Athletes had a
significant effect on Americans during the Great Depression. Babe Ruth, for
example, was admired for his “crude egalitarianism” when requesting a larger
salary than President Hoover in 1930 [1]. Ruth was among one
of the country’s most well known athletes: considered an American hero who was
portrayed as the American success dream [2,3]. Among others,
boxer Joe Louis, also known as the “race man,” was an icon of the New Negro,
which focused on African American’s racial advancement [4].
With Louis’s victory over ex-champion Primo Carnera of Italy in 1935, the
same year Mussolini overran Ethiopia; Louis was applauded by both blacks and whites
throughout America [5]. Athletes lured Americans away from the
hardships of the Great Depression that plagued the 1930s.
Joe Louis (1914-1981)
Through boxing matches, Joe Louis helped society focus their attention to racial equality. Joe Louis became an exception to the racial inferiority. With Joe Louis’s loss over boxer Max Schmeling in June 1936, Louis began his comeback through lead up matches. [6] 42,000 people, more than 20,000 black, celebrated when Louis defeated Jimmy Braddock in Chicago in 1937 [7]. As the “winner and new heavyweight champion,” Joe Louis assumed the role of building a new and positive image of his people in the 1930s when most whites began to assume physical superiority over blacks [8]. Regardless, blacks made a step forward. Defeating boxers like Jimmy Braddock added onto these steps toward racial assimilation.
1934, Joe Louis, Joe Louis at the beginning of his career.
http://yalebooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/joe-louis.jpg
Through boxing matches, Joe Louis helped society focus their attention to racial equality. Joe Louis became an exception to the racial inferiority. With Joe Louis’s loss over boxer Max Schmeling in June 1936, Louis began his comeback through lead up matches. [6] 42,000 people, more than 20,000 black, celebrated when Louis defeated Jimmy Braddock in Chicago in 1937 [7]. As the “winner and new heavyweight champion,” Joe Louis assumed the role of building a new and positive image of his people in the 1930s when most whites began to assume physical superiority over blacks [8]. Regardless, blacks made a step forward. Defeating boxers like Jimmy Braddock added onto these steps toward racial assimilation.
1934, Joe Louis, Joe Louis at the beginning of his career.
http://yalebooks.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/joe-louis.jpg