Jesse Owens at the start of his gold medal winning 200-meter sprint at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The Olympics were coming to Berlin and Adolf Hitler viewed it as a golden opportunity to showcase his country and prove to the rest of the world that his Aryan race was superior. Hitler viewed African-Americans as inferior and chastised the United States for stooping to use these “non-humans.” Despite the endless racial epithets and the constant presence of the red and black swastika, Owens made Hitler eat his words with four gold medals, in the 100 meter, the 200 meter, the 4x100 meter relay and the long jump. Jesse Owens was the top medalist of the Games and he won the medals in Hitler’s presence at the Olympic stadium.
Jesse Owens had spent the Games being mobbed in the streets by German fans and stayed in the same hotel as white athletes throughout, a privilege he was denied in the US. On his triumphant return to the States, Owens was thrown a tickertape parade. That evening a reception was held in his honor at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. As a black man, Owens was not permitted to enter through the main doors and instead forced to travel up to the event in a freight elevator.
The photo is from the book "Die Olympischen-Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen."
Jesse Owens at the start of his gold medal winning 200-meter sprint at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The Olympics were coming to Berlin and Adolf Hitler viewed it as a golden opportunity to showcase his country and prove to the rest of the world that his Aryan race was superior. Hitler viewed African-Americans as inferior and chastised the United States for stooping to use these “non-humans.” Despite the endless racial epithets and the constant presence of the red and black swastika, Owens made Hitler eat his words with four gold medals, in the 100 meter, the 200 meter, the 4x100 meter relay and the long jump. Jesse Owens was the top medalist of the Games and he won the medals in Hitler’s presence at the Olympic stadium.
Jesse Owens had spent the Games being mobbed in the streets by German fans and stayed in the same hotel as white athletes throughout, a privilege he was denied in the US. On his triumphant return to the States, Owens was thrown a tickertape parade. That evening a reception was held in his honor at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. As a black man, Owens was not permitted to enter through the main doors and instead forced to travel up to the event in a freight elevator.
The photo is from the book "Die Olympischen-Spiele 1936 in Berlin und Garmisch-Partenkirchen."