Jesse Owens salutes as he receives a gold medal for the long jump, beating Lutz Long, who gives a fascist salute, 1936
Jesse Owens salutes as he receives a gold medal for the long jump, beating Lutz Long, who gives a fascist salute, 1936
In 1936, the Olympic games were held in Berlin, Germany. Jesse Owens was a star athlete from America who won a gold medal in the long jump. Beside him is German athlete Lutz Long, who gives a fascist salute, as Germany was under a regime controlled by the Nazis.
A lot of time and effort went into the Olympics, as it was seen as a public spectacle to be taken advantage of. He wanted the Olympics in Berlin to display a well-structured, efficient and seamless way of life that Germany had found under his dictatorship. To achieve this appearance, the event was heavily manipulated. The Germans had picked the finest athletes in all of Germany to try to win as many games as possible, all of whom were white, to display a perfect "Aryan" image.
The other Olympic teams involved had people of all different races, which AH embraced. AH realistically saw anyone who was not white as a threat to his Aryan ideology, but in an attempt to improve international relationships, he welcomed people of different races.
Owens is seen as a hero of the 1936 Olympic games. He won 4 gold medals in the 100M sprint, 200M sprint, 4 x 100M relay and the long jump. Despite the German athletes winning most of the gold medals, Owens stood out, as he was black, and he did not fit within the Aryan ideology that white people could outperform other races in physical sports.
It is reported that Hitler disliked Owens for this behind closed doors, even though he did wave to Owens at one point during the Olympics from his stand.
The irony of the situation was that Owens would prove to everyone his incredible abilities in a country that the US was very aware of for its radical political ideologies. Owens would return to the US, only to face a life of discrimination for the colour of his skin.
Owens died in 1980. Then US President at the time, Jimmy Carter, summed up Owens by saying, "Perhaps no athlete better symbolised the human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial bigotry
Comments
Post a Comment