Racial Revolution

In the years that followed World War II, African Americans began to challenge white supremacy more directly and forcefully than had been possible for decades. Athletes became part of this movement, their roles changing along with civil rights strategies. Early pioneers such as Jackie Robinson, who integrated Major League Baseball in 1946, remained bound by the politics of respectability and focused on displaying both skills and stoic self-control in the same way that participants in the early civil rights movement focused on nonviolent protest. A generation later, as the limits of that strategy became evident, boxer Muhammad Ali joined members of the Black Power movement in challenging the fundamental structures of American society – most dramatically when he refused to serve in the Vietnam War. Other Black athletes used their growing prominence to protest inequality, as embodied in the Black Power salute made by John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Olympics. The spirit of revolt leaped to other groups of Americans as well, inspiring endeavors that included efforts by Latino athletes to improve conditions for themselves and their communities and by Native Americans to challenge the widespread use of Native American mascots.