Speaker 1: Oh, lessons from the world's top professors anytime, anyplace, world
Speaker 1: history examined and science explained. This is one day University. Welcome,
Speaker 1: and we're back on the untold history of sports in America.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Mike Coscarelli. Last time we discussed sports
Speaker 1: and the American Woman. Today will be comparing the American
Speaker 1: experience for two of the country's greatest athletes of all time,
Speaker 1: Jesse Owens and Joe Lewis. Both men were the best
Speaker 1: at what they did, and both men were black, but
Speaker 1: how they were viewed in the eyes of light America
Speaker 1: in the prime of their competitive days on the international
Speaker 1: stage was extremely different. To explain in full, here's Matt
Speaker 1: the prize fighter. Lewis is the main focus of our
Speaker 1: lecture today, and I'm gonna start with a brief story
Speaker 1: in which he's a character. But I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: this story is true. The story has been told many
Speaker 1: times as if it were true. For example, Martin Luther
Speaker 1: King Jr. Like to tell this story, but I have
Speaker 1: my doubts that the story actually happened. But it perfectly
Speaker 1: introduces what I want to talk about today, so I'm
Speaker 1: going with it. But you've been warned. The story goes
Speaker 1: like this. In the nineties, one of the Southern states
Speaker 1: adopted a new method of execution, poison gas replaced hanging,
Speaker 1: and the first time poison gas was used, a microphone
Speaker 1: was placed inside the gas chamber so scientists could hear
Speaker 1: the words of the dying prisoner. They were curious, how
Speaker 1: will he react. The first prisoner to be executed in
Speaker 1: this way was a young black man. The pellet dropped
Speaker 1: into the container and the gas curled upward, and the
Speaker 1: young black man started breathing, heavy, gasping, And then the
Speaker 1: scientists listening in on the execution, they heard him say,
Speaker 1: over and over, save me, Joe Louis, Save me, Joe Louis,
Speaker 1: Save me, Joe Louis. Whether this really happened or not,
Speaker 1: the story speaks to how black Americans thought of Joe
Speaker 1: Louis as a figure of liberation, as a sort of
Speaker 1: black superman. Well, today, I want to explore why this
Speaker 1: black boxer, Joe Louis was so important to Black Americans.
Speaker 1: If that's a true story, Why did that condemned black
Speaker 1: man call for Joe Louis in his darkest hour? But
Speaker 1: I also want to explore why Joe Louis became immensely
Speaker 1: significant for white Americans as well. Joe Louis is probably
Speaker 1: the first black athlete that more white Americans rooted for
Speaker 1: rather than a against, and we will explore why. I
Speaker 1: think to better appreciate the meaning and the impact of
Speaker 1: Joe Louis and other black athletes from this era, it
Speaker 1: would be helpful to briefly explore the racial climate of
Speaker 1: the era. Two weeks ago, we were discussing the rise
Speaker 1: of Jim Crow segregation in sports, and then we discussed
Speaker 1: all the violence that black Americans endured after Jack Johnson's
Speaker 1: victory over Jim Jeffreys. That was well. By nineteen nineteen,
Speaker 1: the mob violence against Black Americans had escalated. In nineteen nineteen,
Speaker 1: there were big race riots in Omaha, Nebraska, Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: East St. Louis. The biggest was in Chicago. The Chicago
Speaker 1: race riot began when a group of white boys they
Speaker 1: threw rocks at and they killed a young black boy
Speaker 1: who had drifted into the white section of a Lake
Speaker 1: Michigan beach. This sparked days of race violence, and twenty
Speaker 1: three black Chicagoans were killed. This riot was a response
Speaker 1: to the Great migration when millions of black Southerners they
Speaker 1: fled the Jim Crow South and they moved north into
Speaker 1: the cities, into places like Harlem and Chicago, as we
Speaker 1: will see places like Detroit and Cleveland, and some white
Speaker 1: Americans responded to their arrival with violence. They did not
Speaker 1: want to write on street cars with African Americans, they
Speaker 1: did not want to work next to Black Americans, they
Speaker 1: did not want to live in the same neighborhoods as
Speaker 1: Black Americans, so they lashed out. It's in the context
Speaker 1: of this great migration, and in the context of this
Speaker 1: heightened climate of of violent racism, that I want to
Speaker 1: place the stories of two of the great athletes in
Speaker 1: American history, Jesse Owens attract star and Joe Louis, a boxer.
Speaker 1: Though as I said, Joe Louis will be our main focus.
