WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.980 If you ask pretty much anyone to name the most 00:00:03.980 --> 00:00:07.160 iconic moment where sports and political ideology 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.820 clashed, you're going to get one answer. Jesse 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:12.539 Owens. Jesse Owens. The 1936 Berlin Olympics 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:15.300 and those four gold medals. Right. It's a story 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:17.480 that we've all heard. It's been told and retold. 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:20.480 But that standard narrative, you know, the simple 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:23.280 story of a man humiliating Hitler. That's only 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:25.809 half of it. Exactly. It's maybe not even half 00:00:25.809 --> 00:00:30.030 the equation. It's the complex, painful and often 00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:32.810 unbelievable story of what happened after he 00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:35.009 defeated the Nazi myth that really, I think, 00:00:35.009 --> 00:00:37.630 defines his legacy. That's the core paradox we 00:00:37.630 --> 00:00:39.729 really need to explore today. We've got a mountain 00:00:39.729 --> 00:00:42.829 of sources detailing James Cleveland Owens' life 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:45.229 articles, biographies, his own words, which, 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:47.649 you know, shift over time. And they all present 00:00:47.649 --> 00:00:50.030 this man who achieved something impossible on 00:00:50.030 --> 00:00:53.049 the world stage only to be, well, rejected and 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:55.350 marginalized the second he got home. So for you, 00:00:55.369 --> 00:00:57.229 the Larder, we're looking beyond the finish line 00:00:57.229 --> 00:00:59.689 of the 100 -meter dash. Way beyond. We're examining 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:02.229 the scale of the societal failure that was just 00:01:02.229 --> 00:01:04.560 waiting for him back in the United States. Our 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:06.340 mission in this deep dive is to really connect 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:10.719 the dots. We're going to connect his unparalleled 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:12.840 collegiate dominance, I mean the feats that made 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:15.780 him a legend before he ever stepped foot in Germany, 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:18.760 to the very complex truth of that so -called 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:21.840 Hitler snub. Most crucially, we're going to detail 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.700 the frustrating reality of segregation and the 00:01:24.700 --> 00:01:26.780 financial desperation he faced. The desperation 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:29.379 that led him to say that famous line. I had four 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:31.560 gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals. 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:34.000 And that single line, I mean, the contrast between 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.359 being this global icon and essentially personal 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:40.840 starvation, it's just devastating. We are talking 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.959 about a man who on one single day pulled off 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:47.079 what is still considered. The greatest 45 minutes 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.939 ever in sport. Setting or tying sixth world record. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.959 In 45 minutes. Then years later, he's literally 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:55.680 racing against animals for pocket change. Understanding 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.099 that journey from that miraculous day in 1935 00:01:58.099 --> 00:02:01.319 to the harsh economic reality of the 1940s is 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:03.799 just, well, it's essential for grasping the full 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:06.920 depth of his story. Okay, let's unpack this incredible 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:09.560 trajectory, starting with the origins of James 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:12.759 Cleveland Owens, the sharecropper's son, and 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:16.189 how he even became known. as jesse the foundation 00:02:16.189 --> 00:02:19.509 of his story is uh it's deep in the american 00:02:19.509 --> 00:02:22.370 south he was born james cleveland owens or jc 00:02:22.370 --> 00:02:24.969 as his family called him in oakville alabama 00:02:24.969 --> 00:02:27.889 back in 1913. youngest of 10 children yeah youngest 00:02:27.889 --> 00:02:30.629 of 10 born into a family that was just defined 00:02:30.629 --> 00:02:33.150 by the cycle of poverty that was inherent in 00:02:33.150 --> 00:02:35.509 the sharecropping system and the historical weight 00:02:35.509 --> 00:02:38.289 on that family is immense we're not talking about 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:40.729 some distant history here his grandfather had 00:02:40.729 --> 00:02:42.960 been enslaved precisely That wasn't something 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:44.580 you read about in a book for them. It was the 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:47.159 lived reality of his family's economic and social 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:49.360 standing. I mean, the sharecropping system, while 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.379 technically post -slavery, was still so economically 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:56.879 binding, often oppressive. to try and break out 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:58.900 of that cycle. When J .C. was nine years old, 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.439 his family did what millions of others were doing. