Jesse Owens (1913-1980), an American athlete and “the world’s fastest human”, won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. And he, a Black man, the grandson of slaves, did it at the Olympics held in Berlin, the heart of Nazi Germany. Hitler himself watched as Owens showed the world that Aryans were hardly the master race.
In our time Blacks are stereotyped as being “good at sports”. Back then they were stereotyped as being good at nothing. So to see Jesse Owens become the best in the whole world was a wonder.
Owens won gold medals in the 100m and 200m races, the long jump and the 400m relay race. He set the long jump record for the next 25 years: 8.06 metres.
Hitler refused to shake his hand: he did not want to be photographed shaking hands with a black man.
Owens:
I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either.
New York gave him a ticker tape parade, but to attend his own hero’s reception at the Waldorf Astoria he was made to take the freight elevator. That night he and his wife were turned away from hotel after hotel.
And then the press forgot about him.
He was born in Oakville, Alabama, the sickly son of sharecroppers. At age nine he became part of the Great Migration when his parents sold their mule and moved north to work in the steel mills of Cleveland, Ohio.
At high school Owens was breaking records. Universities wanted him. He went to Ohio State University (OSU). OSU would not allow him to live with White students on campus or travel with White teammates.
By 1935 he was breaking world records – three of them in 45 minutes.
After the Olympics, work was hard to find. Endorsements did not start pouring in – till the 1960s. Try as he might he did not have the grades to graduate from OSU. He was reduced to racing horses, dogs, cars and motorcycles at carnivals and baseball games.
By the 1940s he was able to make a living as a public speaker, praising the virtues of religion, family and country.
In 1968 US Olympic officials sent him to find the patriotic souls of John Carlos and Tommie Smith, they who would soon raise their black-gloved fists in a Black Power salute at the Mexico City Olympics (pictured above). Owens tried to talk them out of it!
They looked up to him as a sports legend, but his politics were from another age. Carlos told him:
Mr Owens, you know if you had stood up in 1936 a little more, we wouldn’t have to in 1968.
Some called Owens an Uncle Tom.
Owens was a Republican. In 1970 he said:
If the Negro doesn’t succeed in today’s America, it is because he has chosen to fail.
In 1976 he was at last invited to the White House, 40 years after his Olympic victory. President Ford gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour. The president shook his hand.
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I can only imagine the look on Hitler’s face when Mr. Owens passed through that finish line first. Ha! Aryan “superiority” indeed. In your face, Hitler!
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This story moved me . . . until I read Owens’ outlook. Do you know Carlos and Smith are today still Blacklisted from sports? Well, they were when they were interviewed about the event just a few years ago in a documentary covering the impact it has had on their lives.
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@leigh 204: There is old black and white footage of Hitler’s face cracking while watching Owens go to victory.
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^^^^^^ typo: “while Owens goes to victory.”
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This….is what you get from white people in America for being a “Good Negro”. shuk n jive you may, thinking that you’d get your just rewards.
You’d be mistaken indeed, instead you’d be shunned, cast out as a leaper, you would.
Owens was a uncle tom sell out, god bless is soul.
He was a fool to expect that whites would accept him, just because he defeated Hitler and won the gold for them!
He died broke, without his medals that he sold to pay the rent!
Remember black folk, don’t sell out to white people, they will only stab you in the back and talk about you to other white people, when you’re not around and when others are not looking.
As for John Carlos and Tommie Smith, what fine and brave men they were!
They are the stuff that, real men are made of. They could have made way more money in 1968 then Owens did in 1936, if they had kept their heads and fists down and been, “Good Negros” like white people expected them to be.
They sacrificed their careers and possible endorsements, worth millions!
They didn’t just do it for themselves, they did it for every African American in America. Now that is the ultimate sacrifice, one could do for their race.
unfortunately, Owens will go down in history as a joke to white and black people.
He died with no dignity or self respect, nor respect from blacks or whites. He’ll go down in history as the House Negro that won 4 gold medals and defeated Hitler, then raced horses to feed his family.
Owens serves as a lesson for black people to never, ever forget how much white people will never accept us, even if we defeat the dictator that killed 7 million of them ( Jews ).
This is why i don’t trust white people. Far as i am concerned, all white people are racists, until proven other wise.
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PUUUREACH!!!
Have never even heard of Owens but I’ve long known of Carlos and Smith. White people don’t mention Owens in their history books! It did sooo much for him tap dancing in the end. teehee. But despite all that it has cost Carlos and Smith, they will never be forgotten!
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I remember Carlos and Smith and the black power sign that is iconic. Didn’t know about Owens and his being a Republican. And that Uncle Ruckus speech about black people in America failing and succeeding. That was very “Uncle Tomish.” Again, “WoW’. I am very disappointed. Learn something new everyday. SMH.
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@ Mary Burrell:
Yes, I just watched a clip of Hitler’s reaction on YouTube. He didn’t appear pleased at all.
I agree with Mary Burrell. I also learned something new as well. I wasn’t aware of Owens’ Rupublican views as well as kowtowing to white people. It’s a shame really. He had the prestige and the clout to make a difference.
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I just read this little tid bit off Wikipedia:
“Owens ran a dry cleaning business and worked as a gas station attendant to earn a living; he eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 1966, he was successfully prosecuted for tax evasion.”
You’d think they would leave him be, after filing for bankruptcy. Nope, it wasn’t enough, they also prosecuted him for tax evasion!
Owens bringing victory to The unites states, meant absolutely nothing to white people!
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Great post!
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[…] Jesse Owens (1913-1980), an American athlete and “the world’s fastest human”, won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. And he, a Black man, the grandson of slaves, did it at the Olympics held in Berlin, the heart of Nazi Germany. Hitler himself watched as Owens showed the world that Aryans were hardly the master race.In our time Blacks are stereotyped as being “good at sports”. Back then they were stereotyped as being good at nothing. So to see Jesse Owens become the best in the whole world was a wonder.Owens won gold medals in the 100m and 200m races, the long jump and the 400m relay race. He set the long jump record for the next 25 years: 8.06 metres.Click through to read more. […]
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@ sondis
“even if we defeat the dictator that killed 7 million of them ( Jews ).”
I doubt white americans saw it that way back then.
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On the track Jesse Owens was an outstanding athlete, but off the track he was viewed an Uncle Tom by many African-Americans.