Speaker 1: Both Jesse Owens and Joe Louis were part of this
Speaker 1: great migration. They moved from the South to the North,
Speaker 1: and they rose to prominence in this era of racial violence.
Speaker 1: But Jesse Owens and Joe Louis market change in the
Speaker 1: history of the African American athletes. Owens and Lewis are
Speaker 1: the first two black athletes to gain national media attention
Speaker 1: after Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson was like a comment, you know,
Speaker 1: he burst onto the scene and then he faded away
Speaker 1: or or he was chased away, he was imprisoned. After
Speaker 1: Jack Johnson, black athletes were ignored by the mainstream press
Speaker 1: until Jesse Owens and Joe Louis. And Jesse Owens and
Speaker 1: Joe Louis were such extraordinary athletes that they were celebrated
Speaker 1: even by white Americans, even living in this era of
Speaker 1: intense racial hostility. And that's because their athletic achievements occurred
Speaker 1: at a time of extreme international tensions. So here is
Speaker 1: where the stories of racism and sport and patriotism in sport,
Speaker 1: here's where those stories collide. All right, let's talk about
Speaker 1: Jesse Owens first. James Cleveland Owens was born in nineteen
Speaker 1: thirteen in rural Alabama, and when he was nine, the
Speaker 1: family moved to north to Cleveland, which was that that's
Speaker 1: just coincidental that that was his last name. So Jesse
Speaker 1: Owens and his family they lived the Great Migration. He
Speaker 1: was given the name Jesse by a teacher who do
Speaker 1: not understand his accent when he said his family called
Speaker 1: him by his initials j C. She heard Jesse Jesse
Speaker 1: Owens attended Ohio State University, and let me point this out,
Speaker 1: this can only happen outside of the South. Attending a
Speaker 1: flag ship public university is not an option for black
Speaker 1: Americans in the South of this time. The universities of
Speaker 1: Alabama and Georgia and Mississippi and North Carolina, they were
Speaker 1: all off limits to black students at this time. So
Speaker 1: Jesse Owens he attends Ohio State and it was here
Speaker 1: that he accomplished maybe his greatest athletic achievement. He did
Speaker 1: this in May of nineteen thirty five at the Big
Speaker 1: Ten Championship Track meet in an Arbor, Michigan. In the
Speaker 1: span of forty five minutes, Jesse Owens set world records
Speaker 1: in the one hundred yard dash, the long jump, the
Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty yard dash, and the two hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty yard hurdles, so four world records in less
Speaker 1: than an hour. Not bad. Owens was one of those
Speaker 1: once in a lifetime athletes, and the question was would
Speaker 1: he be allowed to take his talents to the nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty six Olympic Games, which were scheduled for Berlin, Germany.
Speaker 1: As the nine Olympic Games neared, there was a debate
Speaker 1: in the United States over whether or not the U
Speaker 1: s should send a team. Should we send a team
Speaker 1: to Nazi Germany? In ninety three, Adolf Hitler took power
Speaker 1: in Germany, and once in power, his regime began passing
Speaker 1: laws that severely discriminated against German Jews. Jews were losing
Speaker 1: political rights, their their property was being seized. Added to this,
Speaker 1: though the Nazis denied it, it was pretty clear that
Speaker 1: German Jewish athletes were not going to be able to
Speaker 1: compete for German. The German Olympic team was going to
Speaker 1: bar them. In fact, German Olympic officials they contacted the
Speaker 1: United States and requested that the US leave its black
Speaker 1: athletes at home. As they put it, they did not
Speaker 1: want the the sacred grandeur of the Olympics to be
Speaker 1: soiled by the appair and some black athletes. Now, the
Speaker 1: International Olympic Committee made it very clear that Germany could
Speaker 1: not host the Olympics and keep athletes from other nations
Speaker 1: from competing, and so black athletes were invited. In the end,
Speaker 1: the United States did send a team to Berlin, and
Speaker 1: black Americans were part of this team eighteen black American athletes.
Speaker 1: Among them was a guy named mac Robinson. He was
Speaker 1: a member of the US track team. We will talk
Speaker 1: about mac Robinson's younger brother, Jackie next time. And also
Speaker 1: on the team was the great Jesse Owens. Berlin Olympics.
Speaker 1: They were a spectacle, you know it was. It was
Speaker 1: the Nazis who came up with the idea of the
Speaker 1: grand opening ceremony. It was the Nazis that invented the
Speaker 1: idea of the Olympic torch relay, something that we still do.