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:03.560 They joined the Great Migration. Got a massive 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.719 demographic shift. Right. Millions of African 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.780 -Americans leaving the segregated, economically 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:13.120 suppressed rural South, all looking for opportunity 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.280 in the industrial urban North. So the Owens family 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.439 moves to Cleveland, Ohio. They were looking for 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.300 something better. And that move to Cleveland 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:23.479 is actually where the name we all know him by 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.460 today came from. It's a simple story really he 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:29.400 gets to his new school his teacher asks for his 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.900 name and he says jc he says jc but with his strong 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:35.319 southern accent it must have sounded like jesse 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.060 to the teacher and that's it that simple linguistic 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:40.479 misunderstanding that became the name that would 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.259 travel the world it stuck for life wow but the 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:45.240 north you know while it offered more economic 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.439 opportunities than alabama it was far from easy. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:51.319 The family still had to fight constantly for 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:54.400 economic stability. And Owens's success as an 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.280 athlete, it wasn't some leisure activity. It 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:00.120 was developed around intense labor. He was loading 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:02.620 freight cars, delivering groceries, working in 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:05.580 shoe repair. All of these menial jobs just to 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:07.680 help his family stay afloat while his father 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.060 and older brother were at the steel mill. And 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:12.400 that meant his access to training time was incredibly 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.840 restricted. Which is where this key figure comes 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:16.740 in. This is where we introduce Charles Riley. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.519 his junior high track coach at Fairmount Junior 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:22.600 High School, who, you could argue, truly altered 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:24.519 the course of history. Because Owens couldn't 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:26.620 practice after school. He couldn't. He had to 00:04:26.620 --> 00:04:29.720 go stroke to work. And Riley, this coach, he 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:32.920 recognized this unique dedication, this raw potential. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.620 So instead of forcing Owens to conform to a normal 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:40.000 schedule, Riley made this, I mean, a radical 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.439 accommodation that was just critical to his development. 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:44.560 It really was. Riley allowed Owens to practice 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.699 before school started. He opened the track for 00:04:46.699 --> 00:04:49.019 him, gave him access to facilities, personalized 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:52.339 coaching, all before his workday began. He was 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:54.339 running in the quiet morning hours. That kind 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:57.040 of mentorship, a coach who is willing to bend 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:00.300 the institutional structure for the talent, that's 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:02.480 so often the hinge point in these underdog stories, 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:04.879 isn't it? It absolutely is. It cultivated not 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.600 just his skill, but his discipline. And outside 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:09.920 of track, this is also where he met the woman 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.920 who would become his lifelong partner. Minnie 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:15.459 Ruth Solomon, right there at Fairmount. They 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:17.800 established their family unit very early, which 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.160 speaks to a remarkable stability in a life that 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:22.560 was about to become full of global turbulence. