Why Do People Act Heroically?

What characteristics does each character have in common? Each character showed heroism by fighting racism, slavery, and they also helped other people escape from slavery. In the 1850’s and 1860s, the United States became even more divided on the issue of slavery (USHistory.org, 2016). Many slaves tried running away to freedom in the North. Although Jackie Robinson, Miep Gies and Harriet Tubman had many different experiences, when the time came, they all acted very heroically.
Jackie Robinson acted heroically when people would make racial comments he would ignore them and kept playing the game. Early in Robinsons life he confronted racism head on in 1938. However when he was still in Junior College he was arrested after disputing police detencion for one of his black friend. When The U.S. entered World War II, Robinson enlisted in the army. He never saw direct combat, but his military career was marred by racial problems (Jessica McBirney, 2017). When Robinson joined a Negro League Rickey knew that Robinson would face racial discrimination and injustice if he joined the Major Leagues (Jessica McBirney, 2017). Other teams also disliked Robinson’s admittance into the League. Many threatened not to play against him. Most managers rejected these threats and forced the players to participate …show more content…
Miep could have chosen not to help Anne and her family but, she herself said, “I, myself, I’m just a very common person. I simply had no choice. I could foresee many, many sleepless nights and a life filled with regret if I would have refused to help the Franks. And this was not the kind of life I was looking for at all.” (Teri Schultz, 2010). Miep risked her life multiple times for Anne’s family during the two years they hid from the Nazis. Gies was a very special person, even when someone still unknown betrayed those she called the hiders (Teri Schultz,