African Americans and Sports
athletic beauty queen
Expectation that female athletes will exhibit traits of normative femininity and sex appeal, generally for the pleasure and satisfaction of male spectators, downplaying the exhaustive and gender-binary breaking dimensions of sports. (Susan Cahn- 1993)
Reasons for Barring Integration in Sports
Physical contact, Disruption of racial hierarchy, Suggestions of racial equality, Lessening value of competitions, Outbreaks of violence, and Interracial sexual contact
Great Migration
the movement of 6 million African-Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban NE, MW, and West that occurred between 1916 and 1970.
Intersectionality
Theory that black women are not marginalized solely based on sex or race, but on both. (Developed in late 1980s by Kimberle Crenshaw). Later applied to other categories (class, sexuality, ability). Relates to the treatment that Black female athletes experienced with an additional amount of discrimination they faced due to their gender compared to black men
politics of respectability
refers to attempts by marginalized groups to police their own members and show their social values as being continuous and compatible with mainstream values rather than challenging the mainstream for what they see as its failure to accept difference.
spiking
the act of a baseball player intentionally using the spikes on their cleats in an attempt to hurt another player. This was commonly done to AA players by white players, specifically Jackie Robinson, throughout the beginning of baseball's integration.
Jackie Robinson
the first African-American to play in the MLB in the modern era when he broke the baseball color line when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was officially the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s.
"The Strenuous Life" (1899)
the name of a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in Chicago on April 10, 1899 where based off his personal experience, Roosevelt argued that strenuous effort and overcoming hardship were ideals to be embraced by Americans for the betterment of the nation and world in the 20th century.
Level playing field
An idea by integrationists that sports could be a vehicle for blacks to demonstrate their ability to contribute to American life.
advocacy Journalism
a genre of journalism that intentionally and transparently expresses a non-objective viewpoint, usually for a social or political purpose.
"race man"
A black man, especially one who (strongly) advocates the rights of black people; a supporter of black nationalism; examples are Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis
Jack Johnson
A boxer that started in the prize fighting world. was a "new Negro," he fought the world heavyweight champion Jeffries in 1910 and then became the first black world heavyweight champion. He wasn't afraid to speak up. He had a fancy lifestyle and showed it off, however he was portrayed as violent, animalistic. His first wife committed suicide, and they had domestic abuse problems. In 1912, he was arrested on fabricated charges of violating the Mann Act, forbidding one to transport a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes," a racially motivated charge that embroiled him in controversy for his relationships, including marriages, with white women.
"passing"
A light skinned black person who doesn't look black and can pass as white, Cuban, or other races to gain the privileges afforded said race. Many black baseball players passed as races other than black to get drafted onto teams (in relation to baseball).
fight films
A visual of individuals such as Jack Johnson fighting; controversy occurred when distribution was stopped as to not show black fighters winning fights
Pittsburgh Courier
Black newspaper that pushed for the Double Victory campaign and for the desegregation of baseball (through reporter Wendell Smith)
Double Victory campaign
Campaign among African-Americans (through the Pittsburgh Courier) for a victory not only against our Axis enemies in World War, but against our "enemies within" prejudice
"Caucasians only" clause
Clauses that prohibited black athletes and other athletes of color from participating in certain sporting leagues. For example, the Professional Golfer's Association and Major League Baseball at some point both had them.
Beauty Health
Concept that prioritized conventional expectations of grace and beauty over athletic competition and vigorous exercise for black female athletes. (Coined by Maryrose Reeves Allen in 1930s, PE for women at Howard University)
Propaganda
Example: the Negro Soldier. Using famous black athletes to sway black americans into supporting the government or the war.
Fritz Pollard
First black football player at Brown University. Also the first African American head coach in the NFL and he was one of the first two AA players in the NFL in 1920.
Jim Jeffries
He is perhaps most famous for being America's "Great White Hope", since the nation expected him to come out of his retirement to beat the African-American boxer Jack Johnson, who was at the time the Heavyweight Champion. His fight with Johnson (which he lost) in 1910 has been dubbed the "fight of the century."