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:24.980 Yeah, that's a great point. They had their first 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:28.379 daughter, Gloria, in 1932, and then they married 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:31.420 three years later in 35. They went on to have 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:33.779 two more daughters, and their marriage lasted 00:05:33.779 --> 00:05:37.110 right until his death in 1980. So that stability, 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:40.589 that was the anchor he needed. Unnecessary anchor, 00:05:40.790 --> 00:05:43.029 especially when the rest of his life became so 00:05:43.029 --> 00:05:46.430 erratic and frankly, financially stressful. Hashtag 00:05:46.430 --> 00:05:48.670 tag 1 .2 high school and collegiate dominance. 00:05:48.990 --> 00:05:51.670 The Buckeye bullet. OK, so by the time he gets 00:05:51.670 --> 00:05:54.180 to East Technical High School. Owens is already 00:05:54.180 --> 00:05:56.100 a national phenomenon. He wasn't just, you know, 00:05:56.120 --> 00:05:58.220 good for a high schooler. No, no. He was competing 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:00.139 at what was essentially a professional level 00:06:00.139 --> 00:06:02.839 by the early 1930s. The national press was already 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:06.480 following him. By 1933, absolutely. He achieved 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:09.060 feats that just sound impossible for a high school 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:12.000 track star. He equaled the world record in the 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:15.500 100 yards dash. Talking 9 .4 seconds. As a high 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:18.019 school kid, he also set national high school 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:21.509 records in the 220 yards and the long jump. And 00:06:21.509 --> 00:06:23.529 I think we need to pause on that 100 -yard record. 00:06:23.769 --> 00:06:26.889 It's easy to just drop the number 9 .4, but how 00:06:26.889 --> 00:06:29.050 long did that specific high school record stand? 00:06:29.290 --> 00:06:32.750 His 100 -yard dash record stood for 34 years. 00:06:32.930 --> 00:06:37.410 34 years. Until 1967. Just think of all the changes 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:40.209 in shoe technology, in track surface improvements, 00:06:40.610 --> 00:06:42.790 training methodology, all of that evolving over 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:45.430 three and a half decades. And his mark remained 00:06:45.430 --> 00:06:48.189 untouched. It's this absolute dominance that 00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:50.589 got him recruited to Ohio State University. Where 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:52.990 he earned the moniker the Buckeye Bullet. And 00:06:52.990 --> 00:06:54.850 this is where that American paradox, the one 00:06:54.850 --> 00:06:57.110 you mentioned earlier, becomes just acutely painful. 00:06:57.449 --> 00:06:59.449 The most dominant track athlete in the nation 00:06:59.449 --> 00:07:02.029 arrives at a major university. He's generating 00:07:02.029 --> 00:07:04.889 immense prestige for them. And yet he was denied 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:07.829 the basic financial support he needed. He attended 00:07:07.829 --> 00:07:10.610 OSU without a scholarship. That is a crucial 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:13.490 detail that underpins so much of his later post 00:07:13.490 --> 00:07:15.629 -Olympic struggles, isn't it? It's everything. 00:07:15.810 --> 00:07:18.009 He was running world record times, but he was 00:07:18.009 --> 00:07:19.889 forced to keep working those part time jobs. 00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:22.970 Janitor, dry cleaner, gas station attendant. 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:25.410 just to pay his tuition and living expenses. 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:27.970 He was a champion athlete performing for the 00:07:27.970 --> 00:07:30.189 school, but he was treated like a second -class, 00:07:30.389 --> 00:07:32.990 unpaid laborer. And the segregation he faced 00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:35.230 while bringing all this glory to Ohio State was, 00:07:35.430 --> 00:07:39.050 I mean, it was just unrelenting, systemic. It 00:07:39.050 --> 00:07:42.370 was institutionalized disrespect. Despite being 00:07:42.370 --> 00:07:45.209 famous, he was required to live off -campus with 00:07:45.209 --> 00:07:47.589 the other African -American athletes. And on 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:50.129 the road. When traveling with the team, he couldn't 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:52.269 stay in the same hotels as his white teammates. 