Speaker 1: The Olympics were used by the Nazis to display German
Speaker 1: nationalism and Nazi imperialism. Hitler he wanted these games to
Speaker 1: demonstrate that the German people were the master race. But
Speaker 1: at these games the idea of Aryan superiority. That idea
Speaker 1: was dramatically refuted by the black athletes from the United States,
Speaker 1: and especially by Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals.
Speaker 1: And in the United States, both black and white Americans
Speaker 1: celebrated what Owens had done. Owens was celebrated as a
Speaker 1: symbol of national strength. Almost all Americans reveled in Jesse Owens.
Speaker 1: They reveled in how his accomplishments embarrassed Hitler and his
Speaker 1: theories about German supremacy. So here is where patriotism seems
Speaker 1: to have outranked racial prejudice. Now, all that said, the
Speaker 1: Owens may have been a national hero. In the summer
Speaker 1: of ninety six, when he returned to the United States,
Speaker 1: he was reminded that he was still a black man
Speaker 1: in America. He was unable to translate his success in
Speaker 1: sport to success off the field. We talked about how
Speaker 1: Babe Ruth was able to sell everything and everything from
Speaker 1: oatmeal to cigarettes, but no such opportunities were out there
Speaker 1: for Jesse Owens. In fact, listen to this. To make
Speaker 1: a living, Owens took part in athletic spectacles in which
Speaker 1: he ran races against horses, a race between a black
Speaker 1: man and a horse. It was an unglorious end to
Speaker 1: a brilliant athletic career. And it's also my introduction to
Speaker 1: Joe Lewis. After the break, Joe Lewis wears the mask.
Speaker 1: So let's get to the main event. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: Joe Louis. I think it's possible that within the African
Speaker 1: American community, Joe Louis was the single most beloved person
Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. You know, Martin Luther King had
Speaker 1: his detractors in the Black community, those who thought he
Speaker 1: was either too militant or or or not militant enough.
Speaker 1: Other prize fighters like Jack Johnson and Muhammad Ali, they
Speaker 1: certainly had their detractors. I mean, there were many black
Speaker 1: men and women who thought that they were too audacious.
Speaker 1: Even Jackie Robinson is going to have his detractors. But
Speaker 1: Joe Louis was universally loved by Black Americans. And that's
Speaker 1: because Joe Louis came along in this time of intense
Speaker 1: racism and violence, and in a side land but but
Speaker 1: powerful way, he did battle with the idea of white supremacy.
Speaker 1: The great writer Richard Wright, he put Joe Louis's impact
Speaker 1: like this. Day by day, since they're alleged emancipation negroes
Speaker 1: have watched a picture of themselves being painted as lazy, stupid,
Speaker 1: and diseased. Joe Louis is the living refutation of the
Speaker 1: hatred spewed forth daily over radios, in newspapers, in movies,
Speaker 1: and in books about their lives. So because Black Americans
Speaker 1: were systematically excluded from the opportunity to demonstrate their worth
Speaker 1: and their abilities as a group. The success of Joe
Speaker 1: Lewis his his singular successes. They energized the black community.
Speaker 1: They were a source of pride for all Black Americans.
Speaker 1: And that's how the theory goes, when Joe Lewis won
Speaker 1: all Black Americans one. So let's explore the significance of
Speaker 1: Joe Louis to Black America. His his his symbolism, and
Speaker 1: like I said, let's try to figure out what he
Speaker 1: meant to white Americans as well. Like Jesse Owens, Joe
Speaker 1: Louis was born in the South, actually also in Alabama.
Speaker 1: He was the seventh of eight children born into a
Speaker 1: sharecropping family, and he and his family they joined the
Speaker 1: Great Migration and they moved north to Detroit, where the
Speaker 1: auto factories were, and this is where Joe Lewis worked.
Speaker 1: As a teenager, he developed and chiseled his muscles pushing
Speaker 1: two hundred pound truck bodies on the assembly lines. He
Speaker 1: also took boxing lessons and he made a name for
Speaker 1: himself as a boxer in Detroit, in the Midwest. He
Speaker 1: rose through the ranks. But now we're faced with that
Speaker 1: same old problem. Joe Louis was black, and we've talked
Speaker 1: about this with regard to boxing, you know, and after
Speaker 1: Jack Johnson and many white Americans did not want to
Speaker 1: give another black man a chance to fight for the
Speaker 1: heavyweight title ever. But Louis is eventually going to get
Speaker 1: that chance. And he's going to get it for two reasons. First,
Speaker 1: his timing was good. Boxing needed a fresh face after
Speaker 1: the reign of Jack Dempsey. Five different men held the
Speaker 1: title over the next ten years, and none of them
Speaker 1: were great, none of them were exciting. So boxing was
Speaker 1: desperate for a star. But even more important, Joe Louis
Speaker 1: will eventually get to fight for the title because Joe
Speaker 1: Louis wore the mask. Al Right, what does that mean?
