Essay On Women's Sports During The Civil Rights Movement

During the 1900s there was an increase of racial discrimination. Most people of colour were not given the same rights as those not of color. That is until Jackie Robinson, the first African American Major League Baseball player, “broke the color barrier” (Jackie Robinson). Just by playing baseball Jackie Robinson made a very important impact on the Civil Rights Movement in 1950 through 1960. Some of his contributions to the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement are how he changed the history of baseball, showing how he overcame the challenges he had to face.

The central idea of the article Essay: Why sports history is American history by, Mark Naison is women and black athletes had to fight to get their opportunities in sports. In the article it states, “Black people were not allowed to play most professional sports.” This explains one reason why Black American athletes couldn’t play professional sports. Another statement in the article says, “For most of the 1900’s, women were told sports were just for men.” This explains one reason why women couldn’t play any sports.

Perhaps the most famous accomplishment of Jackie Robinson’s life was his baseball career. During the first half of the 20th century, segregation was a common aspect of American life. African Americans would be separated from white Americans in nearly all elements of life, including sports. Likewise, it was standard for there

The influence of one person passed on to another is inevitable when it comes to life, but even more unavoidable when it extends to sports. College sports in fact have an impact on a mass majority of people, from spectators to players, these endeavors create hopes and dreams for any individual. Not only that, any heart strung story coming from sports gets plastered on media outlets so a greater population of people can also be influenced by a game, but I want to go further than that. Personally, I believe there is a greater meaning behind sports than for it just to be a pastime. There is a reason that the superior divisions of athletics are harder to reach than decades before because of the higher levels of knowledge that continue to be passed down from great coaches to greater players in a never ending cycle.

With how good the athletes at the time were it was hard for the people not to watch or listen to. With the radio the popularity of sport rose even more. People were able to keep up with their favorite sports and player while at home. Babe Ruth dominated baseball like no one else had ever done and the people loved him because of this. Jack Dempsey was another incredible athlete of the time winning 7 heavyweight boxing championship titles in a row.

On the other hand, The evolution of sports has embraced the integration of African Americans into the sports industry. Alex Hargrave from “Sports are symbolic because they represent people coming together in support of their favorite teams, and even though there is competition on the field when the final whistle blows, they shake hands and show respect toward one another” (“A Timeline of Civil Rights”). But before this African Americans faced extreme racism with Jim Crow Laws. They were excluded from being involved in most professional sports. Until the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s.

The athletes previously shown paved the way for more and more African american athletes in the major sports leagues, In today 's sports african americans are some of the best in their respective sports some examples of this are Lebron James in basketball, Serena Williams in tennis. Usain Bolt in track and field, tiger woods in golf, Simone Biles in Gymnastics, pele in soccer,and Muhammed Ali in Boxing. Because of the harlem renaissance athletes proving african americans deserve to participate in the major sports leagues just as much as anyone else. Many more african americans now have the ability to participate at the highest levels of their respective Sports.

When was the last time you saw a female American football player in the media? In most cases, the response would be never, due to the lack of women who play American football. American football is associated with masculinity and patriotism. Although Title IX prevents discrimination on the basis of sex, it seems as if American football is an unwritten exception to that law. The media is one of the main reasons to the lack of female football players.

Jackie Robinson shows that everyone can be emotionally and mindly changed of how people react to other races during that time. The people in the society was having a hard time to adapt with Robinson joining the major leagues in baseball. “The integration of major-league baseball proceeded without critical incident. Though Robinson was scorned by some of his teammates, was harassed by enemy bench jockeys, and received a steady diet of fastballs close to his head; he faithfully abided by his promise to Rickey to turn the other cheek.” (Swaine).This quote proves that even how many people do not like

Throughout the life of America views on African Americans in sports have drastically changed. This is all because of one sport. That sport is the great game of

Baseball is one of the most well-known sports to the American people and has a major impact on our culture. Baseball brings friends and family together for great times, and competitiveness. Who would have thought that one man made baseball what is today, and that man is Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the major leagues and at the time, it shocked America because there were still some segregation issues going on at the time. Jackie Robinson had one goal, and that was to show America that African Americans can play the game of baseball just as good and that they should not be judged by the color of their skin.

Sports were as popular as ever in the 1950s. Baseball and boxing were huge, while football and golf were growing. The 50s produced its share of remarkable athletes, stellar teams and history making sports events that grabbed everyone’s attention. The 1950s were also a time of comfortable prosperity and the economy was back on track.

Jackie Robinson opened doors for other minority athletes. Robinson became the first African American to play in the major leagues. “The major leagues and their affiliated minor leagues for more than a half century, from 1889 until Robinson broke the color line,

Women have made enormous strides since the beginning of their fight. So large in fact, this year in the Olympics, for the first time in 20 years, the female athletes took home more gold medals than the males. The United States Women’s ice hockey team also overcame great odds. They won the gold for the first time in 20 years, beating their biggest rivals, Canada. Personally, I stayed up late watching that game.

The white supremacy that flooded America in the 19th and early 20th century is no longer seen in the sporting world. This paper looked at sports through the lens of an individual athlete named Muhammad Ali (who definitively changed history for African-American people in the United States), as well as looked at sports as a whole throughout history. Through statistics and reports, proof has demonstrated that the sporting world has developed to give more of an opportunity for African-American athletes to compete than ever before. Athletics creates a platform that gives athletes an opportunity to be more than just an athlete. An opportunity to stand up for what they believe in and bring attention to some of the problems of the world.