The Early African American Athlete

The lives and stories of Oscar Robertson, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Joe Louis by no means would be considered ordinary. They defeated the predjudice of the society in which they lived in order to achieve greatness. They worked hard to gain acceptance in a world that did not judge them by their achievements but instead by the color of their skin. Never the less they cracked the social vault of acceptance and gave young African American children and a divided nation hope that with hard work anyone can do anything. All four men lived during a different era, and had to fight different obstacles dealing with the types of discrimination they faced. But what makes them similar is their desire to overcome these obstacles in order to change the world, one step, shot, jab, and hit at a time. Their stories can not be foregotten, their existense will forever serve as a lasting memory of a racist history they helped rewrite. With their efforts and others our society has come so far to fight against racism, yet we have so much further to go. But at the time they played Oscar, Jesse, Jackie, and Joe and other African Americans were starting to move on up.