Glory Bound: Black Athletes in a White America (Sports and Entertainment) [Hardcover]

David K. Wiggins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sports and Entertainment | Publication Date: August 1997

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.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This collection of 11 essays examines the historical position of the black athlete within white society. Wiggins, a professor at George Mason University, is at his best when profiling a prominent black sports figure and extrapolating the individual's situation into a view of the society at large. Among the highlights are essays on Peter Jackson, an Australian heavyweight boxer who came to America to fight John L. Sullivan but never got the match; jockey Isaac Murphy, who won the Kentucky Derby three times (14 of the first 15 Derby-winning jockeys were black); and Pittsburgh Courier-Journal sports editor Wended Smith, who played a key role in lobbying for the inclusion of blacks in major-league baseball. These thought-provoking, scholarly yet readable pieces will educate readers and generate discussion about the status of black athletes in American society. A good choice for most public libraries. Wes Lukowsky

Review

This is more than just another biographical sketch of selected black athletes: it provides essays which explore the struggle of black athletes in this country, tracing the history of the black athlete's role in white america from the 19th century to modern times and providing chapters which draw important connections between civil rights movements and goals and the changing face of American sports. An important study in racial issues and sports. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd); 1st edition (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815627335
• ISBN-13: 978-0815627333
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,628,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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