Speaker 1: Wearing the mask? Well, this might be a bad idea,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to read from a poem. Let me
Speaker 1: introduce you to a poem by a black poet named
Speaker 1: Paul Dunbar. It's titled We Wear the Mask, and it
Speaker 1: goes like this, We wear the mask that grins and lies,
Speaker 1: It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes. This debt
Speaker 1: we pay to human guile with torn and bleeding hearts.
Speaker 1: We smile in mouth with myriads subtleties. Why should the
Speaker 1: world be overwise in counting all our tears and size, Nay,
Speaker 1: let them only see us while we wear the mask.
Speaker 1: In this poem, Paul Dunbar is illuminating a coping strategy,
Speaker 1: a a survival mechanism for Black Americans in order to
Speaker 1: survive in white America. Dunbar is telling us that Black
Speaker 1: Americans need to wear a mask. They need to hide
Speaker 1: their anger, hide their frustration and their rage. Black Americans
Speaker 1: need to wear a mask that will make them presentable
Speaker 1: and acceptable to white Americans. Otherwise there might be repercussions,
Speaker 1: severe repercussions. Let me put this even more bluntly. Dunbar
Speaker 1: is saying that on the surface, Black Americans need to
Speaker 1: be what white Americans want them to be. They need
Speaker 1: to play the role of the so called in quotes,
Speaker 1: good negro. I mean, that's the term people use back then.
Speaker 1: Now you know who didn't wear the mask? Jack Johnson.
Speaker 1: Jack Johnson did not wear the mask. He did and
Speaker 1: he said what he wanted and he went to prison
Speaker 1: for it. But Joe Louis is going to wear the mask.
Speaker 1: He's going to present an image to white Americans that
Speaker 1: they were comfortable with. Joe Louis was managed by a
Speaker 1: white promoter named Mike Jacobs, and Mike Jacobs concocted a
Speaker 1: series of rules that Joe Louis had to follow, rules
Speaker 1: that he had to obey both inside and outside of
Speaker 1: the ring. And these were rules that were put in
Speaker 1: place to convince the public, specifically that Joe Louis was
Speaker 1: not another Jack Johnson. Inside the ring, Joe Louis was
Speaker 1: never to ridicule his opponents. He was never to gloat
Speaker 1: or stand over them after knocking them down. In fact,
Speaker 1: he was always supposed to go check on them after
Speaker 1: he knocked them out. Outside of the ring, he was
Speaker 1: supposed to be a model black citizen. He was supposed
Speaker 1: to be, to use kind of a loaded term, respectable.
Speaker 1: He was never to be seen entering a bar or
Speaker 1: a saloon alone, for example, And most of all, he
Speaker 1: was never ever to be photographed with white women. After all,
Speaker 1: that had been Jack Johnson's greatest transgression, and Joe Louis
Speaker 1: played by these rules. He literally played by the rules
Speaker 1: of white America. And as he progressed through the heavyweight ranks,
Speaker 1: the white press will they fell in love with this quiet,
Speaker 1: unassuming l behaved young man. This, this anti Jack Johnson.
Speaker 1: Joe Louis gained the respect and the admiration of the
Speaker 1: nation's white sports writers and sports fans, but his race, right,
Speaker 1: his blackness, was always at the forefront. White sports writers,
Speaker 1: they heat the slew of nicknames on Joe Louis. He
Speaker 1: was the Black Menace, the Dark Destroyer, the Tan Tornado,
Speaker 1: the Golden Puma, and the brown Bomber. And it was
Speaker 1: this last name, the Brown Bomber, that's stuck. So Joe
Speaker 1: Louis was a great respected fighter, yes, but for many
Speaker 1: Americans he was a black fighter first and foremost. But
Speaker 1: then came his fights against the German Max Schmelling. Their
Speaker 1: first fight took place in June of n six and
Speaker 1: it was not a title fight. Neither of them were
Speaker 1: the heavyweight champion it Lewis was working his way toward
Speaker 1: the championship and this was expected to be just another
Speaker 1: fight along the way. Max Schmelling was the champion of Europe.
