of area localities, several of which turned down any event involving Robinson or Johnny Wright , another black player whom Rickey had signed to

7857-520: The time of the court-martial in August 1944, the charges against Robinson had been reduced to two counts of insubordination during questioning. Robinson was acquitted by an all-white panel of nine officers. Although his former unit, the 761st Tank Battalion, became the first black tank unit to see combat in World War II, Robinson's court-martial proceedings prohibited him from being deployed overseas, and he

7954-580: The track and field squad, he won awards in the broad jump . He was also a member of the tennis team. In 1936, Robinson won the junior boys singles championship in the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament and earned a place on the Pomona annual baseball tournament all-star team, which included future Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bob Lemon . In late January 1937, the Pasadena Star-News newspaper reported that Robinson "for two years has been

8051-480: The world." In 1845, Ralph Waldo Emerson , alluding to the development of European civilization out of the medieval Dark Ages , wrote in his private journal of America as the Utopian product of a culturally and racially mixed " smelting pot", but only in 1912 were his remarks first published. A magazine article in 1876 used the metaphor explicitly: The fusing process goes on as in a blast-furnace ; one generation,

8148-415: Was Wendell Smith , writer for the black weekly Pittsburgh Courier , who, according to Cleveland Indians owner and team president Bill Veeck , "influenced Rickey to take Jack Robinson, for which he's never completely gotten credit." Although he required Robinson to keep the arrangement a secret for the time being, Rickey committed to formally signing Robinson before November 1, 1945. On October 23, it

8245-531: Was a farce chiefly designed to assuage the desegregationist sensibilities of powerful Boston City Councilman Isadore H. Y. Muchnick . Even with the stands limited to management, Robinson was subjected to racial epithets. He left the tryout humiliated, and more than 14 years later, in July 1959, the Red Sox became the final major league team to integrate its roster. Other teams, however, had more serious interest in signing

8342-479: Was a three-run home run in the game's third inning . He also scored four runs , drove in three, and stole two bases in the Royals' 14–1 victory. Robinson proceeded to lead the International League that season with a .349 batting average and .985 fielding percentage , and he was named the league's Most Valuable Player. Although he often faced hostility while on road trips (the Royals were forced to cancel

8439-408: Was arrested after vocally disputing the detention of a black friend by police. Robinson received a two-year suspended sentence, but the incident—along with other rumored run-ins between Robinson and police—gave Robinson a reputation for combativeness in the face of racial antagonism. While at PJC, he was motivated by a preacher (the Rev. Karl Downs) to attend church on a regular basis, and Downs became

8536-486: Was for baseball, becoming a star college player with the UCLA Bruins football team. Following his college career, Robinson was drafted for service during World War II but was court-martialed for refusing to sit at the back of a segregated Army bus, eventually being honorably discharged. Afterwards, he signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues, where he caught the eye of Branch Rickey , general manager of

8633-653: Was never in combat. After his acquittal, he was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky , where he served as a coach for army athletics until receiving an honorable discharge in November 1944. While there, Robinson met a former player for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League , who encouraged Robinson to write the Monarchs and ask for a tryout. Robinson took the former player's advice and wrote to Monarchs co-owner Thomas Baird. After his discharge, Robinson briefly returned to his old football club,

8730-659: Was one of 10 students named to the school's Order of the Mast and Dagger ( Omicron Mu Delta ), awarded to students performing "outstanding service to the school and whose scholastic and citizenship record is worthy of recognition." Also while at PJC, he was elected to the Lancers, a student-run police organization responsible for patrolling various school activities. An incident at PJC illustrated Robinson's impatience with authority figures he perceived as racist —a character trait that would resurface repeatedly in his life. On January 25, 1938, he

8827-457: Was postponed, ostensibly because of issues with the stadium's electrical lighting. After much lobbying of local officials by Rickey himself, the Royals were allowed to host a game involving Robinson in Daytona Beach. Robinson made his Royals debut at Daytona Beach's City Island Ballpark on March 17, 1946, in an exhibition game against the team's parent club, the Dodgers. Robinson thus became

8924-414: Was publicly announced that Robinson would be assigned to the Royals for the 1946 season. On the same day, with representatives of the Royals and Dodgers present, Robinson formally signed his contract with the Royals. In what was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s. He was not necessarily the best player in

9021-456: Was published, National League President Ford Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. "You will find that the friends that you think you have in the press box will not support you, that you will be outcasts," Frick was quoted as saying. "I do not care if half the league strikes. Those who do it will encounter quick retribution. All will be suspended and I don't care if it wrecks

9118-435: Was reluctant to testify, but he eventually agreed to do so, fearing it might negatively affect his career if he declined. In 1950, Robinson led the National League in double plays made by a second baseman with 133. His salary that year was the highest any Dodger had been paid to that point: $ 35,000 ($ 443,237 in 2023 dollars). He finished the year with 99 runs scored, a .328 batting average, and 12 stolen bases. The year saw

9215-557: Was second place in the league for both doubles and triples, and registered 124 runs batted in with 122 runs scored. For the performance Robinson earned the Most Valuable Player Award for the National League. Baseball fans also voted Robinson as the starting second baseman for the 1949 All-Star Game — the first All-Star Game to include black players. That year, a song about Robinson by Buddy Johnson , "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?", reached number 13 on

9312-623: Was the first black television analyst in MLB and the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts . In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank , an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem , New York. After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his achievements on and off

9409-407: Was the youngest of five children born to Mallie (née McGriff) and Jerry Robinson, after siblings Edgar, Frank, Matthew (nicknamed "Mack"), and Willa Mae. His middle name honored former President Theodore Roosevelt , who died 25 days before Robinson was born. After Robinson's father left the family in 1920, they moved to Pasadena, California . The extended Robinson family established itself on

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