Vincent Matthews (African-American former sprinter and winner of two gold medals at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics), who participated in the proposed boycott of the Mexico City Olympics, recalled a visit by Jesse Owens with black Olympians after the Smith-Carlos incident at the 1968 Games: “When Jesse walked into the room, most of us tried to show him respect. But when he got up at the meeting and said he didn’t want the white athletes in the room to leave because ‘these are my brothers’ and I want to talk to them, you could see the snickers on some of the faces.”
Unfortunately, life after the 1936 Berlin Olympics was pure hell for Owens. The US athletic officials withdrew his amateur status, ending his career immediately. Owens was angry, saying, “A fellow desires something from himself.” His commercial offers all but disappeared. Sadly, to earn money he challenged and defeated thoroughbred racehorses (1936-1950).
From my personal studies on Jesse Owens I believe that he wanted to be accepted by a white America that refused to accept him. Owens internalized America’s racism. As we know it Owens didn’t support the black power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at 1968 Summer Olympics. He told them: “The black fist is a meaningless symbol. When you open it, you have nothing but fingers – weak, empty fingers. The only time the black fist has significance is when there’s money inside. There’s where the power lies.”
The internalized racism of Owens caused him to become a pack-a-day cigarette smoker, which, unfortunately, led to lung cancer and, ultimately, his death.
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Ebonymonroe said:
I’m surprised. Maybe it’s an age thing… I’m 54 and I remember seeing Jesse Owens on TV footage many times when I was younger, but not in recent years. In the UK I think he was fairly widely known and acknowledged.
My late father was pretty racist: not in a hateful way, but in a reactionary, ignorant way. He saw the area of town in which he was raised change from all-white to primarily black West Indian and South Asian immigrants. He suffered from the prevalent “there goes the neighbourhood” thing. He was polite enough to POC, but I think he wished they hadn’t come to Britain. He was an old fashioned Conservative with all the failings that come with it. Appreciating diversity was not an attitude he ever managed to cultivate.
Despite that, whenever Jesse Owens was mentioned on TV, my father would always praise him for pissing Hitler off.
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Saying something about racism in 1935 would have been much more dangerous for Owens than 1968. Owens would have disappeared in a swamp if he would have tried to force change. Look at where he came from. He was probably taught to let things be and they will change his whole life. He was dead wrong. Many black celebrities got the hard lesson he received. Dorthy Dandridge found out the hard way too. It’s easy to say we know what we would have done but do we really? Being raised with a foot on your neck that you can plainly see is tough to overcome. I’ve heard the same thing about slavery or the 1800 after slavery but acting with your enemies all around you in plain uniform with rifles pointed at you is one of the reasons Harriet Tubman, F. Douglas, Dr. King, and Malcolm X were so exceptional.
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Wepnx:
“Saying something about racism in 1935 would have been much more dangerous for Owens than 1968. Owens would have disappeared in a swamp if he would have tried to force change. Look at where he came from. He was probably taught to let things be and they will change his whole life.”
Why white people never mention garbage like this about Oscar Schindler? He had Nazis all around him, like Owens had white racists always around him, yet he kissed a little Jewish girl and her mother on the lips in front of Nazis at a party! He showed compassion for Jewish people, right in front of Nazis.
He eventually saved over a thousand of Jewish, men, women and children.
Should he have done the same thing as Owens? if he would have, you wouldn’t have half the Jewish people alive today!
White folks love to make excuses for blacks that go along with white racists but say nothing about other whites, who do the very same thing.
Let me make it simple for you…there is NO excuse for a black person to accept, disrespect and dehumanization by white people.
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I think that the most important thing about Jess Owens is symbolic: he was able to show White people that they could be defeated in sports. No only he showed this to Adolf Hitler but also to the rest of White Europeans and Americans who tended to see themselves, at that time, as the pinnacle of physical prowess.
Today is difficult to see this, but at that time Whites tended to see themselves as physically and intellectually superior to the rest of human kind.
This case has the same merit as the case of Japanese people when they grew to be a very powerful nation scientifically and technologically in the 19th century and afterwards. In achieving this, they showed White people, that non-Whites could also develop advanced societies on their own. Again, this was achieved at a time where most Whites would think that only Europeans and their descendants could, successfully, develop and manage technologically advanced societies. The rest of human kind should be guided by Whites, either in White majority or minority environments.
I think we should not minimize those achievements. Both helped us today in our quest to achieve democratic societies where humans are treated equally. Today we insist in being treated equally because we believe we have the same basic capabilities as Whites, and we believed this because somebody in the past showed this to be true. Otherwise the idea of White superiority would remain unchallenged and poison our lives even worse than it happens now.
But besides this victory in sport, that can also be interpreted as an eminently political statement in itself, at that particular time, we cannot expect much more of a full time sport practitioner. Most of them are not intellectuals and therefore normally do not have a deeper understanding of social realities.
This my opinion on this…
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Im in total agreement with Munu…
What Jesse Owens faced in the thirties is very differant from the 60’s…
Owens is not comparable to Shindler because Shindlar was German , not Jewish…
Joe Louis sufferred personal hardships after his incredible representation as a boxing champion…are personal life hardships the mark we are judging? Various political activists in the 60’s had very turbulent personal lives also
Where his republican views could be confronted, belittling Jesse Owens as some kind of traitor to the cause , is throwing this great aceiver under the bus…which is something very perplexing you see in the political diologue, throwing Owens, tap dancing , Armstrong all under the bus to satisfy some political agenda….
Its a lack of really being able to go back into their time and understand the obstacles and hardships they had to face….its turning a back on black Americans and black American culture to satisfy some rhetorical need to pontificate into areas that actualy end up doing damage to the cause, by belittling great individuals just to rally around an agenda
What Jesse Owens did back in the thirties was a gigantic aceivement against white racism… he deserves to be respected for that instead of holding him up to mid 60’s political agenda rhetoric…the subsequent world war 2 that came up, along with the multi million communist eliminations, are world events hardly anyone on this blog ever lived through or got close to…Jesse Owens struck a huge blow against white superiority notions…to win those events is no easy thing, it is world class….it stands alone , seperate from his life situation or political opinions
People are really just selling their great grandparents down the river..they cant even go back and try to make an effort to understand what the heck was really happening back then…
most people are just seeing it through the 60’s political gaze, with very little cultural knowledge or understanding of what went down back then in black America…take a look at the 1949 thread to see the crickets chirping about black American culture…its a blind spot..lets just criticise our great grandparents and some of their greatest aceivers because they dont speak the same political point of view…I mean people cant even go back to the 60’s political rhetoric and sort out what was really good and should be followed and what actualy was bad and should be jetisoned
im beginning to detest rhetorical political agendas from all over….
