Racism And Sports

13 Pages 3285 Words

Racism
When asked the question of “how is race and sports important to American culture?” An individual must examine the many ways race is involved with sports as well as how race is related to American culture and how sports are related to American culture. Our group attacked this topic from a multitude of angles; the angle I approached was who and how individual integrated professional sports in America and how that integration affected American society as a whole. To do this I prepared individual case studies on a few of the more famous and inspirational individual athletes that help to change things in sports in America forever.
The First Athlete I am going to discuss is Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was a barrier breaker for blacks in Major league baseball. He is world-renowned and will never be forgotten for his influences on the world today through simply playing the game. Jackie is most famous for his skill in America’s pastime, but his ability was not just for baseball at all. Jackie grew up in Pasadena, California where he played competitive baseball, football, basketball and track during high school.
When he graduated from high school he continued on for his higher education at the University of California at Los Angeles also called UCLA. At UCLA Jackie was the first person to earn Varsity status on four different sport teams. In basketball he was the leading scorer in the pacific coast league two times. He won the title of national champion long jumper once, for his efforts in track and field. His greatest accomplishment in football was being named to the all- American team as a running back. Baseball though had at this point emerged to be Jackie’s favorite sport and also the one he intended on focus on for a professional career.
During Jackie’s senior year at UCLA he dropped out to help support his family increasing economic needs. Then at beginning of World War I Jackie did what many great Am...