Jesse Owens Research Paper

Not many can say that they have stood up to their oppressors and won. Jesse Owens an African American marked history, by going to the Olympic Games even though Hitler had previously banned any person of his race to compete. Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals and showed the world what determination and devotion really meant. Jesse Owens stated “We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination dedication, self-discipline and effort.” No matter what society believes or assumes, we should always follow our own dreams and battle our own demons, in order to accomplish true success.

James Owens was born September 12, 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, to Henry Cleveland Owens and Mary Emma Fitzgerald. James

Hitler was upset that an African American beat an Aryan. He had a mindset that Aryans were the best and the only race that should be alive. For example, Hitler started to kill all Jews, due to the fact that he blamed them for Germany’s failure. Racism played an enormous role in this photo becoming iconic. This is one of the many times the issue of racism has been addressed. In addition to Adolf Hitler's racism, Jesse was greeted with racism at home as well by the then President of The United States of America Franklin D. Roosevelt. Usually when Olympic Gold Medalist comes home to The United States they are supposed to meet the President and be congratulated by him. Making President Franklin seem racist and ungrateful to the African Americans, who brought fame and success to the United States. On the contrary, President Franklin decided to ignore the fact that Jesse Owens was a gold medalist and failed to meet up with him. Jesse states “When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus," he said. "I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the president, either." In this quote Jesse explains how he isn’t surprised that he wasn’t properly recognized. It was not until 1976 when the then President of The United

Not soon after competing in the 1936 Olympic Games, Jesse retired from competitions and discovered that he could make money with his physical talents. He fell in love with public relations and marketing, and he built a business for himself in Chicago, Illinois, where he essentially passed his final days there with his three daughters and his wife Ruth Owens. He made a big difference in this world, and inspired many to always follow their dreams. He made it his life’s work to try and change the world around him by traveling around the world to give speeches, and creating and organization called The Jesse Owens Foundation; whose goal is to help the youth achieve their full