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SPORTS COLUMN

Black athletes: Tearing down color barriers

BY JOHNATHON CALLUM

Guest Writer

Most people think of Jackie Robinson when they think about the desegregation of sports. Robinson is famously known for being the first African American to play major league baseball in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, other pioneers, who are sometimes forgotten, came before and after him.

A few of these legendary people include Moses “Fleet” Fleetwood Walker, Joe Gans, John Baxter Taylor, Fritz Pollard, Jesse Owens, Alice Coachman, Althea Gibson, Ernie Davis, Willie O’Ree, Charlie Sifford and Arthur Ashe.

“Fleet” Walker is acknowledged by historians as actually being the first African American to play in the major leagues in 1884. He was a catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings. Walker also played in the minor leagues until 1889, when a color barrier was enforced and not broken again until Robinson’s debut in 1947.

Joe Gans was the first African American sports champion in 1902. He won the world Lightweight boxing title after beating defending champion Frank Erne with a knockout in the first round.

John Baxter Taylor was an American track and field athlete and the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in 1908.

Fritz Pollard was the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl in 1916 and one of the first African Americans to play and coach in the NFL in 1920. He also organized the Chicago Black Hawks, an all-African American professional team in 1928.

Jesse Owens is known for disproving Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 by winning four gold medals and breaking five world records.

Alice Coachman was the first African American woman to earn an Olympic gold medal after winning the high jump event in the 1948 Olympics.

Althea Gibson was the first African American tennis player to win the Wimbledon in 1957 and the U.S Open in 1958. She is most known for breaking color barriers in tennis, but was also the first Black woman to join the LPGA.

Ernie Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman trophy in 1961. This was a pivotal moment in the history of sports because it was the first time an African American had been publicly acknowledged as the best player in a sport.

Willie O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barriers in 1958 when he signed with the Boston Bruins.

Charlie Sifford was the first African American golfer to join the PGA Tour in 1961 after they removed their “Caucasian-only” membership clause. He went on to win the Greater Hartford Open, the Los Angeles Open and PGA Seniors’ Championship.

Arthur Ashe was the first and only African American to win major tennis titles like the U.S. Open in 1968, the Australian Open, and the men’s singles at Wimbledon.

These African American athletes and others during their time faced stereotypes of who they were. They not only had to understand the weight of their actions and power in their voice as an athlete in society, but also the hope, inspiration and respect they held because of those who came before them.

The mental, emotional and physical pain those players dealt with can never be completely comprehended. There were times they could not sleep in the same hotel, eat, or travel with their teammates.

They also had teammates that loathed the idea of being on the same team with an African American person. Threats to them and to their families’s lives and the pure dehumanization they endured is unfathomable.

A quote from Robinson provides us with a small glimpse of the anguish, adversity and dehumanization African Americans faced while trying to desegregate sports.

“I’m not concerned with you liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”