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A sharecropper and the Nazis
By admin | May 16, 2008
“I always loved running - it was something you could do by yourself and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.” Jesse Owens
Back in the early 1900’s in rural Alabama, a black person was most likely a sharecropper. Although slavery had been abolished, the life of a black sharecropper was not that much different than that of his parents and grandparents who lived prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Long days with hard work in the blistering sun…sun up till sundown was the way of life, and although they were technically free, the civil rights movement and the chance of equal opportunity was something that would not be a reality until another 50 or 60 years has passed.
It was in this environment that James “JC”( who later became to known as “Jesse”) Owens was born on September 12, 1913. What follows is the story of a true American hero. America has lots of heroes. Many of the more well known heroes are soldiers to whom we all owe our freedom, but sometimes heroes are not associated with the military. Sometimes heroes are musicians, doctors, nurses….and in the case of JC Owens, sportsmen.
When James was a young man, he loved to run. He said “it was something you could do by yourself, under your own power…you could go any direction, fast or slow as you wanted…seeking new sights.” Considering his grandfather was a slave, it is likely running became a metaphor for freedom, something the he and other young black people would fight for in the coming generations.
Jesse’s sister moved to Ohio, and found there was lots more opportunity there, so it wasn’t long after that that the whole family moved there. In was on his first day of school that he got the nickname “Jesse.”. The teacher asked him his name, and he replied “JC”. With his thick rural southern accent, the teacher thought he said “Jesse”, and the name stuck.
Jesse caught the attention of his gym teacher, coach Riley. Riley was amazed at Jesse’s speed, and invited him to join the gym team. He was quite a sensation at high school, and began to excel in hurdles, high jump, and long jump. East Technical School in Cleveland Ohio had an amazing athlete, and it became clear that Jesse was not an ordinary athlete, but one that could compete in a world class setting. He went to Ohio State where sadly he had to live off campus with other African American Athletes. Segregation and downright discrimination was common back then, even in northern states that had fought to free black people from slavery. Despite his amazing athletic abilities, he did not receive a scholarship. He worked while attending college to pay his tuition.
As Jesse was adjusting to college life and continuing to be a local star in athletics, a sinister political force was in motion across the ocean in Europe. At the time Jesse probably gave it little thought, but he would soon come face to face with a new form of hatred and bigotry, something that even he as a young black boy in Alabama had not seen: The rise of the Nazis under Adolph Hitler.
Most Americans think of Hitler and the Nazi party in relation to WWII. The USA entered the war in 1941 and provided a key force to help European countries defeat Hitler’s army. But the Nazi party was actually elected in Germany in 1932. The Party’s roots went back to 1918, and was born from the Thule Party, who had as its goal to eliminate “contamination” from the human race, and the Jewish people were prime targets. In the early 1930’s, Germany was in a period of severe economic depression, and the Nazi Party promised radical changes to bring relief to working people. Adolph Hitler was chosen to lead this party, and he used racism and bigotry to unite the German people. He began a systematic extermination of Jewish people starting with a denial of rights, citizenship, captivity and enslavement, torture and execution. It became know as the holocaust, one of the darkest periods in 20th century Europe.
After Hitler came to power, but before WW2 broke out in full force, the Olympics were to be held in Germany in 1936. And here is where Jesse Owens enters center stage. He was part of USA’s Olympic team who came to Germany to compete in the 1936 German Olympics, dubbed “Hitler’s Olympics” by party loyalist. Jesse would compete against none other than Adolph Hitler’s chosen prize athletes
Needless to say, Nazi Germany did not roll out the welcome wagon for this black athlete. The Newspapers insulted him, and he was considered unfit to be in the same arena as those Hitler has chosen for his “master race” representatives. When Jesse ran his first race breaking the record, the Germans refused to give him the record stating “he was aided by the wind…”
But Jesse persevered, and he and other great black and Jewish athletes proved Hitler wrong. Jesse won four gold medals at that Olympics, in the 100-meters sprint, the 200-meter sprint, the long jump and the 400-meter relay, setting two Olympic records and one world record. He was the first American athlete to win 4 gold Olympic Medals in one day. His long jump record would last for 25 years. The son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave had shown that hard work, talent and determination made champions.
The German spectators gave Owens a standing ovation. German boys and girls wanted his autograph.
And at the competition’s end, Hitler saluted Jesse.
So you see, long before the Allies defeated Hitler militarily, Jesse had already won a major battle in a war against Hitler and the dark forces of fascism, hatred, racism, and bigotry. With the eyes of the world watching, A young black runner from a small Alabama town discredited Hitler and all he represented.