Gentleman's agreement
In the 1920s, as more blacks began appearing on Northern teams, an effective agreement had been forged. Northern colleges assented to hold black athletes out of all games with Southern schools. In baseball, gentleman's agreement, meaning a tacit understanding, as there was no written policy at the highest level of organized baseball, the major leagues. But a high minor league's vote in 1887 against allowing new contracts with black players within its league sent a powerful signal that eventually led to the disappearance of blacks from the sport's other minor leagues later that century, including the low minors. It occurred in College Football too.
Negro League baseball
Leagues established for black players, who were excluded from Major League Baseball. Had several pros and cons. Pros included giving black athletes the opportunity to compete, contributing to black owned businesses, and establishing camaraderie among African-American communities. Cons included the fact that records were rarely kept, inconsistent competition, and the discrimination and players faced.
de jure segregation
Legal segregation of groups by race or gender. In the context of African-Americans in sports, this affected their ability to play on interracial sports teams and with certain leagues. It also affected every aspect of their personal and professional lives because it controlled essentially everywhere they could go.
Clowning
Like the Harlem Globetrotters; they're professional black athletes but they're more of a comedic thing and their athletic accomplishments aren't as serious. Negro League baseball players' on-field antics also perpetuated this stereotype.
organized baseball
MLB considered organized, and other leagues considered unorganized
"Rabbles"
Mid-game gatherings on the fields during athletic competitions between black colleges. Students would dress in some of their nicest clothes and party on the field at half times or breaks as an escape for the often regimented lives they lived at those colleges.
Branch Rickey
Owner of the Dodgers, wanted to integrate baseball on his terms, to further the broader social aspects of integration.
de facto segregation
Segregation that occurred not by legal requirement, such as neighborhoods that were predominantly black.
"drawing the color line"
The operation of racial segregation and continuously widening the divide between whites and Blacks
"Great White Hopes"
When Johnson was on his boxing hot streak during his heavyweight title run, the press and racists were in search of a white person a boxer who would defeat Johnson for the heavyweight title.
Max Schmeling
a German boxer was a heavyweight champion between 1930 and 1932. He had two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 which were worldwide cultural events because of their national associations. He was viewed as a "Nazi puppet." In 1936, he knocked out Louis, placing him as the number one contender for the heavyweight title, but Louis got the fight and won the championship in 1937. He finally got a chance to regain his title in 1938, but Louis knocked him out in one round.
National Origins Formula/Emergency Quota Act (1924)
a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people already living in the United States.
muscular assimilation
a belief that suggests that the achievements made by black athletes translate to other tasks and responsibilities and thus demonstrate the readiness of African Americans for full participation in the social, economic and political life of the nation
The Rising Tide of Color against White World Supremacy
a book about geopolitics and racial theory, which predicts the collapse of white world empire and colonist because of population growth of people who are not the white race, rising nationalism in colonized nations, and industrialization in China and Japan. By eugenicist and Klansman Lothrop Stoddard
The Passing of the Great Race
a book about scientific racism by Eugenicist Madison Grant about racial hygiene detailing the racial history of the world, drawing on scientific theories of genetics and Darwinism.
"the Negro problem"
a collection of seven essays by prominent Black American writers, such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and edited by Booker T. Washington, published in 1903, covering topics such as law, education disenfranchisement, and Black American's place in American society. Du Bois describes it as the desire to "make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American" because even though African Americans are born in the United States, they were not fully American because they were unable to exercise many of the most basic rights enjoyed by white Americans and their cultural existence was not valued or considered a part of an "American" culture.
neurasthenia
a condition associated with headaches, muscle pain, weight loss, anxiety, and sleeplessness. Roosevelt's idea of the "strenuous life" was thought of as a cure to this.
"The Negro Soldier"
a documentary created by the United States army during WWII as a form of propaganda to convince Black Americans to enlist in the army and fight in the war.
United Golfers' Association (UGA)
a group of African American professional golfers who operated a separate series of professional golf tournaments for Blacks during the era of racial segregation in the United States. The Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) had an article in its bylaws stating that it was "for members of the Caucasian race." Once this bylaw was repealed in the early 1960s and Black golfers were allowed to enter the PGA, this Association ceased to exist.