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I’m sorry, but Owens stating AAs were not succeeding was their ownfault was a coon thing to say. He didn’t have to say anything like that, it was uncalled for. If he was scared he could have just been quite, he didn’t have to belittle the complaints of the AA community, he went out of his way to do that.
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@Buddhuu
In that case it’s probably just me. I’ve seen the Smith/Carlos image a dozen times since I was a kid, but I’d never seen anything about Owens.
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@ Kiwi
“They probably saw it as Hitler waging war on and killing 40 million white people. That probably played a big part in the “Europe first” strategy that the US military adopted. Saving white lives was more important than saving Asian lives despite Japan attacking America but not Germany.”
I think that’s probably true for Germany’s war against France and UK, but not for the war in eastern Europe and the Holocaust. But that’s off-topic and has been discussed elsewhere.
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@ B.R. & Ebony, I see great points from both of your previous posts!
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P.S. Jesse Owens was phenomenal as an athlete and stereotype crusher during such an historic and world-changing era, may he always be remembered and R.I.P. as well..
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Jesse Owens and I have more in common than I realized. I learned of him as a kid in school, he was a prominent entry in my encyclopedia of “People who made America” and I also saw the newsreels footage of his races in Berlin. The leader of the “Master Race” was taken down a notch. I was and am proud of him.
I also remember – and you can see this online, that he is delivering a military salute during the medal ceremony, instead of the usual hand over the heart – maybe that’s the way the did it back then. There’s a German on the stand doing a Nazi straight arm salute and the third guy simply standing.
His “uncle Tom” statement was made in 1970 – long after his childhood- to him the country may have seemed to much better place than what he grew up in. Can you gut the man some slack and understand his perspective is different than yours?
As for the 68 Olympians – standing there in their USA uniforms, having been selected to represent the United States and having won their event – to stand there and “do your own thing” was childish in my opinion, not brave – just ignorant.
Not surprised to hear he (Jesse Owens) was a Republican – as Lincoln was, as MLK was, Republicans were the party of emancipation – that was important to black people in the past. Now democrats are the party of “free stuff” so of course the black population is on board with that since LBJ.
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Kiwi – “That probably played a big part in the “Europe first” strategy that the US military adopted. Saving white lives was more important than saving Asian lives despite Japan attacking America but not Germany.”
How’s going to war with Japan about saving Asian lives? If you’re referring to the Japanese in China – following the war, Mao killed a lot more Chinese than the Japanese ever did. Doesn’t really fit your narrative though – does it?
How is bombing the crap out of Germany, Italy, Austria, and others about saving white lives?
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Childish? That’s a hilarious thing to say. Even disgusting.
Most people know the Republican party were the heroes of emancipation, they’ve only come to represent what they do in their very modern form, recently. Excluding Lincoln, who only decided to abolish slavery to win the civil war, he did not believe in it deep down and was pressed into it.
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Owens had a point there. The only time whites are seemingly willing to begrudgingly respect blacks is when they’re in command of money. Consider the trillions of dollars in black spending power that have, so far, gone unharnessed – if black Americans were to ever harness that power into a socioeconomic weapon…
This, however, I take issue with:
Considering how the game is constantly rigged to black America’s disadvantage, saying the above quoted is akin to criticizing someone for not scaling a 100-foot wall despite not having the equipment and with someone trying to pull you down every 2 1/2-feet. It’s no wonder that the people who end up at the top are among the most exceptional of their group – you have no choice but to be.
So asking the entirety of black America to be an extraordinarily exceptional people in front of a crowd that’d dismiss them as mediocre at best is a bit of a tall order.
Looks like our friend Riverside_Rob overplayed his hand.
*plays The Price is Right losing horn noise*
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For sure statements he made in the sixties could and should be chalenged …
But , what Jesse Owens really represents is a wordless action , that put the spear right in the heart of a lot of words from a political agenda , whose pure white supremist ideology would eliminate millions in its name…yet , Owens actions , cut to the heart of the ridiculousness of those ideological words , just as the Olympians of 68 , did with their actions
I just think his statements could be handled with respect…and love you would give your great grandfather , who fought the way he could back then…and his actions represented so much
People have been talking about twitch fibers and speed in sprints , surly , people have to know the absolute dominance of black Americans in world sprints in the sixties, seventies and eighties (its been lost now , notice how fickle that really is ), was directly because of …inspiration…inspiration from Jessie Owens…
I saw one of his school speeches in Jr High School , he looked elderly, grandfatherly , older than the principal …I mean its easy to imagin his statements seeming out of step to the political climate of the moment…
But his unbeleivable athletic statement in 36 , was nothing short heroic for proving the folly of white supremacy , and , couragous , in the face just how ominous white supremists would take their ideology…
You don’t aceive that with words, that is actions
Malcolm X made contradictory statements in his trajectory
Our great great grandparents have left us incredible wisdom and eperiance to learn from , we just have to discover it..
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@BR
Macolm was prejudiced for a long time until his trip to Mecca where he experienced Black, Middle Eastern and White brothers coming together in love and peace; this changed his entire world view and is one of the things that caused the nation of Islam to reject him because he saw that their monolithic ideas were not true.
I completely respect both you and where you’re coming from and agree that regardless of my contentions with the things people like Malcolm X and Owens stood for, a certain reverence must be given because of their bravery in the face of the times they existed in. Despite this, my view is not one way for one and another for another: if a White man had said that during that time period we would all agree he was being racist, so despite my regard for Owens’ achievements, I cannot cut him slack because of his skin, he more than anyone, as someone who lived in his skin, in his time, through his personal experiences, should have been sensitive to the plight of African Americans in that time period. It’s not excusable for me.
It’s the heart, the character that will be held up, not the trophy.
