Discrimination
By: Luke Mozena
In the life of
Jackie Robinson
At an early age in my life, I have been discriminated against. When I was six years old my neighbors started calling me very bad names. The neighbors were white, of course. All through school I was the one blamed for damage and I had to clean everything up. The worst day I had in middle school was in my 1st year I was at the school, the gym teacher made me run 3 miles and do 100 push-ups because I was black. He was white and from the south. In high school at Muir High I joined a gang for discriminated people. Our gang was called the “Pepper Street Gang”. The gang consisted of African Americans, Japanese, Mexicans, Chinese, and Italians. I then later attended UCLA where I had very little problems with discrimination. The worst racism I encountered was in the U.S. Army. I was shipped to Fort Riley in Kansas. It turned out that Fort Riley didn’t accept Negro officers. We were also placed in the front of the attack so we would be the first to die. I was one of the few qualified to be an officer. One time I was riding the bus off the fort and I was the only African American on the bus. There were three other people on the bus. The captain, who was driving the bus, told me to move to the back even though the whites were already in the front. I yelled “I don’t have to move seats because nobody needs my seat!” The bus then stopped and I was thrown off and escorted to the Major’s tent where I was told that charges were being pressed against me. The charges were disobedience of an order, public drunkenness, and, disrespect to a commanding officer. The charges were soon dropped because of how ridiculous they were. Then all the African Americans and I protested that we weren’t treated right. We won the protest and I then on became the head of the 761st battalion. In April of 1945 I joined the Kansas City Monarchs. They were a Negro League team and they played all over the U.S. The Negro hotels we stayed in were usually makeshift places to sleep. When we would go out to eat, the restaurants would not serve us. They gave us hamburgers and coffee in brown paper bags. We had no hot meals the entire time I was on the team. On my flight to Florida, to play the Florida Panthers, I got kicked off the plane because I was colored. I got kicked off the next three flights also. When I finally got to Sanford, Florida the police pushed us out of the town and we didn’t play the game. My second game in the Dodgers Farm System was in Syracuse, New York. A Syracuse player brought a black cat on the field and said it was my cousin. When I got to the Majors the Negro fans had to sit in a separate section. I was hated by the fans, players, coaches, managers, and even umpires. I also never got any breaks. The pitchers even threw pitches at my head. I was called very bad names throughout my career. The worst I heard was from a reporter named Jimmy Powers. He said “Jackie Robinson, the Negro signed by Brooklyn, will not make the grade in the big leagues this year, next year, or the next.” The Philadelphia Phillies were the worst insulting team to me. The last thing I remember in my baseball career was when the St. Louis Cardinals went on strike because they refused to play against me because of my race.
By: Luke Mozena
In the life of
Jackie Robinson
At an early age in my life, I have been discriminated against. When I was six years old my neighbors started calling me very bad names. The neighbors were white, of course. All through school I was the one blamed for damage and I had to clean everything up. The worst day I had in middle school was in my 1st year I was at the school, the gym teacher made me run 3 miles and do 100 push-ups because I was black. He was white and from the south. In high school at Muir High I joined a gang for discriminated people. Our gang was called the “Pepper Street Gang”. The gang consisted of African Americans, Japanese, Mexicans, Chinese, and Italians. I then later attended UCLA where I had very little problems with discrimination. The worst racism I encountered was in the U.S. Army. I was shipped to Fort Riley in Kansas. It turned out that Fort Riley didn’t accept Negro officers. We were also placed in the front of the attack so we would be the first to die. I was one of the few qualified to be an officer. One time I was riding the bus off the fort and I was the only African American on the bus. There were three other people on the bus. The captain, who was driving the bus, told me to move to the back even though the whites were already in the front. I yelled “I don’t have to move seats because nobody needs my seat!” The bus then stopped and I was thrown off and escorted to the Major’s tent where I was told that charges were being pressed against me. The charges were disobedience of an order, public drunkenness, and, disrespect to a commanding officer. The charges were soon dropped because of how ridiculous they were. Then all the African Americans and I protested that we weren’t treated right. We won the protest and I then on became the head of the 761st battalion. In April of 1945 I joined the Kansas City Monarchs. They were a Negro League team and they played all over the U.S. The Negro hotels we stayed in were usually makeshift places to sleep. When we would go out to eat, the restaurants would not serve us. They gave us hamburgers and coffee in brown paper bags. We had no hot meals the entire time I was on the team. On my flight to Florida, to play the Florida Panthers, I got kicked off the plane because I was colored. I got kicked off the next three flights also. When I finally got to Sanford, Florida the police pushed us out of the town and we didn’t play the game. My second game in the Dodgers Farm System was in Syracuse, New York. A Syracuse player brought a black cat on the field and said it was my cousin. When I got to the Majors the Negro fans had to sit in a separate section. I was hated by the fans, players, coaches, managers, and even umpires. I also never got any breaks. The pitchers even threw pitches at my head. I was called very bad names throughout my career. The worst I heard was from a reporter named Jimmy Powers. He said “Jackie Robinson, the Negro signed by Brooklyn, will not make the grade in the big leagues this year, next year, or the next.” The Philadelphia Phillies were the worst insulting team to me. The last thing I remember in my baseball career was when the St. Louis Cardinals went on strike because they refused to play against me because of my race.
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