|
English
Language Arts Test
In this part of the test, you
will listen to a biography of Jackie Robinson. Then you will answer
questions to demonstrate how well you understand what was read to you.
You will
listen to this biography twice. The first time you hear it, listen
carefully but do not take notes. When you listen to the biography the
second time, you will take notes. Use your notes to answer the
questions that follow.
Here are
the words and definitions you will need to know as you listen to the
biography:
barrier: anything that holds apart,
separates, or hinders progress
epithet: an adjective, noun or phrase, usually used to speak
badly of some person, group or thing (ex., “egghead” for an
intellectual)
bigot: a person who holds, without ever changing, to a
particular belief
integration: the bringing of different racial or ethnic groups
into free and equal association.
Using specific information from the
biography, complete the chart below to show three significant people in
Jackie Robinson’s life and how each contributed to him.
-
Explain how the particular
contribution each person gave to Jackie influenced his life. Use
information from the biography to support your answer.
-
What were the two
important events or influences in Branch Rickey’s life that compelled
him to find the right Black man to play major league baseball?
-
Strong character traits
were displayed by many people during Jackie Robinson’s lifetime.
Choose any two of the people discussed in Jackie Robinson’s
biography. For each person, mention two character traits that person
had and, by giving specific details, show how each person proved to
have those character traits.
Jackie Robinson was born in 1919 and died in
1972. In his brief 53 years on this earth, Jackie did more to bring
about peace and justice to our world than most of us ever dream about.
He did it primarily through baseball, but he will be remembered not only
as a superior player of that game but also because of the manner in
which he lived his life. Jackie did not, however, become great and
remain a deserving legend on his own; he had the inspiration, support,
love and admiration of some very significant people in his life.
Jackie’s mother, Mallie, abandoned by her
husband when her children were young, took her five children out of the
deep southern state of Georgia and moved to California. Jackie’s mother
was a hard-working woman who supported her children by cleaning other
people’s homes. She had a strong spirit, which never failed and was
also a religiously moral woman. She set such a good example that
inspired her children and gave them pride in themselves and their
family. They lived in an all-white neighborhood, some of whom did
everything they could to get the Robinson’s thrown out of the
neighborhood, including burning a cross on their lawn. The mother
refused to leave, however, while Jackie was proving himself to be a
superior athlete in the sandlot baseball games he played. Some of the
other boys made his life very difficult yelling, “Get off the street,
nigger!” and other racial slurs, but young Jackie refused to weaken.
Jackie was so good at sports that he became
a star athlete at UCLA excelling, especially in track and football and
later in basketball and baseball. For many years he was considered the
best athlete to ever have attended UCLA. Not only was Jackie a great
athlete, but he also received a full academic scholarship that could be
continued only if he received excellent grades, which he did.
While at UCLA, Jackie met and later married
the love of his life, Rachel Isum, who remained by his side for the
duration of his life. Rachel and Jackie wanted no favors for themselves
or their children just because Jackie was famous. One time they were
denied a room in a hotel – until the clerk found out who they were- the
family of Jackie Robinson who had just become the first black man to
play in national baseball. They didn’t take the room! Rachel worked
hard herself, had no household help, and encouraged her children to be
independent and self-supportive. Rachel was wise and patient with
others although when she did begin to see changes in Southerners’
attitudes concerning integration, she felt the changes weren’t coming
about quickly enough. Although Jackie’s character was formed in a large
part due to his mother’s influence and his will to continue was always
backed by his wife, his opportunity to become the first black to play
major league ball and to succeed at it never would have come about if it
hadn’t been for two other important people in his life.
Without a man by the name of Branch Rickey,
Jackie Robinson’s chance to play major league baseball probably never
would have happened, certainly not when it did at least. Mr. Rickey
believed individuals, including those of color and raised anywhere,
should be able to overcome prejudices in the search for the common
good.
Mr. Rickey was the New York Dodgers General
Manager and had previously coached a Negro at the University of
Michigan. Once Rickey was registering that team at a hotel but the
hotel clerk would not register his one black player. Rickey saw how
devastated this boy was by the hotel clerk’s terribly rude remarks. The
young black player was so upset he said, “If only I could tear my skin
off, I’d be just like everyone else!” After that day Rickey was
determined to do what he could to overcome prejudice and racism. Rickey
had been raised by parents who treated all people fairly, and he was
determined to do the same. After that moment in the hotel room, Mr.
Rickey set out to find the black ball player who could make it in pro
baseball.
One of Mr. Rickey’s scouts called him one
day and said he’d found the man to break the baseball color
barrier-Jackie Robinson, a 24-year-old who was then playing on a black
team, the Brown Dodgers. When Rickey met Jackie, the very air about
them was exciting. They both talked a lot, Rickey explaining to Jackie
that he was making his offer for moral reasons- that this was his
attempt to bring God’s Black and White races together. Jackie, in
return, explained that he was doing this to help his people – that if he
could play in a previously all-white league, that would encourage other
black and minority boys to do the same.
Before the deal was agreed to, however,
Jackie Robinson had to promise Mr. Rickey that he was going along with
this under one extremely important condition: that he would never fight
back no matter how much abuse he had to take. Jackie signed.
Did Jackie Robinson suffer abuse? Oh, yes!
Pitchers were ordered by their managers to throw at him. One manager
even offered to buy a new suit of clothes for any pitchers in his club
who could knock Jackie down! Especially in the South, he was booed
relentlessly from those in the almost all-white stands. His wife,
Rachel, actually feared for Jackie’s life when he played in Baltimore
where every one of the worst racial epithets was shouted at him and
where fans hung around his dressing room until 1AM yelling, “We’re gonna
get you!” They finally gave up. And that’s how Jackie handled these
situations – he waited in a gentlemanly-fashion until “they” gave up –
which they finally did but only after Jackie proved himself to be one of
the greatest athletes of all time and the best base runner ever. That
waiting and that patience of his certainly did wear thin at times when
he had to put up with some major league managers saying his players were
sure to get sores and diseases if they touched the towels or combs
Jackie had used. Furthermore, at another ball park, white players on
the opposing team pointed their bats at him making machine gun-like
noises.
To help Jackie through some of the
humiliating and dangerous situations he faced when he played major
league baseball, Wendell Smith, a black sportswriter, was hired at
$50.00 a week to be his companion. Together they would attempt to find
restaurants and hotels that would accommodate them.
Before becoming a great sportswriter,
Wendell had been a good pitcher but was told early on, “I wish I could
sign you, kid, but I can’t.” Smith, rather that becoming totally
discouraged and bitter by this experience, dedicated his life to
bringing about racial equality. He even criticized other Blacks for
supporting major league baseball when it did not, at that time, even
allow Blacks to play.
Jackie Robinson and Wendell Smith faced some
of the worst treatment inflicted by humans on other humans. Rather than
reveal and dwell on some of the most disturbing cases of racial abuse
and discrimination the two endured, Mr. Smith decided to concentrate on
Jackie Robinson’s accomplishments – winning the National League Rookie
of the Year in 1947, for example, and the League’s Most Valuable Player
in 1949. And all of this because on one brave move Jackie made by
signing with Mr. Rickey in 1945 and by having the patience to prove
himself good- enough and man-enough to win over some of the worst bigots
and doubters in the world.
Because of Jackie’s decision made back in
Mr. Rickey’s office, the game of baseball and the face of integration in
the United States changed forever. Jackie only played major league
baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 until 1960, but by the end
of those 13 years all teams in baseball were integrated. Jackie
Robinson had paved the way for great athletes of many minority groups to
step to the plate – Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente, just
to name a few. |