Jackie had a hard time as a child because being an African American affected how he was treated, what they could do, and how much they might've made at a job. For example, his family lived in poverty because his mom was trying to make money on her own to take care of her family. So, Jackie started pitching in and got a job at a young age. Even though life started getting better when Rickey Branch offered him the chance to be the first African American to play professional baseball he still got treated horribly. He got abusive yelling, wasn't allowed to go places with the team, his teammates didn't want him there, and players purposely threw the ball at his head. However, he wasn't allowed to respond back to the abuse he was getting if he wanted to stay on the team. This was difficulty because Jackie so badly wanted to fight back for himself but he had made a deal with Rickey Branch to have the guts not to. By not having the guts not to Jackie changed history and showed people a new strategy to make results for the problems occurring.