positive attitude and foward movement

In the article “Free Minds and Hearts and Work” by Jackie Robinson, is able to give hope to the human race with by appealing towards our emotions. He uses this tact of ethos without making the audience feel sorry or sympathetic for him. Robinson is able to relate his issues with prejudice to everyone, and he never addresses the issue and a “black vs. white” issue. Instead Robinson speaks to mankind and addresses the fact that human nature is naturally faulted and one day will change with time. “First, that imperfections are human. But that wherever human beings were given room to breathe and time to think, those imperfections would disappear, no matter how slowly. I do not believe that we have found or even approached perfection” By addressing humans, instead of whites or blacks, Robinson is able to relate to a larger audience. If you were to read this article with no knowledge of who wrote it or the time period, until the very last paragraph, you would not know that racial justice was the issue at hand. This could be a negative or a positive aspect of the article. In my opinion, it is a positive aspect. This was written in a time period, where social and racial injustices were not being approached as frequently as they were in the sixties. Robinson is able to take a tactful and respectful approach to a major issue that many African American’s in that time period would have been very upset and angry about.
Robinson is able to keep a positive attitude about the future of America. He sees the “imperfections” of humans diminishing with time. Robinson also looks as his struggles as fight that he is able to take place in. “Whatever obstacles I found made me fight all the harder. But it would have been impossible for me to fight at all, except that I was sustained by the personal and deep-rooted belief that my fight had a chance. It had a chance because it took place in a free society”. He not only talks about his belief in himself that he can make it, but also the belief in his country. A country where he does not have all of the same opportunities as everyone else, but he refers to this country and a “free society”. Robinson does not feel bound to the society norms, and is able to fight against racism with efforts to better himself. His argument is becomes even stronger because we do know that Jackie Robinson was the first African American Major League baseball player. He not only believes these things that he has stated, but he has also accomplished the goal of breaking through racial boundaries.
I enjoyed Robinson’s article very much. I am used to reading articles that have a more negative approach to beating racism. Robinson’s points are refreshing, positive and inspiring.