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@sondis
I’m not white! I’m also not saying he was right neither. I was just trying to explain what he might have been thinking at the time. How much of his life do you think he heard he should just not make waves and things would change. If not for the civil rights of the 60’s and beyond I wouldn’t be here neither. What about the Tuskegee airmen? They had to endure and by virtue of being in the military could say much about what they had to put up with. I’m saying a movement takes all types. If not for the WWII vets we wouldn’t have taken further steps. That in turn was because of WWI vets doing so well under foreign command. Jess shouldn’t have said anything but he also saw what happened to other athletes that spoke up too. Ali being a prime example. Owen was raised in a yesa boss era too. Look how well Joe Lewis was treated compared to him at the time and I don’t remember him speaking out neither.
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Ebonymonroe
The man, in your eyes was what, a failure?
He said the black man fails because he doesn’t want to succeed and that’s enough to write him out of the history books?
It’s almost as if you are saying, blacks can’t succeed without intervention of other powers – is that what you think, the deck is so stacked against blacks in this country that there’s no way to succeed?
It think Owen’s remarks are applicable today more than they were then. Do you not think there’s any truth to what he said?
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I’ll contend without Malcolm and the Nation it would have taken longer with DR. King. I showed the power structure what the alternative would have been to continue to drag their feet on reform. Yea he did change but King did too. Read his playboy interview and you will see just how far he was going to go. King lamented how he couldn’t get Christian churches in the south to help him by preaching the bible’s words if they wouldn’t join him on marches.
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@Riverside Rob
Owens succeeded in sport but missed the mark and failed as a Black hero in what he said which was not applicable IN HIS TIME, and incredibly so.
You’re being ridiculous in saying I said Blacks can’t succeed without intervention, what a strange addition to what I said. I can’t even imagine where you got that from.
I’m talking about the time period Owens lived in, I’m talking about the fact that Owens’ statement in its time suggested there was nothing wrong, Black people were imagining it, it was the fault of Black people in his time period, there was no such thing as oppression and racism which created a lot of glass ceilings for AA, if not obviously opaque ones, so to speak.
Owens was an extraordinary talent and faced the treatment he did, (once again, in his time period), so it’s unacceptable that he’d arrive at the conclusion that the everyday Black man and woman were struggling to find a quality of life because of their own incompetence.
As I’ve said, had a White man, particularly in this time period, made such a statement, we (most of us) could agree that he was being racist, I cannot cut Owens slack on his comments just because he was Black.
But of course, this is just my opinion.
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@Wepnx
That’s an interesting point. I personally agree more with Malcom’s general ideology, I believe he was right in refusing to ask for permission and begging for integration, instead choosing to focus efforts on building up Black neighbourhoods, businesses, education, the idea of healthy family values.
Although King’s approach had a place, it was flawed because it relied on conversion not self sufficiency and growth.
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“Remember black folk, don’t sell out to white people, they will only stab you in the back and talk about you to other white people, when you’re not around and when others are not looking.”
I humbly disagree. This may have been the case years ago, but it is less prevalent today. There are some white folk who will disparage a black person, even a patriotic representative of America, without cause and simply based on race. In my experience those types are rare today. My experience is mostly representative of the white middle class, not the working class.
In exclusively white private conversation I think black people are mostly spoken of today without reference to their race, if race is not the issue. We can debate the good and bad of Lebron returning to Cleveland without racist jokes and demeaning stereotypes. You may encounter many white racist types on the internet, in the real world those hardcore clan types are rare. I’m not saying that many whites don’t harbor prejudices and betray double standards, but that’s different than sitting around being mean to blacks for meanness sake.
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My feeling in agreeing with this is not that all White people are racist, but that Black people cooning and putting other Black people down to appeal to and to be treated as White among White people will not help them to progress the way many think it will. That is unless you want to work for Fox news like DL Hughley or Stacey Dash.
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As for the 68 Olympians – standing there in their USA uniforms, having been selected to represent the United States and having won their event – to stand there and “do your own thing” was childish in my opinion, not brave – just ignorant. – Riverside_Rob
You are so wrong! The 1968 black power salute was Smith and Carlos’ way of bringing international attention to the continuing mistreatment of black Americans, just as they are TODAY. In the 1960s, blacks were still being lynched, discriminated against in all areas of employment, access to public assistance, housing and restaurants.
To put things in further perspective, at the time of Smith and Carlos’ salute, the right for blacks to be able to vote was merely THREE years old. At that point and time, blacks had been in this country as second class citizens for over three hundred years.
Now, here comes Rob from Riverside telling me and other s that what Smith and Carlos did at the 1968 Olympics was “childish” and “ignorant” all at once. I suggest that you gather some empathy and place yourself in either one of these men’s position and ask yourself: what would I have done.
If I was in a position to bring attention to the plight of black Americans in the 1960s on an international platform, I would’ve done the same darn thing. THE HELL WITH WHAT Rob from RIVERSIDE thought of my deeds! Your opinion literally means NOTHING!
