Glory Bound

Download or read book Glory Bound written by David K. Wiggins and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 1997-04-01 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African American athletes have experienced a tumultuous relationship with mainstream white America. Glory Bound brings together for the first time eleven essays that explore this complex topic. In his writings, well-known sports scholar David K. Wiggins recounts the struggle of black athletes to participate fully in sports while maintaining their own cultural identity and pride. Wiggins examines the seminal moments that defined and changed the black athlete's role in white America from the nineteenth century to the present: the personal crusade of Wendell Smith to promote black participation in organized baseball, the triumph of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics and the proposed boycott of the Games, and the response of America's black press and community. Glory Bound demonstrates how the civil rights movement changed the face of American athletics and society forever. With the genesis of the black power movement in sport, Wiggins notes a significant shift in black—and white—America's attention to the African American athlete.