00:07:52.910 --> 00:07:55.009 He was restricted to eating carryout or dining 00:07:55.009 --> 00:07:57.470 at blacks -only restaurants. The gold standard 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:00.129 athlete was still subject to Jim Crow humiliations 00:08:00.129 --> 00:08:02.689 every single day. So his success on the track 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:04.790 didn't grant him any social access. None at all. 00:08:04.930 --> 00:08:07.769 So under this incredible pressure, constant work, 00:08:07.829 --> 00:08:10.129 constant travel, racial bias, you might expect 00:08:10.129 --> 00:08:12.129 his performance to dip, but instead it just, 00:08:12.250 --> 00:08:15.730 it peaked. It peaked in a way that is still considered 00:08:15.730 --> 00:08:18.689 historically unmatched. He won a record eight 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:22.439 individual NCAA championships. Four in 1935 and 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:25.500 another four in 1936. An achievement that remains 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.120 unparalleled in NCAA history. And what's more, 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.279 in his junior year, 1936, leading up to the Olympics, 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.980 he was completely undefeated. In every event. 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:36.480 In every single one of the 42 events he entered. 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:38.639 This wasn't a flash in the pan. This was sustained, 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.980 flawless, collegiate domination. And this level 00:08:41.980 --> 00:08:44.399 of dominance, it all culminates in one single 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.659 afternoon that has become legendary. May 25, 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.100 1935. At the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:53.460 Michigan. We have to dissect this day because 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:57.379 the sheer logistical and athletic impossibility 00:08:57.379 --> 00:09:00.279 of what he did in 45 minutes is just mind -boggling. 00:09:00.460 --> 00:09:02.080 And before we get to the times, we have to note 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.080 the context. Owens was nursing a lower back injury 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:07.740 that day. He wasn't at 100%. Not even close. 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:09.879 The conventional wisdom would have been to save 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:12.539 himself, scratch a few events, focus on the high 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.940 -priority ones. But instead... Instead, he pulls 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:17.659 off what historians call... The greatest 45 minutes 00:09:17.659 --> 00:09:20.899 ever in sport. A burst of activity between 3 00:09:20.899 --> 00:09:23.720 .55 p .m. and 4 p .m. An unbelievable burst. 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:26.440 The pace of the competition itself seems nearly 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:29.019 impossible. I mean, was there any controversy 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:31.299 at the time about the logistical feat of lining 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.019 him up for four different events, some requiring 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:36.820 different equipment, in less than an hour? That's 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:39.629 a brilliant point. The logistics alone suggest 00:09:39.629 --> 00:09:42.490 an administrative scramble. He had to be checked 00:09:42.490 --> 00:09:45.629 in, warmed up, run, recover slightly, change 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:48.009 shoes for the long jump, compete, change again, 00:09:48.250 --> 00:09:50.970 and then run two hurdles events. It speaks to 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:54.009 the efficiency and maybe the chaos of track events 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:56.610 back then? It really does. Yeah. But the results, 00:09:56.649 --> 00:09:58.570 they were just indisputable. So let's detail 00:09:58.570 --> 00:10:00.789 the six record performances. In rapid succession. 00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:04.389 First, at 3 .15, he equaled the 100 -yard dash 00:10:04.389 --> 00:10:07.580 world record at 9 .4 seconds. Okay. Then, maybe 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:10.679 most staggering of all, at 3 .25, he set the 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:12.799 new long jump world record. The distance was 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.779 26 feet, 8 and a quarter inches, or 8 .13 meters. 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:19.299 And that record, 8 .13 meters, it stood for a 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:21.940 quarter of a century. So why? Why did it last 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:23.919 so long? What made that jump so revolutionary? 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.100 Its longevity proves its statistical impossibility. 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:30.120 In track and field, records are typically broken 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.279 by centimeters, sometimes fractions of a centimeter. