Racism and American Sports from Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement

By Snotti Prince St. Cyr

What do we know about sports and athletic competition in Colonial America and the American South? How did they develop? Slaveowners used games and sports to reduce rebellion—giving

outlets to take out anger, hostility Frederick Douglass opposed owners’ manipulating slaves via sports,

not sports itself; kept blacks “semi-civilized” American sports culture a combination of sub-Saharan, non-Muslim

African customs and plantation landscape; synchronizing different religious beliefs and traditions translated into sports

African tribes’ rituals: wrestling, hunting, running, rudimentary ball sports with sticks, and jumping/high-jumping were symbolic of phasing into adulthood to show masculine prowess

African slaves were used as jockeys for quarter-mile racing, after tending to horses during Revolutionary War

American sports: Besides quarter-mile racing, boxing, wresting, running, and “Town Ball” (precursor to baseball, originated in MA area)

Sports in Colonial America and the South (cont.) Sports were forms of entertainment for slave masters as slaves

from neighboring plantations compete against each other Best performers gained notoriety and social status;

involvement in SOME FORM of communal activity raised pride, self-efficacy

Slave children played sometimes alongside white children, may form life-long friendships despite overseers’ disapproval

“Caste system” between black and white kids where older blacks were subservient to whites’ main/leading roles

Black kids more careful to avoid “combative” sports like boxing and wrestling as often as others (e.g. marbles)

Both hunting and running served not only for survival, but also the few times joy, curiosity were experienced in slave populace (coping mechanism for malnutrition and starvation)

Tom Molineaux and Symbolism in Sports Former Virginia slave who fought Englishman

Tom Cribb in first “Fight of the Century” Trained by former American slave Bill Richmond Molineaux thought he won, but Cribb’s corner

accused him of cheating; Cribb eventually won and also won rematch

Major theme 1: the black man’s primitivism and suspect character vs. the white man’s effort to preserve, if not improve, civilization

Major theme 2: Sports as a way out, improving one’s station in life; gaining popularity and experiences impossible without sports

Overall impact: emergence of Pierce Egan, one of first modern sports journalists; Molineaux not covered in America because he was former slave; asking about role(s) that sports play in nations and communities

Quarter-Mile Racing and the “Jockey Syndrome”

Slave-horse relationships developed during Revolutionary War and during slavery

Security issues first raised because all slaves needed a “pass” to go anywhere or be captured; slaves not trusted away from plantation

Legendary African-American jockeys emerged

Other Notable pre-Civil Rights Sports IssuesSportsmen and Sportswomen

Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, and Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)

Jesse Owens Moses Fleetwood Walker Jack Johnson Paul Robeson Althea Gibson Babe D. Zaharias Joe Louis Major Taylor Wilma Rudolph, TSU

Tiger Belles

Events, Institutions, & Court Cases Plessy v. Ferguson

(SCOTUS, 1890) Formation of NCAA, NFL,

YMCA, and YWCA Harlem Renaissance Jim Crow laws World Wars I and II “Muscular Christianity” The Negro National League

League (aka Negro Leagues)

Federal Baseball vs. National League (SCOTUS, 1922)

Great Migration and 2nd Great Migration

Sports, Racism, and the Civil Rights Movement’s Impact

Superstars in Boxing Joe Lewis beats

German Max Schleming to become world heavyweight champion

Floyd Patterson to “Sonny” Liston to Muhammad Ali—they fight each other for heavyweight titles in late 1950’s and 1960’s

Ali joins Nation of Islam; SCOTUS finds him a “conscientious objector” to Vietnam War

The Emergence of Bill Russell

Dominated at University of San Francisco, leading Dons to two NCAA Men’s Titles (1955-56)

11 NBA Titles in 13 seasons as player and, in 1969, as player-coach for Boston Celtics

Curt Flood and Black Athletes’ Struggles with Ownership of Talents

Loses lawsuit against Major League Baseball after refusing trade from St. Louis Cardinals to Philadelphia Phillies

Challenged MLB’s “reverse clause” in context of antitrust law (Flood v. Kuhn)

Opened the door for free agency in 1975 (Messersmith-McNally ruling)

Became an alcoholic, then died of throat cancer at age 59

Grambling vs. Morgan State football at Yankees Stadium The inaugural HBCU Classic 7 Grambling, 3 Morgan St. players chosen in

1959 NFL Draft Until 1948, NFL ignored HBCU players

Contemporary Issues involving Sports and Racism “Racial stacking”—placing athletes in certain positions based on stereotypes

NCAA and the Academic Progress Index

“Muscular Christianity” “Code of the Streets” Using specific words to describe athletes of white or black origins