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How Did Jesse Owens Affect African Americans

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Jesse Owens was an African American track star in the 1930’s who competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. His name is one that American athletes know and respect, yet deserves a closer look. The career of Jesse Owens had a profound effect on American athletes and African Americans in the United States. In this paper, Jesse Owens’ life will be explored to show how he affected American athletes and African Americans. He is believed to be one of the outstanding track and field athletes who ever lived. James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens was born on September 12, 1913 in Alabama. He was the last of ten children. Due to racial discrimination, Alabama did not afford his family many opportunities. Therefore, his mother, Emma moved the family from Alabama to Cleveland. Also, his father worked as a farmer and could get a better job in the North as a factory worker to help support the family. When in Cleveland, his soon to be high school coach, Charles Riley, set up a 100-yard dash for him. Jesse ran the race in 11 seconds. Charles Riley said, “No kid should be running that fast.” (Schapp). The world record was 9.6 seconds and Jesse was only in 8th grade. Jesse would train with Charles Riley …show more content…

Jesse Owens had a great career at Ohio State. One memorable moment was the NCAA Championships. Jesse Owens competed in the 100-yard dash, 200-yard dash and the broad jump. Jesse Owens won all three of these events. Ohio State came in second place just behind USC. Jesse Owens was responsible for 40 of the 40.2 points that Ohio State had during the event. In December, Jesse Owens would be stripped of his athletic eligibility and could not compete in the spring games. Jesse failed his psychology course in the fall. The hardest part was breaking the news to Snyder. Snyder said it was actually a good thing allowing him to prepare more for the Olympics. Jesse’s remarkable talent would soon be

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