|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
In the USA since World War II, sport has undergone dramatic changes. The first decade after the war saw the resurgence of baseball as the national sport, particularly with the return of hero-athletes, the formation and development of the National Basketball Association, and the transformation of professional football into a organization vying with baseball as the national sport. This competition continues to this day, with the profound irony that in some quarters the Black athlete is now seen as "saving" baseball. In the pre-World War II years, the Black athlete was restricted from competition in all the professional sports. Only in the Olympics, because of its international nature, were Black athletes allowed to compete unrestricted.
But as Black athletes increasingly began to dominate their sports, as was clearly the case in bicycling and horse racing, white athletes and managers decided to ban interracial competition. The contemptuous posture and defiance of superb Black heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson only brought more hatred and resentment among whites. After his defeat in 1915, white champion boxers refused to fight a Black man until 1936 when Joe Louis defeated Jimmy Braddock to become boxing world champion.
To mask the real fear of loss to Black competitors in sports and elsewhere, the white population fabricated a number of myths about Black people, claiming Blacks suffered from low intelligence, criminal tendencies, and inferior physicality.
Approximate Word count = 1126
Approximate Pages = 4.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|