It is the year 2005 and you’re standing on the platform waiting for the President to finish his speech. You look around you at the pillars and old paintings that adorn the Whitehouse. You wonder what Jackie would have thought if he’d been there. Time seemed to have passed so quickly. Who knew that one man could have accomplished so much? It is now thirty-three years since Jackie passed away.

Born in Cairo Georgia on January 31^st, 1919, Jackie had been part of the only black family on the block. Jackie and his older brother Mac were very athletic and trained in many sports. Mac even went on to compete in 1936 Olympics. He won a gold medal, a slap in the face to Adolf Hitler and his ideas. When Mac returned from the Olympics, because of his color, the only job he could get was as a garbage man. The memory forever stayed with Jackie and fueled his desire for racial equality.

Jackie attended Pasadena Junior College. Throughout his years there Jackie competed in various sports and excelled at tennis, track, and baseball. The star athlete became the first UCLA student to win varsity letters for four sports.

After college Jackie joined the army and there once again was faced with racial injustice. Upon boarding a bus one day he was told that he would have to sit in the back because he was colored. Jackie flatly refused and stayed at his seat in the front. He was then arrested and charged with other crimes including public drunkenness (despite the fact he didn’t drink). He fought back against his unjust and racist treatment and was eventually granted honorable discharge.

Jackie pursued his love of baseball and joined a colored league. He was an incredible player and soon caught the attention of Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was approached by Rickey and asked if he would like to join the Dodgers. For the past fifty years major league baseball had been segregated and Rickey had decided that it was time to change that. In 1945 Jackie Robinson agreed and became the first black man to play on a major league baseball team.

By the end of his rookie season Jackie became National League Rookie of Year. He had hit twelve homers and gotten twenty-nine steals. He stalwartly withstood the criticism and racial slurs thrown at him, choosing to turn the other cheek. In 1955 he helped the Dodgers win the World Series against the Yankees.

Jackie always stood against racial injustice even after his retirement. He companied with Martin Luther King Jr. and fought for civil rights. In 1962 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Rachel Robinson”, someone calls. You shake yourself as you return to the present. You are called to the front where George W. Bush hands you a gold medal in a case. It is the Congressional Gold Medal. You recall rather sadly that if Jackie had still been alive he would be receiving the medal for himself. He would’ve been so pleased to know that he was the first black baseball player to receive it.

But you know the fight is not over. As Jackie had once said, “There’s not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.”