Jesse Owens's Role In The 1936 Berlin Olympics

BY CORINTHIA RIVERA "Judged not by their color but by their skin but by their character." -Dr. Martin Luther King. Ray Lewis Ouote "It has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with effort!

In ‘The Convict Lease System,’ Frederick Douglass discusses the reasons why black people made up about ninety percent of convicts, which most of the blame for that is put on the whites in the essay. Why does Douglass say that the exclusion of black people from White religious institutions serves as a catalyst for their convictions and why does he also hold White people responsible for the conditions of this system? African-Americans were convicted in immense amounts during the 1880’s. Not only were they convicted, but they were also treated in a way that seemed to be a by-product of slavery. Black people were excluded from public locations and were “left up to grow up in ignorance and vice.”

However what is majorly overlooked is the fact that the most famous athlete of his time, his outstanding displays of athletic abilities at the 1936 Olympic Games that captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Despite the racial slurs he endured, Jesse Owens ' grace and athleticism rallied crowds across the globe. But when the four-time Olympic gold medalist returned home, he could not even ride in the front of a bus. The events that followed in Germany, namely the Holocaust and World War II overshadowed the Berlin games. However, it is very important that a world gathering like the Olympics could take place in a country that was in the process of eliminating an entire race of people and yet the world stood

He once said "I always loved running – it was something you could do by yourself and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs (jesseowens.com).” Fortunately, this little boy from the South who was restricted by his race, was able to convince himself of his own athletic talents, and use them to propel him to great heights. Unfortunately, despite all of his accomplishments, Owens was never given the recognition he deserved at the time. However, now he has taken his place in the history books and is touted as a role model for people of all

African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.

- Luis J. Rodriguez, author of Always Running. To put it differently, this quote shows how Luis is impacted by racial inequality seeing as he viewed the world as a scary place for people just like him. Where they were constant prey among the hunters such as gangs, the junkies, and so on. In his autobiography, it tells the story of Luis experiencing racial inequality throughout his life such as in a normal day-to-day

There was no water, no heat, and no walls, only partitions. Bathrooms and a mess hall had not been built yet. When they finally were completed, many of their meals were not prepared correctly which often caused food poisoning. After finally somewhat settling down, they were then taken to the Topaz Relocation Center in the

Despite the good intention to make Germany a dominant superpower, Hitler was unfortunately a mentally ill man with sociopathic tendencies which the article “Under the Swastika” by Duane Damon highlights perfectly. In speaking about the Berlin Olympics and the amount of time and energy that was put into showcasing Germany and filling the hearts and minds of citizens and visitors alike, Damon speaks about the positive and negative aspects of the preparation. “Hitler saw the Berlin Olympics as the supreme propaganda tool – the opportunity to present the bright and shining face of the new Germany…workers festooned Berlin with Olympic banners and scarlet Nazi flags with black swastikas…the streets were swept clean and vagrants were jailed (Damon

“His stunning achievement of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin has made him the best remembered athlete in Olympic history” (“Biography”). It is a myth that Hitler did not want to shake Owens’s hand because he is black. Besides

Growing up in southwest Atlanta, Georgia, I have been surrounded by ‘black success’ instead of just ‘success’ for the duration of my life. The blacks in my area are equally as successful, if not more accomplished than, the non-blacks, but we are always titled separately and put into a captive box. The box we are held in told young girls that they should aspire to be athletes, cosmetologists, or plain unemployed. The same box told young men that they could only be considered “somebody” if they were able to catch a ball well. These are occupations we would ‘best be suited for’; these are occupations that perpetuate the box.

These are some of the athletes that were prominent during the Harlem Renaissance. Jesse Owens was an American track and field athlete and four time olympic gold medalist in the 1936 games in Berlin. The events he won gold in are the 100-meter dash, long jump, 200-meter dash and 400-meter relay. Some of the world records he set are running the 100-meter dash in 10.3 seconds, jumping 26 feet in long jump, doing the 200-meter dash in 20.7 seconds and the relay in 39.8 seconds.

Works Cited Racism in America has played a major part in the professional life of African American. Not only has racism affected the normal day to day career but it has also severely restricted the sport careers for blacks. Around the 1920s is when African Americans got in the picture with sports. But the whites still refused to play in games with the colored so they made their own sports league for baseball.

Jesse Owens, or James Cleveland was known to be a notable four-time Olympic gold medalist and the uppermost American track and field athlete in the nation. With his emerging status of being one of the world’s greatest African American athlete, Jesse Owens has achieved the recognition today amongst many sports fans in history. Owens has displayed the action of becoming a true national hero who encourages people to pursue their dreams of being in the Olympics. Owens was marked by ESPN as the 6th greatest USA athlete of the twentieth century. With all of his abundant contributions, Jesse Owens will be remembered today as a hero.

Murray’s response to societal expectations shows his self-determination as he challenged fully living up to what he was forecasted to do as an athlete. He argues,

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Hillenbrand is known as one of the best authors in the world, has written bestselling books such as Unbroken and Seabiscuit. Unbroken is a 2010 book of non-fiction describing the story of Resilience, Survival, and Redemption during the WWII. In other words, Unbroken is termed as the biography of Louis Zamperini, a WWII hero and a former star of Olympic who endured a plane crack in the Pacific. The book describes how he drifted on a raft for 47 days and lasted two years of imprisonment in the Japanese camps.