Jackie Robinson is one of the greatest cultural icons in the history of the United States of America. By leading the charge of integrating blacks and whites in America’s past-time of baseball in 1947, he was able to help ignite the civil rights movement to instill equality among all Americans. Robinson faced many extremely difficult battles with many obstacles to achieve this equality, and in order to properly honor and recognize his importance, a baseball stadium named after him must be built.
Jackie Robinson Stadium willincorporate the viewpoints of the Robinson family, Major League Baseball, and the NAACP in order to accurately remember and honor Jackie Robinson’s life and significance. Jackie Robinson Stadium will be located in Washington D.C. and be home of the Washington Nationals.
Being located in Washington D.C. is crucial because it is the capital of the nation. By dedicating the capital city’s baseball team’s bal park to Robinson emphasizes his importance on not only baseball, but the nation as a whole.
The Washington Nationals will make it their home stadium because they are members of Major League Baseball, the highest and most popular level of baseball in the United States. This is also crucial because the more popular the team and league, the more popular the stadium will be. This will assure that this stadium will attract the most visitors and as many people will be able to absorb the importance of Jackie Robinson as possible. The stadium will resemble a museum with many pictures, memorabilia, and other things to display the effect Jackie had on this country and professional baseball.
The stadium will be divided into three areas in which three different but equally important groups will be able to honor Jackie Robinson in their own way. The Robinson family will be responsible for the memorial behind home plate, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will construct the left field memorial, and Major League Baseball (MLB) ill create the right field portion of the monument. The portion of the stadium designed by Jackie Robinson’s family will consist of pictures and other things honoring the personal life and career of Jackie. It ill well-document the struggles and pressure that was bestowed upon him for crossing the color barrier that ultimately led to his death.
“Never heard a black person mention Jackie Robinson without noting that he died a physical wreck, at the age of 53-a fact attributed to the stress of his years as a major league player” (Early 179). This piece of the memorial will be used to remember the sacrifices and hardships Jackie worked through in order to integrate baseball. Next, the NAACP’S design for left frield will be used to honor the Negro League that was essentially dismantled after Jackie Robinson crossed over into white Major League BasebalI. The NAACP understands that some black Americans felt Robinson abandoned the Negro League and black culture. Effa Manley wrote, “Jackie Robinson has lent his powerful destruction of negro baseball” (Early 177). This section will provide a detailed history of the Negro Leagues and honor black baseball players before Robinson who never had the opportunity to play in the MLB.
The NAACP will also celebrate the African- American players who were able to play in the MLB as a direct result of Robinson’s sacrifices and efforts. Finally, Major League Baseball will recognize Robinson’s effect on the MLB in general and the people who were also instrumental in breaking the color barrier. It will compare the segregated and racist league prior to Robinson and the diverse and integrated league following Robinson. Jackie Robinson will be givena lot of the credit in this section, but Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and all other people who played important roles in the integration will also be honored in order to assure their efforts will not be forgotten.
Jackie Robinson Stadium will provide a proper memorial for the baseball and cultural icon by incorporating the viewpoints of all people effected by the heroic life of Jackie Robinson. It is difficult to keep everyone satisfied with the remembrance of Jackie Robinson, but dividing the monument up between the Robinson Family, Major League Baseball, and the NAACP, will ensure that most stakeholders are compensated for.
The Significance of Jackie Robinson in the Field of Baseball and Equality. (2023, Feb 26). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/the-significance-of-jackie-robinson-in-the-field-of-baseball-and-equality/