Speaker 1: He was good, but Hitler's Nazi Party they had little
Speaker 1: faith in Schmelling. They did not really support Smelling as
Speaker 1: they did not think he would beat Joe Lewis. In fact,
Speaker 1: the Nazis were annoyed that Max Schmelling was as they sought,
Speaker 1: lowering himself to fight a black man. But then Max
Speaker 1: Schmelling shocked everyone and won the fight. Smelling battered Joe Lewis.
Speaker 1: He he knocked out Joe Louis in the twelfth round.
Speaker 1: It's considered one of the great upsets in boxing history.
Speaker 1: And suddenly the Nazi propaganda machine they hailed Max Smelling
Speaker 1: as a hero. Here was proof. They argued that the
Speaker 1: Aryan race was dominant and the Black race inferior. Joe
Speaker 1: Louis was was crushed. Black Americans were crushed. The four
Speaker 1: gold medals won by Jesse Owen two months after this
Speaker 1: bout will that ease the pain a little bit. But
Speaker 1: Joe Louis was the great Black hope, not Jesse Owens.
Speaker 1: Joe Louis recommitted himself. He trained religiously, he fought frequently.
Speaker 1: He won seven fights in eight months. It was an
Speaker 1: absolutely furious pace. And then he got the chance to
Speaker 1: fight for the title. As I told you, neither Lewis
Speaker 1: nor Schmelling had been the champ when they fought in
Speaker 1: ninety six. The champion was a fairly unimpressive American fighter
Speaker 1: named Jimmy Braddock, a guy known as the Cinderella Man,
Speaker 1: and the thought was that whoever got to fight Braddock first,
Speaker 1: Smelling or Lewis, he would win the fight and win
Speaker 1: the title. Well, since Smelling beat Louis, it probably should
Speaker 1: have been Smelling who got the chance to fight Jimmy
Speaker 1: Braddock first, But Lewis's promoters feared that if Smelling won
Speaker 1: the title, he would take the title to Germany, where
Speaker 1: Hitler would use it for political purposes. He would never
Speaker 1: give Joe Louis a chance, so Joe Louis's promoters they
Speaker 1: bribed Jimmy Braddock to fight Louis. To convince Braddock to
Speaker 1: fight Louis, they promised Braddock all of Joe Louis's share
Speaker 1: of the fight. Braddock would get one cent of the
Speaker 1: money from their fight. Jimmy Braddock thought about it and
Speaker 1: said not enough, so they offered, on top of that,
Speaker 1: to give Jimmy Braddock ten of the proceeds from all
Speaker 1: of Joe Louis's fights for the next ten years. This
Speaker 1: was too sweet of a deal for Jimmy Braddock to
Speaker 1: pass up. I mean, win or lose, he makes money,
Speaker 1: so Joe Louis and Jimmy Braddock. They fought in June
Speaker 1: of seven in Chicago. For the first time in over
Speaker 1: two decades, a black man was fighting for the heavyweight title,
Speaker 1: and Joe Lewis one with an eighth round knockout, the
Speaker 1: first black man since Jack Johnson to be heavyweight champion.
Speaker 1: Black Americans rejoiced, but Joe Louis said, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: I'm not the real champion until I beat Max Schmelling.
Speaker 1: So the rematch against Schmelling was set for June of
Speaker 1: eight in Yankee Stadium. And by the summer of ninety eight,
Speaker 1: many of Adolf Hitler's intentions they were clear. His racist
Speaker 1: policies against Jews were clear, though the exterminations had yet
Speaker 1: to begin. His militarism and expansionism were clear. Three months earlier,
Speaker 1: the Nazi war machine had taken control of Austria, and
Speaker 1: it was in this context of heightened international tensions that
Speaker 1: something very interesting happened. In the eyes of many white Americans.
Speaker 1: This black American fighter, the brown bomber, he became one
Speaker 1: of them. He became one hundred percent American. Just as
Speaker 1: the Nazis said that Schmelling represented them. White Americans said
Speaker 1: that Joe Louis represented America, he represented the United States
Speaker 1: and democracy. And we've been talking about how tribal boxing
Speaker 1: was in the United States. Well now almost the entire
Speaker 1: nation is united behind this black fighter. I described the
Speaker 1: nineteen ten Jack Johnson Jim Jefferies fight as the most
Speaker 1: significant sporting event in American history. I think this is
Speaker 1: the most anticipated sporting event in American history. And if
Speaker 1: you had tickets for the fight at Yankee Stadium, you
Speaker 1: better have been in your seat when it started, because
Speaker 1: it was over in two minutes and four seconds. Joe
Speaker 1: Louis came out of his corner and overwhelmed Max Smelling.
