{"id":7851,"date":"2016-08-13T16:36:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-13T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2016\/08\/13\/black-u-s-olympians-won-in-nazi-germany-only-to-be-overlooked-at-home\/"},"modified":"2016-08-13T16:36:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T16:36:00","slug":"black-u-s-olympians-won-in-nazi-germany-only-to-be-overlooked-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/black-u-s-olympians-won-in-nazi-germany-only-to-be-overlooked-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Black U.S. Olympians Won In Nazi Germany Only To Be Overlooked At Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hansi Lo Wang<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

\"At<\/a><\/div>\n
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At the 1936 Olympics, 18 black athletes went to Berlin as part of the U.S. team. Pictured here are (left to right rear) Dave Albritton, and Cornelius Johnson, high jumpers; Tidye Pickett, a hurdler; Ralph Metcalfe, a sprinter; Jim Clark, a boxer, and Mack Robinson, a sprinter. In front are John Terry, (left) a weight lifter and John Brooks, a long jumper. Bettmann Archive\/Getty Images<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

toggle caption<\/strong> Bettmann Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Eighty years ago this month, the United States competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in Nazi Germany, and 18 African-American athletes were part of the U.S. squad.<\/p>\n

Track star Jesse Owens, one of the greatest Olympians of all time, won four gold medals. What the 17 other African-American Olympians did in Berlin, though, has largely been forgotten \u2014 and so too has their rough return home to racial segregation.<\/p>\n

“Determination! That’s what it takes,” one of the athletes, John Woodruff, said during a 1996 oral history interview for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum<\/a>. “A lot of fire in the stomach!”<\/p>\n

Woodruff won the gold medal in the 800-meter race \u2014 and he did it in Adolf Hitler’s Germany.<\/p>\n

“There was very definitely a special feeling in winning the gold medal and being a black man,” Woodruff said. “We destroyed his master-race theory whenever we start winning those gold medals.”<\/p>\n

Cornelius Johnson won the top spot on the medal stand in the high jump. Dave Albritton won silver.<\/p>\n

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\"John<\/div>\n
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John Woodruff wins the 800-meter race at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Aug. 8, 1936 AP<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

toggle caption<\/strong> AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another silver-medalist was one of Jackie Robinson’s older brothers, Mack, who won silver in the 200-meter dash. Future U.S. Congressman Ralph Metcalfe brought home two medals of his own – a sliver in the 100 meters and a gold in the 4×100-meter relay.<\/p>\n

Altogether, the 18 African-Americans, including Owens, won 14 medals \u2014 eight of them gold. That was a quarter of the 56 medals<\/a> won by the entire U.S. team.<\/p>\n

Unlike Woodruff and the other African-American medalists, though, two Jewish athletes on the U.S. team did not get a shot at winning any medals. Runners Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were benched at the last minute and replaced with Owens and Metcalfe in the men’s 4×100-meter relay.<\/p>\n

A similar move took place in 1932, when Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes became the first black women to qualify for the U.S. team but were later replaced with white runners.<\/p>\n

Pickett and Stokes were eager to finally compete four years later in Berlin. Pickett did run in the hurdles, but broke her foot during a semifinal race. Stokes was replaced again with a white teammate.<\/p>\n

“I think (Stokes) could’ve been the first black woman to bring home a gold medal for America,” says Deborah Riley Draper, who wrote, directed and produced a new documentary called Olympic Pride, American Prejudice.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The film includes another story of disappointment: African-American boxer Howell King, who was sent home from Berlin by the U.S. boxing team manager.<\/p>\n

Supposedly, the decision was because of “homesickness,” but Draper says King suspected the manager wanted to replace him with a white boxer.<\/p>\n

“Howell King himself said, ‘I didn’t quit! I took a 10-day boat to Berlin. Why would I quit and want to go all the way back to Detroit?'” Draper says.<\/p>\n

All of the African-American athletes at the 1936 Olympics should be remembered, Draper says, not just Owens.<\/p>\n

“It was easier to tell the story of one African-American because that’s an anomaly,” Draper says. “But 18, that’s a lot for Jim Crow newspapers to want to report on.”<\/p>\n

The 18 were called “The Black Eagles”<\/a> by The Pittsburgh Courier<\/em>, an influential African-American newspaper. In Berlin, they lived in the racially-integrated Olympic village, which was a high point many would never experience again.<\/p>\n

“They were Olympic athletes when they were on the medal stand,” Draper says. “When they came back home to a segregated America, they came back to being Negroes.”<\/p>\n

Some entered academia. Others held elected office.<\/p>\n

Many struggled to establish stable careers, including Robinson, the silver medalist. He once used his Olympic jacket to keep warm while working as a street sweeper.<\/p>\n

Still, according to University of Mississippi historian Charles Ross, all the athletes represented a generation of pioneers who chiseled away at stereotypes.<\/p>\n

“You have to have Jesse Owens and the other 17 African-Americans before you can have John Carlos, Ali, George Foreman,” Ross says.<\/p>\n

Ross says the 18 African-American Olympians of 1936 understood their dreams had to be limited. None of them were invited to the White House, or shook the hand of President Franklin Roosevelt.<\/p>\n