New York Athletic Club (NYAC)
a private social and athletic club founded in 1868 in New York City. Membership is invitational only. The club was once all male and a NYC law passed in 1984, requiring "the admission of women to large, private clubs that play an important role in business and professional life. There were also claims that the club discriminated against blacks and Jews. n the late 1960s, The Olympic Project for Human Rights convinced black athletes to boycott events held at the NYAC on the grounds that the club excluded Blacks and Jews from membership.
Country clubs
a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship. Beginning in the 1960s civil right lawsuits forced clubs to drop exclusionary policies, but de facto discrimination still occurs in cases until protest or legal remedies are brought to bear.
fair play
a respect for the rules and regulations and that there is equal treatment amongst all the players
invitationals
a tournament or sporting event format designed against allowing black people to participate. So you invited only certain people to play in your golf/tennis etc tournament and they all just "happened" to be white
Bud Fowler
an African American baseball player, field manager, and club organizer who was known as first AA player in organized professional baseball. Played from 1872-1897.
Wendell Smith
an African American sportswriter who was very influential in the choice of Jackie Robinson to become the first AA player in the MLB. Smith is credited with recommending Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers GM, Branch Rickey, who was searching for the individual with strong character to successfully execute the integration of baseball.
Paul Robeson
an American bass baritone singer and actor who was also a football player at Rutgers college. He was the third AA student every enrolled at Rutgers and was highly recognized for his athletic, academic, and singing talents.
Betsy Graves Reyneau
an American painter, best known for a series of portraits of prominent African Americans. She depicted blacks in a respectful and accurate way. Many of her paintings depicted the person doing what they were known for. Paintings of Mary McLeod Bethune, George Washington Carver, Joe Louis, and Thurgood Marshall were among her sitters.
Joe Louis
an American professional boxer who was the reigning world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1951 and is considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. His cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor's exemption in a PGA event in 1952. He was the focus of a media recruitment campaign encouraging African American men to enlist in the Armed Services, despite the military's racial segregation.
Primo Carnera
an Italian boxer and World Heavyweight champion from 1933-1934. He was also knocked out by Joe Louis in 6 rounds on June 25, 1935.
Carter G. Woodson
founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Also a founder of The Journal of Negro History in 1916. Cited as "the father of black history."
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Right Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African American community. This was because the overwhelming majority of predominantly white institutions of higher-learning disqualified African Americans from enrollment during segregation.
Jess Willard
known for the man who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title in the 26th round, in Havana, Cuba. Johnson was out of shape and began to decline in the later rounds where this person used his insane strength and endurance to outlast and ultimately knock Johnson out.
Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)
the oldest African American athletic conference in the United States; African American colleges began organizing athletic teams in the late 1800s. The first teams were informal and organized by students, but they soon became more structured and were run by black colleges and bureaucratic organizations. Spurred by segregation in collegiate athletics, it was formed to help organize athletic competitions between African American colleges. Exceptional baseball players in this league played with the professional Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues while still in college, and some went on to careers in professional African American leagues after graduation.
American Tennis Association (ATA)
the oldest African American sports organization in the United States. In response to the USTA bans on black players in their tournaments, a group of African-American businessmen, college professors, and physicians founded this organization in Washington D.C. on November 30, 1916. Their initial mission statement began to build the infrastructure for black tennis tournaments, to unite black players and fans, and promote the game within African-American communities. Did not exclude non African-Americans.
Scientific Racism
the pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racial discrimination, inferiority, or superiority. It employs anthropology in supporting the classification of human populations into physically discrete human races, that might be asserted to be superior or inferior.
Barnstorming
traveling around regions putting on exhibition matches in sports. (like the black baseball players of the negro leagues, competing against other teams, opportunities for them to travel out and exhibit their skills.)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1896. It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".
The Negro in Sports (1939, rev. 1949)
written by Edwin B. Henderson, this book (both editions) is about the advancement of negro athletes in sports, which was especially appreciated by negro soldier athletes. It was about the ending of the reign of Joe Louis, the coming of Jackie Robinson and the other brilliant negro athletes across America
Edwin Bancroft Henderson
wrote "Negro Girls in Sports" and "The Negro in Sports." He was also known as the "Father of Black Basketball" and introduced basketball to African Americans in Washington DC in 1904 and was DC's first male AA PE teacher (possibly first the country).