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.799 Owens shattered the previous mark by nearly six 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:39.240 inches. Wow. In a sport that relies on physics, 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:42.879 momentum, and tiny technical gains, setting a 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:45.620 record that remains untouched for 25 years, it 00:10:45.620 --> 00:10:48.299 implies a massive generational leap. It took 00:10:48.299 --> 00:10:51.220 until 1960 for Ralph Boston to finally surpass 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:54.279 it. Exactly. And he wasn't done. He immediately 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:56.840 had to move into the longer sprints. At 3 .45, 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:59.539 he set the world record in the 220 -yard sprint 00:10:59.539 --> 00:11:03.889 at 20 .3 seconds. And then at 4 p .m., just minutes 00:11:03.889 --> 00:11:06.750 later, he set the world record in the 220 -yard 00:11:06.750 --> 00:11:09.929 low hurdles at 22 .6 seconds. And that hurdle 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:12.029 time was particularly significant, right? It 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:14.110 was. He became the first person in history to 00:11:14.110 --> 00:11:16.730 break the 23 -second barrier in that event. So 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:19.049 that's four distinct world records or ties right 00:11:19.049 --> 00:11:20.929 there. Where do the other two come from? They're 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:23.149 metric equivalents. See, track records at the 00:11:23.149 --> 00:11:25.389 time were often recognized simultaneously for 00:11:25.389 --> 00:11:28.389 both imperial yards and metric meters. So his 00:11:28.389 --> 00:11:31.980 220 -yard flat time. also counted as the world 00:11:31.980 --> 00:11:35.320 record for the 200 meter flat sprint and his 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.399 220 yard hurdles time also counted as the world 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:41.519 record for the 200 meter hurdles six world records 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:45.259 or ties verified while injured and all within 00:11:45.259 --> 00:11:47.940 45 minutes yeah when you lay it out like that 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:50.779 the event wasn't just impressive it was a statistical 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:53.720 anomaly it confirmed that owens was not just 00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:56.039 a great athlete but arguably one of the most 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:58.620 uniquely gifted physical specimens the sport 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:01.019 had ever seen. Absolutely. The sources confirm 00:12:01.019 --> 00:12:03.480 this single -day achievement was a defining moment 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.460 of 20th century athletics. It was selected in 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:08.779 2005 as the most impressive athletic achievement 00:12:08.779 --> 00:12:11.700 since 1850. So the Buckeye Bullet was now the 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:14.120 world's most talked about amateur athlete, and 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:16.250 his path was set for Berlin. The world stage 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:18.250 was waiting. OK, let's follow him to Germany 00:12:18.250 --> 00:12:20.330 and dissect the complex political theater of 00:12:20.330 --> 00:12:24.230 1936. The 1936 games were they were never just 00:12:24.230 --> 00:12:26.789 about sports. They were explicitly designed by 00:12:26.789 --> 00:12:29.350 Adolf Hitler to be this grand propaganda showcase 00:12:29.350 --> 00:12:31.750 for the Nazi regime's ideology, particularly 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:35.360 the myth of Aryan racial supremacy. And the whole 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:37.960 world knew this, which just ratcheted up the 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:40.279 tension enormously before the first race was 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.179 even run. And this knowledge, it fueled a significant 00:12:43.179 --> 00:12:45.980 and influential boycott movement right here in 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:48.419 the United States. A lot of Americans, especially 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:51.019 civil rights leaders, argued that participating 00:12:51.019 --> 00:12:53.720 was, well, it was tacitly endorsing the Nazi 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:57.720 regime. Right. Why go? The NAACP secretary, Walter 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.980 Francis White, he strongly urged Owens and other 00:13:00.980 --> 00:13:04.480 African -American athletes to withdraw. The argument 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.840 was pretty simple. Why should black athletes 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.879 who faced rampant discrimination at home go and 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.779 lend credibility to a regime built on explicit 00:13:13.779 --> 00:13:16.919 racial hatred? And Owens, at first he agreed 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:18.679 with that sentiment. He did. He initially said 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:20.259 that if there was discrimination in Germany, 00:13:20.299 --> 00:13:22.480 the U .S. should pull out. So what swung the 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.679 decision toward participation? What was the tipping 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:26.700 