Speaker 1: Joe Louis through punches, solidly landing thirty one. Max Schmelling
Speaker 1: only threw two punches before being knocked down twice, and
Speaker 1: after the second knockdown his cornermen they jumped into the
Speaker 1: ring and they stopped the fight. Sixty million Americans, half
Speaker 1: the nation's population, they were tuned in and listening on
Speaker 1: the radio, and Americans celebrated like they had just won
Speaker 1: a war. I mean, especially Black Americans. This was absolute
Speaker 1: jubilasan save me, Joe Lewis, I always like what Roy
Speaker 1: Wilkins of the n Double a c P said, Though
Speaker 1: the bout was actually just over two minutes, he called
Speaker 1: the fight the shortest, sweetest minute of the nineteen thirties.
Speaker 1: I told you how things went for Jesse Owens after
Speaker 1: the nine Olympics, so let's end by talking how things
Speaker 1: went for Joe Lewis after this night fight. When World
Speaker 1: War Two came in one, Joe Louis volunteered for the
Speaker 1: United States Army. He put on boxing exhibitions, and he
Speaker 1: raised the morale of American troops. He made speeches encouraging
Speaker 1: black Americans to enlist. He played the role of the
Speaker 1: patriotic American. But let me point out a couple of things.
Speaker 1: The U. S. Army was racially segregated during World War Two,
Speaker 1: so Joe Louis, the heavyweight champion of the world, the
Speaker 1: American hero, he was part of a segregated unit. And
Speaker 1: during World War two the race riots started up again.
Speaker 1: And coincidentally, it was Joe Louis's hometown of Detroit that
Speaker 1: saw the most significant of these riots. Black Americans were
Speaker 1: moving into Detroit to work in the factories, and tensions
Speaker 1: were high as whites in the city, they resented blacks
Speaker 1: moving into their city and taking jobs. These tensions erupted
Speaker 1: in the Detroit Race Riot of ninety three, when black
Speaker 1: Americans were killed. As for Louis, he defended his title
Speaker 1: three times during the war, and he patriotically signed his
Speaker 1: checks over to the American government every penny, but he
Speaker 1: was still taxed on this money and World War two
Speaker 1: tax rates were very high eighty percent in some instances.
Speaker 1: To pay these taxes, Joe Louis had to fight well
Speaker 1: after he should have retired. In nineteen fifty he fought
Speaker 1: and lost the title to Zard Charles. Charles was a
Speaker 1: black fighter, and I think it's worth mentioning that many
Speaker 1: black boxing fans they never forgave Charles for defeating their
Speaker 1: hero Joe Louis. But still in debt, Joe Louis kept fighting. Finally,
Speaker 1: in October of nineteen fifty one, when he was thirty
Speaker 1: seven years old, he was destroyed in the ring by
Speaker 1: the new champion, a white fighter named Rocky Marciano. Rocky
Speaker 1: Marciano openly wept after the fight. Joe Louis had been
Speaker 1: his idol. So like we did last time with Babe
Speaker 1: Didrickson let's take stock of everything we just discussed. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna fuse these two stories of Jesse Owens and Joe
Speaker 1: Lewis and asked the question, just how significant was that
Speaker 1: moment in Berlin with Jesse Owens and that moment in
Speaker 1: when Joe Louis defeated Max Smelling. Were these moments of
Speaker 1: advancement for Black Americans? Or a better and more simple
Speaker 1: way to put it, did they matter? And I think
Speaker 1: there are two ways, at least of looking at it.
Speaker 1: On the one hand, these were very significant moments because
Speaker 1: they bolstered Black America and because they led some white
Speaker 1: Americans to root for and identify with a black athlete.
Speaker 1: So we might say that it was americans passion for
Speaker 1: success in international sport. This was helping to broaden the
Speaker 1: notion of who an American was. But on the other hand,
Speaker 1: a second way of looking at it, no more, how
Speaker 1: psychologically satisfying these moments may have been. It was just sports,
Speaker 1: and success in sports was not a solution to the
Speaker 1: problems of discrimination and segregation. These victories were merely symbolic,
Speaker 1: nothing more. Nothing changed. Segregation did not end. You know,
Speaker 1: Joe Lewis was segregated. The race riots and the attacks
Speaker 1: against Black Americans continued. Next time on the Untold History
Speaker 1: of Sports in America, presented by One Day University Jackie Robinson,