Kenneth S Washington Essay

Gaston Campos

Blane Harding

Ethnic Studies 307

1 December 2016

Kenneth S. “Kingfish” Washington’s Impact

One of two black athletes to reintegrate the NFL in 1946: Kenneth S. Washington. Kenny Washington broke the 13-year ban of African American athletes in the National Professional League(NFL). An outstanding athlete from his youth made it possible for Black athletes to play professional football again. Before Washington, there had only been a handful of Black athletes in the NFL since it was established. Washington had to go through an abundant amount of adversity in order to reach the league and allow others of color to be able to play. his actions made it possible for African Americans to integrate into the league and set off a notion

Charles Follis, Paul Robeson, Duke Slater and Fritz Pollard had played professional football before that of Kenny Washington. Fritz Pollard was the star player for the Akron Pros, one of the NFL's charter franchises. He played eight seasons for the NFL, winning an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. However, Fritz Pollard was not the only black athlete to play in the NFL at the time, there were at least 13 other African-American players in the league between 1920 and 1933. One of which was Paul Robeson, who is considered to be one the most talented of any race to ever play the game. Nonetheless, it was Kenny’s persistence and football achievements that made him the face of the end of segregation by the NFL. In 1946, Kenny Washington reintegrated the National Football League. Washington, alongside Marion Motley and Bill Willis and former collegiate teammate Woody Strode helped break down the thirteen year barriers that existed for black athletes in professional

By signed Washington, they appeased the NFL’s deal in signing an African-American player to keep the coliseum's lease. Washington accepted the offer in abundance to also signing his former teammate Woody Strode. This ended the 13-year ban on black football athletes in the NFL which tried creating the false impression that pro football had always been a white game. This moment started the desegregation of African Americans in sports whether Washington had even realized it. What Washington had done gave a glimpse of hope that change was happening and soon others would be able to integrate into professional sports. Jackie Robinson that same year integrated into professional baseball, breaking the color barrier. The harassment Black players endured was horrendous but the impact they left on sports and society as a whole made the pain worth something. In the next decade, a scarce amount of African American athletes began to enter the professional