Black Athletes American Sports History - Essay Sample

The book, "The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism," is written by Howard Bryant. He is an African-American who has written other books and articles on issues that many people find controversial. He is NPR's sports correspondent for "Weekend Edition Saturday" and a senior writer for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Bryan, in his "The Heritage," discusses a sensitive topic that has a lot of significance to the history of American. This paper highlights and discusses various aspects of the book regarding the history of Black athletes in American sports and how they fight the already biased system. It also gives events and consequences to most of the issues that ensued.

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The term "Heritage" is used by the author to imply the tradition of sports stars of African-American descent using their high profiles and impact in the society to stand for social justice. This aspect has made some athletes, such as Paul Robeson, who started the Heritage, to pay a costly price, especially in the McCarthy/Jim Crow era, for taking their stands fearlessly and courageously. The Heritage reveals the agony and triumph of Robeson, giving the foundation for social justice warrior. Through the book, the author gives the vast and complex link between 1940s Robeson and Colin Kaepernick in the recent past. The latter made a sacrifice that cost him his career due to the abuse that black men face. Robeson's sacrifice was also extreme as his declining years saw him being put under 'house arrest' for being courageous enough to stand for his cause.

Bryant uses the experiences of these athletes to show the racial travails as they have been in America. He discusses different significant athletes who ensured that they stood up for civil rights in the 1970s and 60s. Most of these athletes would end up paying the price. Bryant, however, identifies the like of Michael Jordan and earlier O.J. Simpson, who arguably crimpled the legacy of power by coming with moves that were a bit different. That is, "from identifying with black issues to green ones.

Simpson opened up a world of financial possibilities to black athletes." Over time, the role of black athletes has long been seen to be at the pivotal point of fighting off the heritage of black people. Many things happen to justify that they are not allowed to be at the top without having to put a mark on their people's social history. For instance, Bryant writes that a 66-year-old woman of black heritage, Eleanor Bumpurs, was killed by the NYPD in 1984 just three days after Michael Jordan made his debut in the NBA. The woman had mental issues. At his position, there was little he could do to voice the atrocities. However, this would be different were he in a position of athleticism that he found himself a few years afterward.

However, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan led to more complications as they downplayed and did not as much identify with their blackness. For the most part, their lack of identifying with Black was seen as the most significant aspect of ascending to the top, given the kind of racial situation that the previous athletes had gone through. A lot of them would have had more significant roles to play in the history of sports, but they could not get the chance because of being black. White athletes of equally the same talents and capabilities had better chances of succeeding than their black counterparts. Bryant reveals that the systemic racism in American institutions seemed to have deeply infiltered the sports of America to a point where it would be difficult to think of any kind of liberation that would have happened anytime soon, especially in the 1990s. As Woods and Jordan downplayed their blackness, "there was no advantage to identifying with being black." These were top athletes that many people looked up to, and they would have monumental in rewriting the racial history of sport in America, but they did not.

According to Bryant, the professional sports organization shifted its focus to celebrate the police and military after 9/11. It seemed first to be cathartic, then turned to authoritarian, and later on proven to be focused and driven by profit-making. Bryan concludes that in the sports-military complex, there was a kind of patriotism that had been transformed into a white ideal. That is, it seemed not to have in any bit touched or saw the importance of blacks in the US. The whites were being celebrated for their ideal work in the whole ordeal, "patriotism has been turned into a white ideal." The writer provides a few insights and responses to the evolving players' views. Some of these athletes include LeBron James, "that being a politically active black athlete should no longer be considered a radical gesture but a commonplace one."

Bryant writes to an America that is divided regarding the matter and explains the history of how tough it has been for a lot of blacks. The opposition has always been felt against the heritage. Where for instance, President Donald Trump, on 17th September 2017, "engaged in a twenty-first-century version of McCarthyism by demanding that protestors receive the Robeson treatment. "Wouldn't you love to see one of those NFL owners, when somebody disrespects the flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field…?" Bryant writes about Trump, who has been in the mainstream in bashing the social and political justice that Black people need.

Bryant explains how the power structure that the White people have set up symbolism that has to provide the sports stars who are Black an inherently political and social justice cause and meaning by putting up Joe Louis, a Black boxer, to represent or be a paradigm of American value against Max Schmeling, his German opponent, who was the paradigm of "Nazi" values. Much as it can be seen, most of the things where blacks are involved, especially in the earlier sports history, it was not just about the sports, but it had wider representation far-beyond what only met the eyes.

Bryant reveals that many other athletes dared to take stand over time. "The Heritage" is inclusive of people like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown, and Mohammed Ali. However, he calls out three athletes, Woods, Jordan, and Simpson, who abandoned the cause for social and political justice. Instead, they opted for endorsement money. The void created by some rappers like Chuck D. in greenwashing vacuum is also mentioned in the book.

The "ESPSN the Magazine" senior writer writes on a relevant yet sensitive topic with so much passion. The topic that was at the time was embodied by different forms of protest across America, most of which were inspired by Colin Kaepernick. As the author has, for a long time, been a sports writer, he created an aspect to represent how African Americans wish to be treated in the wider culture of American society. He comes up with an intense narrative in history that illustrates his idea. In the book, Bryant analyzes how athletes such as Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis were faced with major issues of segregation in their respective times as pro-athletes. He writes, "The black athlete wanted to stick to sports," however, "It was white America that wouldn't let him."

The author controls that book's momentum and facts with so much confidence. He makes the ridicules and ironies that were made of black athletes evident while avoiding politicism. The history of black athletes and racism as it has been in America seems to be coupled with twists and happening that needed intervention from most of the pro-athletes who chose to be quiet and not take part in the plight that was facing most of the blacks.

The author notes that had the athletes over time have tried to make their impact and fight the issues that they faced, but there is more that they could do and ensure that the issues faced by the people of color would be a thing of the past. In most cases, when the pro and celebrated athletes reach a certain point of height in their careers and fame, they seemed to ignore what the blacks went through altogether. The author gives an appealing blend of representation and respect, success and races provocative discussion, and sports history in America.

Bibliography

Bryant, Howard. Shut Out: A Story Of Race And Baseball In Boston. Taylor And Francis, 2013.

Howard Bryant. The Heritage: Black Athletes, A Divided America, And The Politics Of Patriotism. Beacon Press, 2018.