In this "must-read for anyone concerned with race, sports, and
politics in America" (William C. Rhoden, New York Times bestselling
author), the inspirational and largely unknown true story of the
eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin
Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow
South.
Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States,
sixteen Black men and two Black women are torn between boycotting the
Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would
represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would
compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered
them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to
prove them wrong on a global stage?
Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide you through this
harrowing and inspiring journey. There's a young and feisty Tidye
Pickett from Chicago, whose lithe speed makes her the first African
American woman to compete in the Olympic Games; a quiet Louise Stokes
from Malden, Massachusetts, who breaks records across the Northeast with
humble beginnings training on railroad tracks. We find Mack Robinson in
Pasadena, California, setting an example for his younger brother, Jackie
Robinson; and the unlikely competitor Archie Williams, a lanky
book-smart teen in Oakland takes home a gold medal. Then there's Ralph
Metcalfe, born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, who becomes the wise
and fierce big brother of the group.
From burning crosses set on the Robinsons's lawn to a Pennsylvania small
town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from
Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice has "done the world a favor
by bringing into the sunlight the unknown story of eighteen black
Olympians who should never be forgotten. This book is both beautiful and
wrenching, and essential to understanding the rich history of African
American athletes" (Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief of ESPN's The
Undefeated).
