How Did Joe Louis Impact Society

Of the hundreds of boxers to have been a world champion at some point, none have held the title as long as Joe Louis did. For 11 years and 8 months, Louis, a black man, was king of the boxing heavyweight division. During that time he beat a Nazi, enlisted in the army, and did everything he possibly could to familiarize white America with black boxers. During his career, Joe Louis used his boxing prowess and earned wealth to fight against the segregation and racism he experienced, leading him to have one of the greatest boxing careers of all time and to pioneer a pathway for the careers of other black athletes like Jackie Robinson and Muhammed Ali. As a boxer of the 1930s and 1940s, the racism Louis experienced day-in and day-out impacted all

In beating Schmeling, he familiarized the white American public with having a black hero. Of course, he was already the most loved athlete of his time for black Americans, but by placing Louis as the only fighting hope against Nazi supremacy, many white Americans accepted him. John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro cited historian Thomas Hauser in their article about Louis’ win over Schemling when stating, “[This] was the first time that many white Americans openly rooted for a black man against a white opponent. It was also the first time that many people heard a black man referred to simply as ‘the American.’” Additionally, while Louis may have been called an obedient “Uncle Tom” by later figures like Muhammed Ali, Louis was the reason why many black athletes had careers in integrated sports. Take Jackie Robinson for example. While Louis was serving in the army he noticed that a young black man was being ridiculed by his officer, and convinced the officer to let the kid off the hook. That kid was Jackie Robinson, the baseball player who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and who also credited Louis for inspiring him as he grew up. Louis went to places no black athlete had gone before, and inspired countless of black Americans to succeed and break barriers like he