Isaac Murphy's Exceptional Story Of The Jockey Syndrome

from talents and skills of the black athlete. Rhoden’s historical narrative also identifies as what he calls the jockey syndrome, where he uses the exceptional story of Isaac Murphy who was at one point the most prominent and wealthiest black jockey during the 19th century. During Murphy’s brilliant career, he won three Kentucky Derby races and he even employed a White valet during the horse racing season. Murphy earned between $15,000 and $20,000 dollars per year during the height of his career. However, all was not always good with Murphy and his career. He would face unprecedented pressures from the other white jockeys and the white racing world in general. Murphy dies at the young age of 35. He was forced out of the horse racing game by
The United States government and the boxing industry was not at peace with the manner in which Johnson paraded around with White women by breaking Whites rules and taboos established by powerful White men who controlled the world. Johnson was a huge robust Black male, who made a living punishing men in the boxing ring, in most cases White men. Finally they got their way as he would go on to lose his boxing title after being jailed several times by the White establishment on ridiculous offenses classified as Manner Acts. Rhoden also briefly discusses the similar involvement between the United States and Muhammad Ali’s racial struggles with the injustice system within the states that includes both victories and defeats as they are all interconnected to racial disharmony between Blacks and Whites in the world of
Leading up to Jackie Robinson, Rhoden provides a detailed account and discussion of the Black baseball pioneer Rudy Foster, who ran and organized the Negro Baseball League. Foster literally suffered mentally and eventually died because he failed to accomplish what he perceived as true baseball integration by having the Negro Baseball League to complete against the all White Baseball League. Foster so wanted badly to have the Negro Baseball League became a central part of the National Baseball League not as a supplier of Black players, but as a complete franchise. Foster put some much emphasis and energy into this concept that he would eventually suffer a mental breakdown in 1926 and died shortly