Chapter 19 (Symbolism)

Jackie Robinson was an African American man who played baseball, football, basketball, and track at UCLA and was the first to receive varsity letters in all four sports. Later on Jackie became a professional baseball player from 1947-19565. During his times, baseball was segregated, Robinson was the first to integrate the major leagues. Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and received rookie of the year with 12 homers, 29 steals, and wont the batting title with a .297 average. Jackie Robinson was then put in the Hall of Fame in 1962. Jackie Robinson became a symbol of triumph for black americans because Jackie Robinson had to struggle through tough times, but overcame those times to persevere and excel in several sports, especially baseball. Jackie is very similar to Joe Louis from I Know Why the Cage Bird Sing, by Maya Angelou because Joe Louis was an African-American boy, who fought for equal rights. Joe Louis was known as the "Brown Bomber" who fought professionally, and was named the"champion of the world". These two men, Jackie and Joe both overcame tough times to prove that African Americans are just as strong, and caucasians are superior.