Jesse Owens: He Belongs in the Hall of Fame
Jesse Owens was the first African American to hold world records for track and field. When large organizations such as the NAACP advised him not to go to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin due to discrimination against minorities, he went anyway to stand up for black athletes who were always seen as inferior. Jesse Owens deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame because of his achievements at the Olympics and his brave actions to risk his life to show support to other African Americans who had experienced racial discrimination in sports.
Jesse Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in Oakland, Alabama. He was born the son of a sharecropper, and the grandson of enslaved people. By the young age of 7, Owens was working with his family, picking cotton, to help supply his family with food. In 1922, when Owens was 9 years old, his family was
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He overcame many racial stereotypes by going to the Olympics and becoming the first African American track star. Before Owens went to the Olympics, many large organizations such as the AAU and NAACP suggested not competing and boycotting it. They said this because it was opened by Adolf Hitler, and they didn't want anything bad to happen to Owens from Hitler’s controversial beliefs. Jesse Owens decided that he would compete anyways. He wanted to stand up for athletes who had been denied the opportunity to participate in sporting events previously due to their skin color. When others found out his reasoning for competing in the games anyways, nearly 20 other African American athletes joined him. When Owens won his 4 gold medals, neither President Roosevelt nor Hitler shook his hand, but he didn't take it too hard, which is one reason why he had an effect on American society. Jesse Owens had an influence on the future of track and field, encouraging people in his community and American society that they can do just as much as anyone