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Ebonymonroe , I understand your opinion about what Jesse Owens said . I just think it should be put into context of the time he came from , the actual split in philosophies in the black struggle of the sixties and the fact he was a champion athlete , and his deeds speak louder than his words..with the exception of Ali, athletes aren’t what I would call expert speakers on political struggle
My point about Malcolm is that , even in the more militant wings of the black movement , people said things and did things , that if analised , would be as damaging as what Jesse Owens said…for sure , same with King
Where I support the notion put out then , that black Americans should own a gun , to answer to the threat of violent white racism , the call to violent armed revolution , that went out back then from the more militant wings in the black American struggle of the sixties , met with failure , and besides that , ushered in conservative voting in of people like Nixon and Agnew , setting back many gains made in the movement. Lets face it , the real political gains were made by in the trench constant step by step vigilant struggle to put laws on the books , fighting discrimination and obstacles of racism…This, in my opinion , isn’t enough , and doesn’t address cultural racism. It also doesn’t address visceral racism , which the militant black struggle did…but the pathetic attempts at actual armed revolution fell flat on its face, and those extremes , and things said , can be scrutinized , looking back , without condemning the people who said them , who also said relevant and valuable things
I think Jesse Owens victories represent more than a trophy, just as Joe Louis knockout of the German heavyweight , Max Schmeling , at that time…They were huge statements at that time , cutting deep into all the white superiority notions feeding much white racism back then, about the master race….I think Jackie Robinson was third place in the American trials and didn’t make the Olympic team…he also said things the militants mocked , but what he went through to integrate baseball , is hard to imagine in today’s world where we take things for granted
Jesse Owens has to be put in context for the time he came from , and , how that played out in the deviding black community in the black struggle in the sixties…you can take statements from both sides , and , in retrospect , see how some things don’t hold up , like the Panthers touting Mao s Red Book , but, that doesn’t mean the Black Panthers were all wrong , and , what Owens said , doesn’t and shouldn’t diminish his great aceivements , which really meant so much to the black struggle of the thirties…those aceivements were gargantuan demolishing of white supremacy notions…
I don’t understand or accept the trashing and put downs of great black American icons and cultures of the past , like Owens , Armstrong or tap dancing , to satisfy political agendised rhetorical needs
These people knew brut white racism that only can be imagined today…their enormous grace under preasure ought to be studied and researched just to really understand what they were up against
While Owens opinions should be challenged , he should be embraced for the hero and aceiver he really was…not rejected and ostracized in the black American dialogue
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I have a long statement in moderation I hope can come out , but , I just want to say , I am a big fan of black American men and women sprint track and field culture…
I can remember at eleven or so , watching Bob Hayes in the Olympics,, with his unorthodox sprint technique of a large man , just blow everyone out of the water before he became a Dallas Cowboy…and it just riveted me
The legacy of black American sprint culture is something to behold and be greatly respected , like you have to respect Jamaicas dominance now
I am impressed with the beauty and grace of black American female sprinters , and they represent black beauty in women incredibly well , with a rich legacy of champions
Jesse Owens was one of the main inspirations to young black Americans , that manifested in the result of a strong , powerful , proud black American sprint culture tradition…I wish he could be remembered for that , along with the powerful message he sent to white supremists, and not things he said that can be scrutinized by political rhetorical agenda….that in retrospect seem very small and irrelevant next to his aceivements
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Jesse Owens served his purpose, he made an indelible mark on the myth of White supremacy. Smith and Carlos also served their purpose too. Jesse Owens political views shows his transition to being accepted among Whites. It seems when famous Black folk get to the other side of “White acceptability” they forget where they came from. Most recent example of this is Dr. Ben Carson
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By the way , Ebonymonroe , I don’t really want to oppose your opinion of what you think Jesse Owens said…His statements of course , should be challenged…but that conflict at that time was an ongoing one in the black American debate…Jesse Owens didn’t represent white people …
And , there were many statements made all the way around in this debate , that could be looked back on and seen as not the best solution…
Angela Davis is someone I think has a valuable message for black Americans…Even though she is a Marxist , that doesn’t mean I dismiss her as valuable …but let’s face it , communism failed miserably in the world…and eliminated multi millions in the process , it’s folly to think that communism is some kind of valid alternative to anything the way it plays out on the ground…
So , I have to challenge any notion by Angela Davis , that Marxism is some kind of solution, and , since the sixties, it played out just how much of a failure that is…but, I in no way dismiss Angela Davis , or question her value to the black American struggle , I just challenge her notion that communism can work..
What I don’t understand , as an outsider , being white , to the black American inner political agenda diologue , is the all too quick notion to dismiss or exclude and condemn black American people if they dont pass a sliding goal post test…that doent fit into the activist militant ultimate judgement
Things that Jesse Owens has said are held up to scrutiny , but , things that were said by black militant activists back in the sixties, that , looking back , really dont hold up , are not challenged
And I see , down into today , notions put out back then about anti interracial relationships , who is selling out , who is suposed to hate themselves, that come down into today and haunt black Americans , causing great conflict , confrontation , exclusions , judgements and damage….between black Americans
I see black Americans condemned if they dont follow a narrow line of thinking
I see huge amounts of energy wasted on debates on anti interracial relationship debates , that anyone following this blog could see turned into various towering infernos of people lashing out at each other , under the weight of politicly agendised rhetoric from the sixties
I see culture pretty much surpressed , like tap dancing , artists like Armstrong called uncle toms when they broke huge ground in their time , against racism
I see black Americans who are succesful , get called sell outs or uncle toms when they clearly are not
And , I see many people who havent really researched what was happening in black American culture before the sixties, past statistics and broad statements that dont really address the real cultural climate going on back then…like people know black Americans are being incarcarated at huge rates , mostly for drug busts, but no real understanding of the Zoot Suit wars in the bebop cultural context , origins…
What perplexes me , is how so many black Americans get sized up , pegged , scrutinised , and diminished , dissmissed , muted and nulified in this process , by other black Americans using the sixties rhetoric as the templates to judge
Im raising these points not to argue peoples postions on what Owens said, but honestly say Im perplexed to see this , and the blatent obvious conflict and damage it causes inside the black American diologue…
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@BR
We’re going to have to agree to disagree here.
I don’t think Owens’ statement takes away from his achievements in sport, I said I do not personally regard him as a civil rights hero since his statements suggested there wasn’t even any need for it. If Owens had his way we’d be in deep doo doo right now, it doesn’t matter what era he was born in, he didn’t have to go out of his way to say that and he didn’t have to be the one working discouraging Carlos and Smith like he was the offspring of J Edgar Hoover or something. Look at Brown, look at Sinatra, look at Monroe, look at Marlon Brando; if people who weren’t even Black risked their lives and ridicule, it’s unacceptable as a fellow AA to work against what brave AAs with conviction were working towards with your words.
This of course again is my opinion. This isn’t about political agendas in my mind, it’s a moral issue, and there are no gray areas in what was right and what was wrong in that time period for the Black community. He could have said nothing at all, but he went out of his way to insult his community and to belittle the horrific hardships it was facing in his lifetime.
I also personally very much agree with the call to arms. Malcolm never said go out and just hurt people, he told African Americans to protect themselves and their families which is one’s constitutional right. In other words, if a bunch of KKK members burst through your home in the middle of the night to lynch and burn you and your sons alive and to gangrape and kill your wife and daughters, you have the right to protect your property and the lives of your family. I completely agree with that.
I don’t agree with the views of men like the honourable Elijah Mohammad so he’s not a civil rights hero for me. I pick and choose those who are labelled “civil rights hereos” according to my own ideals which determines who I admire.
