Racial Integration

7 Pages 1752 Words

left school in 1941 and was drafted the following year for Army service during World War II. While in the armed services Robinson developed his roots in the civil rights battle by refusing to move to the back of the bus while stationed in Texas. In 1944 Robinson left the Army and began his Negro League baseball career with the Kansas City Monarchs (“Baseball and Jackie Robinson”). As Robinson’s athletic prowess became more apparent, he caught the eye of two very influential journalists, Wendell Smith and Sam Lacy. These two writers helped to push baseball integration by sending letters, telegrams, and making phone calls to important baseball figures. This writing duo presented Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby as the two players capable of breaking the color barrier in baseball (Atkin and Ross).
Doby followed Robinson’s footsteps when he signed for the Cleveland Indians only eleven weeks after Robinson had signed with the Dodgers. Now that both the American and National leagues had been introduced to an African American baseball player, others followed. Satchel Paige and Roy Campanella w...