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Running Against Racism: Jesse Owen's Journey Of Resilience In Race

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Running Against Racism: Jesse Owen’s Journey of Resilience in Race Taylor Wilson Northwest College ENGL 1010 Professor Potas March 4, 2024 Running Against Racism: Jesse Owen’s Journey of Resilience in Race The film Race is about the African American track and field athlete Jesse Owens and his journey to become the fastest man alive. It starts with Owens leaving for college at Ohio State, where he meets the track and field coach, Larry Snyder. He faces discrimination and prejudice, but is still determined to pursue his passion for track and field. Owens finished his collegiate career with eight NCAA championships, setting five world records, and tying a sixth. After some controversy about whether America will send athletes to the 1936 Berlin …show more content…

After the United States decided to send athletes to the 1936 Olympic Games, African Americans still had to make the decision for themselves. The Holocaust Encyclopedia states, “They [African Americans] already faced racism at home and now they had to decide whether to represent the United States in Germany, a country dominated by a racist dictatorship” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2020, Introduction). This shows the influence racism has on the personal and professional decisions of African American athletes. J. W. Wilson argues, “Social scientific analyses of racism often focus on structural barriers or how institutions are arranged in ways that result in oppression of people of color” (Wilson, pg 161). There were many challenges and barriers African American athletes had to overcome to be able to compete. Not only was there racism in the United States toward African American athletes, but Germany was also racially hostile toward African Americans. Jesse Owen’s journey was not easy. Despite the racism and challenges faced by African American athletes during the 1936 Olympic Games, Owens showed remarkable resilience and determination, as seen in

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The 1936 Berlin Olympics is the most infamous sporting event in history. It was widely thought that Hitler and the Nazis would use this event as propaganda. “Jesse entered the 1936 Olympics, which were held in Nazi Germany amidst the belief by Hitler that the Games would support his belief that the German ‘Aryan’ people were the dominant race” (“Biography”). Despite this knowledge, the United States chose to participate in the Olympics. One of the most famous athletes of the Olympics was Jesse Owens.

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