Discrimination In The 1936 Olympics
Race has been one of the leading factors of division between the people. This doesn’t just occur in America, but around the world. It also played a key event in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Germany, which has been referred to as the Nazi Olympics. Violent protests and leaked propaganda from Germany caused the U.S. Olympic Committee to reconsider their decision on sending an Olympic team. In the movie, Race, discrimination is viewed through the eyes of Jesse Owens, an Olympian who had the people against him. However, Jesse Owens and other African American Olympians showed the world, especially the Nazi regime that there is no superior race.
The 1936 Olympics was one of the most controversial events to take place. The host for the 1936 Olympics …show more content…
Olympic Committee's plan to send athletes to compete in the games. Outside the Hotel Commodore in New York, protesters had assembled urging the Olympic committee to boycott the upcoming Olympics. Newspapers and other types of literature contained hateful words against the Jews. American reporters had gotten hold of some of Germany’s propaganda and were releasing it to the public. This lead to much negative feedback regarding the upcoming Olympics.
This issue sparked much division between the U.S. Olympic Committee. They wanted to vote whether or not they should send a U.S.A. team. In the movie Race, they were at odd ends with each other saying that, “politics has no place in sport” (Manuel & Brünig, 2016). A reason that propelled the Olympic committee into threatening to boycott, was that they were unhappy with Germany’s racial policy. However, they offered them an ultimatum. Germany had to stop releasing hateful propaganda and put keep the press in check. Hitler relented and lowered his “anti-Semitic and racist propaganda, just to appease the critics of his philosophy” (Peters, 2008, p. 31). On December 23, 1935, the Amateur Athletic Union held a final meeting to decide on the U. S.’s participation in the upcoming games. The final vote was a close one with a lead of 58-52 (L. Benson, Robinson, & D. Benson, 1993). The decision was final. America was going to send an Olympic team to
The 1936 Olympics was one of the most controversial events to take place. The host for the 1936 Olympics …show more content…
Olympic Committee's plan to send athletes to compete in the games. Outside the Hotel Commodore in New York, protesters had assembled urging the Olympic committee to boycott the upcoming Olympics. Newspapers and other types of literature contained hateful words against the Jews. American reporters had gotten hold of some of Germany’s propaganda and were releasing it to the public. This lead to much negative feedback regarding the upcoming Olympics.
This issue sparked much division between the U.S. Olympic Committee. They wanted to vote whether or not they should send a U.S.A. team. In the movie Race, they were at odd ends with each other saying that, “politics has no place in sport” (Manuel & Brünig, 2016). A reason that propelled the Olympic committee into threatening to boycott, was that they were unhappy with Germany’s racial policy. However, they offered them an ultimatum. Germany had to stop releasing hateful propaganda and put keep the press in check. Hitler relented and lowered his “anti-Semitic and racist propaganda, just to appease the critics of his philosophy” (Peters, 2008, p. 31). On December 23, 1935, the Amateur Athletic Union held a final meeting to decide on the U. S.’s participation in the upcoming games. The final vote was a close one with a lead of 58-52 (L. Benson, Robinson, & D. Benson, 1993). The decision was final. America was going to send an Olympic team to