Kelly Umutoni

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN SPORTS

• Sports wasn’t only viewed as entertainment or just exercise; for some people; sports was a component of freedom.• It was used as a physical way by African Americans to show

the whites wrong when they were silenced• They set the people’s mind for change; as Dr. King said.• Sports also played a role shaping the way white America

accepted them as more than three-fifths of a human• African American athletes paved the way of the others.

Willie O’Ree

• He was born October 15, 1935, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada • First black players in the NHL. • Hockey was one of the whitest sports at that

time; he only came in after 50 years after it had started.• The white population did not like him, so he did

not get a lot of publicity.• He played for the Boston Bruins but only for two

seasons, he didn’t really understand the reason they sold him for.

• He only played one season in the NHL, and that year was punctuated by constant fighting, cheap shots, and racial slurs by the other players from the opposing team.• One night in 1961, at the Madison Square Garden in New

York City, O’Ree crashed hard into the end boards and the wire mesh between the ice and the fans gave away. O’Ree was pulled into an angry, drunken mob. He was rescued by his teammates.• He never received on honor from the NHL. But he opened

the door for other black people in the NHL, and the other black went in 25 years after him.• He broke the barriers of color and paved the way for other

players.

Jesse Owens( James Cleveland Owens)• He won four gold medals in 1936 Olympic games in

Berlin.• In 45 minutes he set three world record, and tied one

in track and field.• His accomplishments had a significant social and

cultural impact because he proved that race had nothing to do with personal excellence.• He remains the best remembered Olympic athlete

because he did what no one had ever done before him; in a time when there was a lot of segregation.• He not only discredited Hitler's master race theory

on Aryan race, but he also showed everyone could excel regardless the race.

Joe Louis( Joseph Louis Barrow)

• He was born on September 12, 1913 in a country-field near Lafayette, Alabama• He fought under the name of Joe Louis so his

mother won’t find out, but she later found out.• Louis was a heavy weight champion for 12

years.

• He beat Schmeling in front of 7000 fans at the Yankee stadium• He later enlisted in the army. He would

fight for entertainment or raise money for the army.• He was the proof that white and black

could coexist.• He lost all his money after retiring.

Muhammad Ali• He was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, on January 17,

1942 but he latter on changed his name To Muhammad Ali when he converted to Muslim.• When he was 12, his new bicycle got stolen, so Ali

decided to learn boxing.• He was a Golden Glove Champion at the age of 17,

an Olympic gold medal at the age of 18 and an undefeated heavyweight champion at the age of 22.

• His career began with the victory over Tunney Hunsaker on October 29, 1969 and ended in 1981 with a loss against Trevor Berbick. He went 56-5, with 37 knockouts and he was able to avenge 3 of his losses.• He became an outspoken commentator on civil

rights and race relations.• He converted to Islam and refused to get into the

military created a large controversy of his life, and he was removed off the heavyweight champion title. But it only made him stronger and more determined.

• He was drafted into the Vietnam War, but he refused saying the since they had been denied the civil rights in America they wouldn’t fight to protest those missing rights in another country. For This he was fined 10000 dollars and sentenced to five years in prison.• One of his most famous quotes was: “Float like a

butterfly, sting like a bee, I am the greatest, Muhammad Ali.” • These words were needed for the other African

Americans to hear from another Black without fear.

Arthur Ashe(Arthur Robert Ashe)

• Born in Richmond, Virginia on July 10,1943• His mother died when he was young, so he was

raised by his father who worked as a caretaker in a park named Brook Field.• So he grew up with four tennis courts, a pool and

three baseball diamonds near him.• He was taught tennis by R. Walter Johnson, and he

used military methods to teach tennis and codes such as sharp appearance and “no cheating at any time”

• He was the USLTA amateur champion and won the first U.S Open Tennis Championship at Forrest Hills. • He was the first African American to reach the South

African Open finals In Johannesburg, and he was the first and only African American player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.• After retiring from competition due to his health

condition, he served as captain of the U.S Davis Cup team• Ashe was elected to the UCLA Hall of Fame, the

Virginia Hall of Fame, and the Eastern Tennis Association Hall of Fame

• He protested against the Apartheid in South Africa, and he called for higher educational standards for all athletes.• He went beyond sports and took stands on political and

social issues.• Ashe had AIDS. But it did not stop him from doing what he

was supposed to do. He fought it.• He impacted the Society and up to now by his foundations:

The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, The Safe Passage Foundation, The Arthur Ashe Foundation and an endowment for AIDS research.

• He co-founded the National Junior Tennis League in 1969 to help the inner city kids a new game, and that is where future champions like James Blake and the Williams sisters.• The way Ashe carried himself and the integrity he competed

with made a difference in the way white tennis players and fans viewed back players.• He wasn’t afraid to take public stands and that is what made

the difference.

Work Cited• www.jesseowens.com/about/

• https://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story/page?=jackson/100224

• http://www.biography.com/people/althea-gibson-9310580

• http://www.biography.com/people/jackie-joyner-kersee-9358710

• http://www.biography.com/people/groups/athletes/african-american/

• http://missioncreep.com/mw/oree.html

• http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3081-sports-moments-in-black-history

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/fight/peopleevents/p_schmeling.html