Thesis Statement |
"I didn't go to Berlin to shake hands with him, anyway. All I know is that I'm here now, and Hitler isn't." (Jesse Owens Dies of Cancer at 66; Hero of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, On This Day)
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In the 1930's during the World War II and the Great Depression, the was a man named Jesse Owens which was an African American athlete that ran in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, even though Hitler was originally going to ban African Americans from this Olympics, and many countries were thinking of boycotting these Olympic Games. With his wins, Owens greatly impacted race relations, by showing everyone in the world that blacks deserve to compete in athletic competitions, also discrediting Hitler’s Aryan Supremacy Theory. After his track and field career Owens went back to his home town, Cleveland Ohio, and worked with the young African American athletes, and then started traveling around the world, making speeches and encouraging black athletes everywhere. Later in his life, Owens joined the Olympic Committee, so he had the power to make decisions about the Olympics. President Ford awarded Owens the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and another president, George Bush, awarded his wife and family, after Owens died, The Congressional Gold Medal, in honor of what Owens did for athletics and race relations.
Jesse Owens coming back from his defeats of the 1936 Olympics (Jesse Owens Legacy: Ohio State University)
Jesse Owens coming back from his defeats of the 1936 Olympics (Jesse Owens Legacy: Ohio State University)