I respect your views and perspective, but we’ve just gotta agree to disagree here.
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@BR
I agree on Angela Davis, although I respect and appreciate her contribution to the civil rights movement, she’s not really a personal hero of mine because I’m totally against communism.
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BR
AAs have taken what’s good from the movement and have left the what’s bad in the dust. I think many people were just angry and hurt and were not experiencing any humanity from White encounters at the time and this shaped there generalisations. Just a few years later we celebrated with people like Richard Pryor who had relationships with Black and White women, so it’s obvious the AA community didn’t compute every nook and crany of the philosophic ideas of that time. Nowadays when Black activists talk all that extreme talk, the majority just switch off.
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I cannot believe I am saying this, but I actually agree with Riverside Rob and BR on their views about Jesse Owens. He was being judged by 1960’s rhetoric and he probably did view the 70’s as being ” a much better place, and time, than what he grew up in”. In comparison to the 1910’s, 20’s and 30’s the 1970’s probably looked “wide open”. Everybody thinks they would have been these great revolutionaries during his time, but most are just delusional.
I can also see why he was a Republican. There was a time when a great number of Blacks were Republican because of Lincoln and Black emancipation. Jesse is being looked at out of context to his time. He IS being judged by 1960’s political rhetoric and views as well as by present day belief systems. He is also being judged by today’s Black people, who believe they could, but probably wouldn’t have been able to withstand the tremendous pressure of being black in the early part of the century.
Most of us will never achieve the greatness Jesse achieved and yet we feel as if we can judge him. When I listened to a lot of the things he supposedly said they actually made sense. The comment about those white athletes being his “brothers”. That is so Martin Luther King Jr. The times had become more forceful politically, but Jesse was “just” out of step.
He was done WRONG, and because he wasn’t bitter, hateful and angry we can’t contemplate his stance. I know I can’t, but I also know I can’t judge him.
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I haven’t read the previous comments, but I know that sometimes — as consumers of general news — I am often given ONE VERSION of it.
***
@ Kartfoffeln
Abagond’s post said:
Yet, during the time of the 2012 Olympics, I heard that Hitler had indeed shaken Mr Owen’s hand, but that only came out AFTER the War.
Mr Owens had appealed to the German sports journalists to report what really happened and change the accepted version of events.
They refused.
They felt bound to maintain the image of the post-war Nazi leader as a one-dimensional monster.
Was this version of this incident discussed much in Germany?
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/leichtathletik/neuer-hinweis-hat-hitler-owens-doch-die-hand-gegeben/1575434.html
I imagine Mr Owen felt he had to keep to the original report of this story, too.
He did say, though, that it was Roosevelt who “snubbed” him, not HItler — who even sent Owens a commemorative inscribed photograph of himself — and went on to say that he had been treated better in Germany than at home.
***
It also seems that little was reported about Mr Owens’ outlook on politics.
That gradually changed, although he is remembered as an “Uncle Tom”.
Is that what he was, really?
“…In his 1972 book I Have Changed, he moderated his opinion. He said:
“I realised now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn’t a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward..”
http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/jesse-owens/4567075379
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@Bulanik
Fantastic post!
That brings in a lot of nuance. It shows Owen’s evolution. That has altered my opinion on the man.
If that information is true, it looks disgusting and shameful for Hitler to be willing to shake Owens’ hand while the president of America wouldn’t. Wow!
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@ Bulanik
This is the first time I hear about a possible handshake. It can’t have been widely discussed. It’s possible that it wasn’t picked up by german news because it shows Nazi-Germany as not more racist than the US, and that is a talking point of the far right in Germany.
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@Bulanik; Good looking out. Appreciate that.
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Good post! I tend to agree with sondis but, I totally get Owens overall bitterness and feel for him a bit. I can’t imagine how infuriating and maddening it must have been for him to see his amazing achievements used as positive, symbolic racial propaganda for a society that was in fact virulently racist and where he was a second class citizen at best. Year after year goes by as they trumpet his achievements and him as a great symbol and he’s reduced to a sideshow racing horses for scratch money. I’m not surprised that he was consumed by the dichotomy.
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Bulanik’s post was great, it gives another dimension to Jesse Owens. I hope the man did change.
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Considering how much Mrs. Roosevelt reportedly second guessed the lack of civil rights, how is it Owens was snubbed by the president? I guess Hitler wasn’t the only one embarrassed by Owen’s accomplishments. It makes since considering the US insisted black soldiers weren’t to be shown in any military victories or liberation of cities. One day all of the dirt the US has done in history and it’s racism will come to light were it can’t be denied nor how it shaped this country.
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Racism in American back then was crazy!
I take my hat off to those older black Americans who had to live through the USA’s Apartheid system before the 1960s… through all the BS, many of them still managed to accomplish Great things.
My half-Chinese grandfather (and his brother) had worked in Florida in 1935 for 1 year as a migrant farmer near the swamps…he shared many stories with us, from funny and enlightening to things that sounded like a bad horror movie… such as one of the Jamaican migrant workers getting tied up, beaten, and dragged for being with a white prostitute.
and when he decided to leave Jamaica in the 60s, he said he was going to England because he never wanted to step foot back in the USA because of how he saw black and non-white people treated.
I can imagine that Jesse Owens had to “bow and scrape” for so long and answer to being called “boy”– that the experience of being “black and proud” in the 1960s was new –he probably needed time to adjust to all the changes the younger black generation were forcing on American society,
they say it takes time to come out of “Stockholm’s syndrome” (when victims sympathize with their captors /oppressors as a way to manage the mental trauma)
The USA was Well known for their racism against black people because they took their racist BS with them overseas.
I had posted an interested article in another post which kind of highlights the difference between black Caribbean soldiers serving in the Royal Navy and black American soldiers in US Army stationed in Britian.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/96/a1921196.shtml
This is Allan Wilmot’s story of serving in the Second World War. Allan was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1925 and served in the Royal Navy and the RAF.
While I was in the Royal Navy we swept shipping channels for mines and suspected objects, as well as escorting convoys from the east coast of America up to the Panama Canal. We also searched for survivors from torpedoed ships.
I got along fine with the white Commonwealth personnel because apparently they had been warned not to compare West Indians with their native population. A few did step out of line, but were dealt with accordingly.
