Jesse Owens at the Olympics
In 1933, Germany was given the ability to host the Summer and Winter Olympics in 1936. They were granted this right after Adolf Hitler came into power becoming the chancellor of Germany. Hitler first wanted to show the wealth and power of Germany by constructing a brand new stadium in Berlin and built an airport for the Olympic visitors. Hitler also wanted to use this as a chance to show off his regime. This also happened to be the first time that the Olympics would be televised and shown around the world, so the fact that Hitler was going to be in complete control of this massively popular event was scary to many countries. In the Olympics there are many different races, ethnicities, and cultures that participate and Hitler wanted this time to be able to show off his perfect race of people. He even hurt his country's chances of winning some events by not letting Jews practice in clubs and events.
Jesse Owens was an emerging black figure in the track and field and was on his way to be a star in the United States. He was a world record holder in high school and then set four more at the 1935 Big Ten Championships where he competed for Ohio State University. There were more African American stars of the track and field community like Ralph Metcalfe who was a silver medalist at the 1932 Olympics. When it came time for the 1936 Olympics there were many American decision makers that were wary of letting athletes compete because of Hitler’s beliefs. The athletes were allowed to compete nonetheless, and Owens say the chance to compete as a time to show globally that the United States was superior. Owens thought that if they did not compete that they would just be bowing down to Hitler and doing exactly what he wanted.
When the Olympics began it was apparent that Owens was motivated to be the best athlete he could be. Owens captured the gold medal in his first event and then in the long jump he took the victory over the German champion Luz Long. Then in the 200-meter dash, Owens set an Olympic record and then shattered the record on the United States 4x100 relay race. In doing this he became the first American to ever win four gold medals in one Olympic and that was not accomplished again until the 80s. Hitler refused to show any congratulations to any athletes on the first day but some reports say that Hitler saluted Owens from his box in the stands.
In Gaudium et Spes there is a lot of talk about community and the value of human life. In the Nazi beliefs there is no race that is equal to that of the Aryan and that goes completely against that idea of community and how we value the lives of others. There are always going to be people that are different from us and the fact is that you either accept it and get along with one another or we are not going to progress as a community. We have to look at one another as our equals because that is the only way that we can get anything done. When Hitler did not let Jews practice leading up to the Olympics he ensured that they would lose in some events because he could not accept that Jews were just as good of athletes as were his men if not better. In Gaudium it is said that we are all made in God's image but if you follow what Hitler preached, he said that the Aryan race was superior to all. That is not in agreement with what Gaudium said. Jesse Owens showed that not only a difference of religion but a difference of race and skin color did not make a difference in the mental and physical capabilities of a person. Owens made sure that he was going to compete and show an entire nation that the hate they believed in was wrong.
10 Things You May Not Know About Jesse Owens gives a good look at the life of Jesse Owens before, during, and after his historic Olympic domination.
I think growing up playing sports, most of us are familiar with Jesse Owens and his story. I find his story personally inspiring as he was in the major minority at the Olympics. He knew the world was watching and it did nothing but push him to be the best athlete possible. This idea of prejudgement stretches into other events in the 20th Century. I draw connections to my own blog post on the Rolling Thunder. In this protest, even though their cause was just, the outward appearance of bikers scared a lot of people and made the public not pay attention at first. However, with each year growing in numbers, the public would finally come to recognize the protest and issue at hand. But, it all started with one little incident. The actions of Jesse Owens or Ray Manzo started huge movements to make the world a more aware and inclusive place.
ReplyDeleteThe Jesse Owens’ story at the 1936 Olympics in Germany during the height of Nazi power is a unique one in history. Owens, being African American, had the unique ability to not make a protest in the way that is often discussed about in class. His protest was to show before a world stage his worth as a human being by showing off his God-given talent as truly gifted athlete. In addition to this, he was also able to show before the Nazi controlled Germany the ridiculous notion that if you are born with certain characteristics then you are somehow superior to those around you, in the case of their goal in achieving a master race of humans in their eyes or the Aryan race. Owens accomplishments made at the Olympics have been up for debate what transpired following them. Owens has maintained that Hitler did in fact congratulate him personally not with a personal salute as he had done for his German athletes, however Owens has stated that it was in fact FDR who did not congratulate the athlete. There is speculation to the authenticity of the claim being that Owens spoke on it well after the fact by about twenty years. However, if true it does truly help to shed a light on the unfortunate reality of our racial tendencies that existed during the time and would continue well onto the 1960's.
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