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Military & Veterans affairs Committee Chairs : MattHall – HillWardHenderson & AlexSrsic – BayAreaLegalServices
Jackie Robinson ( 1919-1972 ) is best known for breaking Major League Baseball ’ s color barrier in 1947 . Less well known is his pivotal 1944 refusal to move to the back of a military bus . For doing so , he found himself accused in general court-martial of insubordination and conduct disrespectful to his superior officer under the Army ’ s Articles of War . Jackie Robinson ’ s future hung in the balance as he faced the verdict of nine Army Officers , only two of whom were African-American . But the military legal system worked , producing a full acquittal . Robinson emerged with an even stronger resolve to stand up to discrimination .
Jackie Robinson ’ s courage in the face of discrimination formed in his
Jackierobinson ’ sfuture hunginthebalanceas hefacedtheverdict ofninearmyofficers , onlytwoofwhomwere african-american .
youth . As the only Black family on their block in Pasadena , California , Robinson ’ s family faced burning crosses on the lawn , death threats , and police harassment . Despite this , as a young man , he saw his mother demand respect , unruffled , and learned the lesson well . Robinson rose above it to become a star athlete in not one or two but four sports : football , basketball , track , and — of course — baseball .
In the months following the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor , Robinson put his promising sports career aside when he was drafted into the Army , as one among the 1.2 million African-American men who served in World War II .
jackie Robinson Photo courtesy of national baseball Hall of fame Library , Cooperstown , new York
During an incident early in his Army career , Robinson was denied admittance to his post ’ s baseball team , being told that he could play only on the “ colored team ” — which did not exist . But eventually , in a May 1944 order , the Army forbade segregation on military posts and buses . Robinson was paying close attention ; he tested the limits of that order shortly thereafter .
In July 1944 , while stationed in Texas , Robinson sat beside a woman in the middle row of a military bus and refused to move to the back when told to do so by the bus driver . Robinson explained
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