But I didn’t get along with white American GIs. They were reluctant to accept the fact that the British black servicemen were a different race in social outlook. Many of the white American GIs were from the southern states of America and, although they were in Europe (a very different social scene), they couldn’t face the changes that took place.
So we had open wars, especially in dance halls and various places of entertainment, with the local whites as back-up on our side.
The black American GIs were a different story. We got along very well indeed – we British black servicemen were their protectors.
At times, they were attacked by groups of white GIs, especially if they were in the company of white girls. If they attempted to defend themselves against the white GIs, police were always at hand to arrest the black ones for the stockade, so we would go to their rescue and try to prevent them being arrested.
Because the US GI police had no jurisdiction over British servicemen, we could defend them (and ourselves) until the British police arrived on the scene, along with the ambulance for the wounded.
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In kindergarten my parents had me dress up like Owens. I would never compare a person of the 30’s to the 60’s and that of another generations standards. His direct grandparents were slaves and his parents were the first generation out, the hopes they may have instilled in him would have been much different from those born much later.
If you haven’t heard of Owens then shame on you. If you are an American born black the least you can do is learn about those who came before you. All of you who are poo pooing him, just remember those who came later would not probably even have been there if he hadn’t been the color breaker. Maybe one of them might have had to do it on their own. I am proud of Jesse Owen like I am proud of Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Progression, it is not always done be people you think are wonderful but they are steps in a ladder that has been particularly excruciatingly difficult to move up.
14 medals were won by blacks in that Olympics. There were more participants there than in the 1932 one, which was held in the States. Understand this I only get to be the black person I am today because those who were black yesterday.
As my Grandma would put it my step came before yours.
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I assume you’re referring to my posts since I am the only poster who mentioned I was not familiar with him.
Number 1. I’m not American
2. I never said I had no respect for Owens’ achievements, I said I did not regard him as a personal hero of mine because of the things he said, which were not said in the 30’s, and were things he went out of his way to say. This of course, is something I’m more than entitled.
Lastly, it’s my opinion and choice to choose who I admire and selecting one’s beliefs and placing them higher than their medals which does not mean I don’t celebrate learning of his sporting victories, or that I am not touched by his life, but that I just strongly disagree with his opinions. I have relatives who lived through Owens’ time in the UK and the US who, though they may have been passive out of fear, never shared such beliefs and certainly didn’t and wouldn’t go out of their way to say such things, so I don’t believe it’s a mere product of era.
I don’t like that. I don’t like the inability to respect different perspectives and opinions. That preachy dictating. I don’t like that foolishness at all. We’re not a monolith.
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Ebony, Mary: thank you for reading.
As Kartoffel said, the handshake was kept under wraps, and wasn’t discussed much at all, so we don’t know for sure what the truth is.
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@ King of Trouble
Hearing about important figures and events from the past takes time.
Even when there IS interest and effort made to find out these things, it doesn’t always happen uniformly, or early on.
For example, it was only in the last few years that found out that Henry VIII had a black man, a musician, who was part of his court.
Same way, 1000s of Indian sailors were dumped onto British cities, their descendents eventually assimilating into British society over the centuries.
I never learned that at school or university.
Blacks and Asians have been part of European society during Tudor, Elizabethan, Stuart, Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian times.
And before Tudor times, as well, of course.
But the details and figures from earlier eras are NOT always common knowledge, and that isn’t a reason for someone, or ANYONE, to feel “shame” for it because they haven’t yet been exposed to that info.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/early_times/blanke.htm
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Well Ebonymore, I wasn’t directly talking to you but since you did feel that I was so. I must have hit a nerve with you. I wasn’t in fact it wasn’t directed at all to you. Yet, I still don’t have a problem with what I said. He was a different generation. When my Grandmother said to the white guy that was trying to make friends with her that she’d had enough of white people in her business through out her life that she didn’t need one in it at all. I was personally embarrassed but new that through her life it was not easy.
I wasn’t talking to you but if you feel it maybe you should think why.
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Some great posts here…thanks, everyone.
@Linda
I’m glad to see you giving respect to people of older generations who did what they had to do to survive, especially “ordinary” people rather than icons like Owens. Too many play fast & loose with the Uncle Tom accusations, overlooking what a terrifying social landscape people had to navigate back then. Many, perhaps most, of these folks were as heroic as they could possibly be under the circumstances…putting up with unimaginable indignities so that future generations might hopefully break through.
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@ Bulanik, not that everyone shares a universal itch to learn history, which yes saddens most of us history teachers. Yet, it is hard to be anywhere in the western world and not have been drown in WWII. Everyone has there perspective of it. Yet it is WWII, I don’t believe that everyone has to know the most of the Olympic Symbolic symbols are from that era and Germany. I do not expect people to know who the WWII misplace a lot of athletes around the world. However, this is one of the so called biggest sticking points of the Era. The Uberman vs. those other so called countries.
I know that things aren’t learn uniformly but at this point in time type famous black people on the www. and bingo there they are. It is not like in the 80’s or earlier where it was extremely hard to find. I want to find famous, Native Americans, Indians or whoever it is not that hard of a search anymore. I love history I pile through a lot because I once was a history teacher. Yet, it would feel the same sort of remorse if someone said I don’t read books. I don’t ask that everyone read “Warriors don’t Cry” but to have a little sense of history for you, to let you know where you have come from what parallels and what doesn’t makes a different.
During WWII, if you had to go through the history didn’t you wonder what non-white people were doing. Did any South African blacks fights, where there Australian aboriginals in the war? Being an American and being Black I want to know what exactly was the black population doing. You watched “League of their Own” do you ever wonder hey what were black women throwing? The reason I would say shame to an American Black person is because we are the vanguards of our history. We are the ones who have to past down that knowledge and pride down to the next generation. I have studied a lot so when and if my son ever gets that stupid question what did black people do? He will be able to say plenty. He will be able to say Granville T. Woods.
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First time poster here but long time reader.