Months after Owens returned home, he told a crowd, “The president didn’t even send me a telegram.”<\/p>\n

Let’s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> (Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n

Source:: http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetorch\/2016\/08\/13\/489773389\/black-u-s-olympians-won-in-nazi-germany-only-to-be-overlooked-at-home?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=sports<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"At<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

At the 1936 Olympics, 18 black athletes went to Berlin as part of the U.S. team. Pictured here are (left to right rear) Dave Albritton, and Cornelius Johnson, high jumpers; Tidye Pickett, a hurdler; Ralph Metcalfe, a sprinter; Jim Clark, a boxer, and Mack Robinson, a sprinter. In front are John Terry, (left) a weight lifter and John Brooks, a long jumper. Bettmann Archive\/Getty Images<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

toggle caption<\/strong> Bettmann Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Eighty years ago this month, the United States competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in Nazi Germany, and 18 African-American athletes were part of the U.S. squad.<\/p>\n

Track star Jesse Owens, one of the greatest Olympians of all time, won four gold medals. What the 17 other African-American Olympians did in Berlin, though, has largely been forgotten \u2014 and so too has their rough return home to racial segregation.<\/p>\n

“Determination! That’s what it takes,” one of the athletes, John Woodruff, said during a 1996 oral history interview for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum<\/a>. “A lot of fire in the stomach!”<\/p>\n

Woodruff won the gold medal in the 800-meter race \u2014 and he did it in Adolf Hitler’s Germany.<\/p>\n

“There was very definitely a special feeling in winning the gold medal and being a black man,” Woodruff said. “We destroyed his master-race theory whenever we start winning those gold medals.”<\/p>\n

Cornelius Johnson won the top spot on the medal stand in the high jump. Dave Albritton won silver.<\/p>\n

\n
\"John<\/div>\n
\n
\n

John Woodruff wins the 800-meter race at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Aug. 8, 1936 AP<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

toggle caption<\/strong> AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another silver-medalist was one of Jackie Robinson’s older brothers, Mack, who won silver in the 200-meter dash. Future U.S. Congressman Ralph Metcalfe brought home two medals of his own – a sliver in the 100 meters and a gold in the 4×100-meter relay.<\/p>\n

Altogether, the 18 African-Americans, including Owens, won 14 medals \u2014 eight of them gold. That was a quarter of the 56 medals<\/a> won by the entire U.S. team.<\/p>\n

Unlike Woodruff and the other African-American medalists, though, two Jewish athletes on the U.S. team did not get a shot at winning any medals. Runners Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were benched at the last minute and replaced with Owens and Metcalfe in the men’s 4×100-meter relay.<\/p>\n

A similar move took place in 1932, when Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes became the first black women to qualify for the U.S. team but were later replaced with white runners.<\/p>\n

Pickett and Stokes were eager to finally compete four years later in Berlin. Pickett did run in the hurdles, but broke her foot during a semifinal race. Stokes was replaced again with a white teammate.<\/p>\n

“I think (Stokes) could’ve been the first black woman to bring home a gold medal for America,” says Deborah Riley Draper, who wrote, directed and produced a new documentary called Olympic Pride, American Prejudice.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The film includes another story of disappointment: African-American boxer Howell King, who was sent home from Berlin by the U.S. boxing team manager.<\/p>\n

Supposedly, the decision was because of “homesickness,” but Draper says King suspected the manager wanted to replace him with a white boxer.<\/p>\n

“Howell King himself said, ‘I didn’t quit! I took a 10-day boat to Berlin. Why would I quit and want to go all the way back to Detroit?'” Draper says.<\/p>\n

All of the African-American athletes at the 1936 Olympics should be remembered, Draper says, not just Owens.<\/p>\n

“It was easier to tell the story of one African-American because that’s an anomaly,” Draper says. “But 18, that’s a lot for Jim Crow newspapers to want to report on.”<\/p>\n

The 18 were called “The Black Eagles”<\/a> by The Pittsburgh Courier<\/em>, an influential African-American newspaper. In Berlin, they lived in the racially-integrated Olympic village, which was a high point many would never experience again.<\/p>\n

“They were Olympic athletes when they were on the medal stand,” Draper says. “When they came back home to a segregated America, they came back to being Negroes.”<\/p>\n

Some entered academia. Others held elected office.<\/p>\n

Many struggled to establish stable careers, including Robinson, the silver medalist. He once used his Olympic jacket to keep warm while working as a street sweeper.<\/p>\n

Still, according to University of Mississippi historian Charles Ross, all the athletes represented a generation of pioneers who chiseled away at stereotypes.<\/p>\n

“You have to have Jesse Owens and the other 17 African-Americans before you can have John Carlos, Ali, George Foreman,” Ross says.<\/p>\n

Ross says the 18 African-American Olympians of 1936 understood their dreams had to be limited. None of them were invited to the White House, or shook the hand of President Franklin Roosevelt.<\/p>\n

Months after Owens returned home, he told a crowd, “The president didn’t even send me a telegram.”<\/p>\n

Let’s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> (Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}