Just wanted to say that I am glad many are sticking up for Jesse Owens and bringing the full depth of his experience to light for those who are unaware of him. When I was 10 or 11, I did a project on Owens so I feel much closer to him and his life story than Carlos or Smith. Luckily a lot of my background information came from my parents as the school books then were as one-dimensional and incomplete as this brief post. Obviously, it is impossible to sum up anyone’s life in a few paragraphs but the glaring omissions as to his personality and the climate in which he lived is borderline irresponsible. Yes he was from a different generation – one in which he felt that if he treated people (all people regardless of race or nationality) with respect they would eventually respond in kind. Some did, many didn’t. It wasn’t just his athletic ability that changed people’s perceptions of black men but it was also his generosity and genuineness off the track.
I don’t agree with everything he said but I at least understand them. His actions and statements seem in line with Booker T. Washington’s philosophy and that definitely wasn’t out of sync for the time period Owens was living in. Black people in this country didn’t just skip from slavery to black nationalism; everything is achieved through gradual steps and Jesse’s legacy is a significant step. It’s easy to look back and thumb your nose at things such as the Pullman Porter strike (why would blacks fight to be glorified train servants?) I guess if you didn’t grow up hearing the stories of everyday life from Reconstruction to Civil Rights from your parents and grandparents -provided they lived during those times – you really have no idea where we’ve come from and lack the level of appreciation you should have for those who sacrificed themselves and became public targets/role models for your sake. I hope the planned movie on his life is more illuminating than anything found on the internet.
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Haven’t read all of the comment,
but Abagond, there is plenty of information that Adolf Hitler did NOT attend the Olympic games while Owens was competing.
That he did is a huge urban myth.
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There are a huge amount of history and strories about black America before the sixties….i mean enormous
anyone not know the story about Joe Louis and Max Shmeling (sp?)
Wouldnt it be great if tap dancing was rediscoverd for the high art it represents in black American history ? Not even Gregory Hines could resurect it from the obscurity it has been banned from the sixties..
wouldnt it be great if Louis Armstrong was reinvestigated? Wynton did one heck of a job, but, Armstrong doesnt really resonate with the black American diologue…yet here is a guy, whose mother was a prostitute , he lived in an orphanage, came from the dregs of society , racism and poverty in New Orleans , and rose to totaly inspire the world with his talent and genius…so many people imitated him…they say all the big band white arrangements of the thirties were imitating Armstrong licks…the sixties sais he was uncle toming, but, look at an interview he would do with a white reporter, and you can see how he is playing him…and that is how black Americans dealt with white people back then…its a lesson in the history of black American survival…
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http://www.ibhof.com/pages/archives/louisschmeling.html
here is a report about Joe Louis and Max Schmeling…its riviting reading
Joe Louis finished out his career as a door man in Los Vegas trying to pay back taxes
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[…] Jesse Owens (1913-1980), an American athlete and “the world’s fastest human”, won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. And he, a Black man, the grandson of slaves, did it at the Olympics held in Berlin, the heart of Nazi Germany. Hitler himself watched as Owens showed the world that Aryans were hardly the master race.In our time Blacks are stereotyped as being “good at sports”. Back then they were stereotyped as being good at nothing. So to see Jesse Owens become the best in the whole world was a wonder.Owens won gold medals in the 100m and 200m races, the long jump and the 400m relay race. He set the long jump record for the next 25 years: 8.06 metres.Click through to read more. […]
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[…] Jesse Owens (1913-1980), an American athlete and “the world’s fastest human”, won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. And he, a Black man, the grandson of slaves, did it at the Olympics held in Berlin, the heart of Nazi Germany. Hitler himself watched as Owens showed the world that Aryans were hardly the master race.In our time Blacks are stereotyped as being “good at sports”. Back then they were stereotyped as being good at nothing. So to see Jesse Owens become the best in the whole world was a wonder.Owens won gold medals in the 100m and 200m races, the long jump and the 400m relay race. He set the long jump record for the next 25 years: 8.06 metres. Click through to read more. […]
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@KOT
Respectfully, my apologies if I was harsh, I had gotten tired of defending my perspective at that point. I have a problem with Black people telling other Black folks what they should think and feel about things just because they share the same ethnicity. I stand by what I said, I have spoken to members of my family who grew up in the early 20th century, or, who were raised by family during Owen’s time who often speak of the barriers that many members of their own community helped to support by justifying things that were going on by blaming AAs and members of the Black community in general or downplaying it. I don’t hate Owens and celebrate his achievements and public journey and transitions, but I believe his early words to be wholly White supremacist.
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Actually King of trouble . . .. I take that apology back. Since I was the only one who said I hadn’t heard of Owens you clearly were talking to me specifically when you said I should be ashamed of myself. You don’t know what country I’m in, how old I am, and clearly didn’t stop to think that’s precisely why individuals frequent Abagond.
I never insulted Jesse’s character, I said I did not agree with the things he said and find them as inexcusable as I would had a White man said it (a la Duck dynasty), but because I disagreed with his words which I’m entitled to, (instead of reading my point of view which I clarified has been shaped by older members of my family who were alive in Jesse’s time) and respecting another opinion, you chose to insult me. I haven’t insulted any posters on this thread, but you chose to insult me. Hit a nerve? Well, when you insult someone by telling them they should be ashamed of themselves you can expect to rub them up the wrong way. And then you wanna step back with you hands in the air playing innocent, at least have the ball§ to stand by insulting someone when you do. Getting insulting over a difference of opinion, how immature!
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[…] Jesse Owens (1913-1980), an American athlete and “the world’s fastest human”, won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. And he, a Black man, the grandson of slaves, did it at the Olympics held in Berlin, the heart of Nazi Germany. Hitler himself watched as Owens showed the world that Aryans were hardly the master race.In our time Blacks are stereotyped as being “good at sports”. Back then they were stereotyped as being good at nothing. So to see Jesse Owens become the best in the whole world was a wonder.Owens won gold medals in the 100m and 200m races, the long jump and the 400m relay race. He set the long jump record for the next 25 years: 8.06 metres. Click through to read more. […]
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Jesse Owens was more than an American athlete. He showed great loyalty to Ruth and his daughter Gloria, even when he was tempted by a rich woman to go in a different direction.He let his conscience decide whether he would participate in the Olympics or not. He did not let social pressure or politics influence his decision. He showed sincerity, loyalty, and great sportsmanship when he refused to run in the 400 meter race. When the Jewish men who were shunned from that very race encouraged him to represent the U.S.A., he was blessed with gold medal #4. Say what you will about the man, he remained determined amid pressures that the average person never gets near experiencing. Job well done!
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