point? It really came down to political pressure 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:29.039 from the American Olympic establishment, primarily 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:31.620 led by Avery Brundage. We'll be hearing his name 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:34.399 again. Oh, yes. Brundage was the president of 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.080 the American Olympic Committee and he was adamantly 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:39.960 opposed to the boycott. He dismissed the boycotters 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.600 as un -American agitators. He argued that politics 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:46.120 should be entirely separate from the games. Which 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.000 is, of course, a highly ironic stance considering 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.700 the host nation was explicitly using the games 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:54.370 for political ends. Right. The sources suggest 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:56.669 that Owens and the others ultimately decided 00:13:56.669 --> 00:13:59.250 to compete because, well, for an athlete, the 00:13:59.250 --> 00:14:01.929 Olympics are the absolute pinnacle. It's a once 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:03.950 in a lifetime opportunity. So they decided the 00:14:03.950 --> 00:14:06.629 best way to confront the Nazi ideology was not 00:14:06.629 --> 00:14:09.250 through absence. But through absolute visible 00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:12.590 victory. And his inevitable global visibility. 00:14:13.309 --> 00:14:16.129 led to a fascinating, very modern development 00:14:16.129 --> 00:14:19.029 in the Olympic Village, the first known sponsorship 00:14:19.029 --> 00:14:21.669 for a male African -American athlete. It's a 00:14:21.669 --> 00:14:23.490 detail that gets overlooked in the grand political 00:14:23.490 --> 00:14:26.990 narrative. Adi Dassler, who later founded Adidas, 00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:30.190 he personally visited Owens in the Olympic Village. 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:33.669 The German shoemaker himself. Yep. And he persuaded 00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:36.669 Owens to wear his innovative Gebruder Dassler 00:14:36.669 --> 00:14:39.909 shoe fabric shoes during the competitions. This 00:14:39.909 --> 00:14:43.409 moment is so significant. Even while his own 00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:46.230 country was systemically marginalizing him, an 00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:48.730 international businessman recognized the power 00:14:48.730 --> 00:14:51.169 of his brand and his potential. Hashtag, hashtag, 00:14:51.210 --> 00:14:53.850 hashtag, 2 .2 the quadruple gold. Okay, so Owens 00:14:53.850 --> 00:14:57.009 arrives, the pressure is astronomical, and he 00:14:57.009 --> 00:14:59.529 proceeds to deliver just a spectacular athletic 00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:02.110 performance. He was the most successful athlete 00:15:02.110 --> 00:15:05.210 at the Games, securing four gold medals. The 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:07.289 sources are crystal clear on this. This was a 00:15:07.289 --> 00:15:09.870 direct, irrefutable blow to the core of Nazi 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:12.360 propaganda. His victories weren't... quiet, they 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:14.000 were loud, they were measured, and they were 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.659 an Olympic record time. ESPN later credited him 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:19.480 with single -handedly crushing Hitler's myth 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:21.539 of Aryan supremacy. That's a good way to put 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:23.320 it. The victories just stacked up so quickly. 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:25.419 Let's go through the sequence day by day. On 00:15:25.419 --> 00:15:27.960 August 3rd, he wins the showcase event, the 100 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.379 -meter dash, in 10 .3 seconds, defeating his 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:32.799 Ohio State teammate, Rolf Metcalf. Then the next 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.090 day, August 4th, was the long jump. where he 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:39.289 achieved 8 .06 meters. And the long jump is inextricably 00:15:39.289 --> 00:15:41.809 linked to that story of Luz Long, the German 00:15:41.809 --> 00:15:44.509 competitor. We have to clarify that story because 00:15:44.509 --> 00:15:46.549 it often gets embellished, doesn't it? It does. 00:15:46.809 --> 00:15:50.070 The famous feel -good story is that Long, this 00:15:50.070 --> 00:15:53.490 tall, blonde, classically Aryan German, advised 00:15:53.490 --> 00:15:55.889 Owens on how to adjust his run -up during the 00:15:55.889 --> 00:15:58.549 qualifying round to avoid fouling out. A symbol 00:15:58.549 --> 00:16:01.190 of sportsmanship transcending racial hatred. 00:16:01.690 --> 00:16:04.149 And while Owens did embrace Long after winning 00:16:04.149 --> 00:16:06.649 and spoke very highly of him, later admissions 00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:09.690 clarify the timeline. Owens eventually admitted 00:16:09.690 --> 00:16:11.970 they didn't meet or exchange advice until after 00:16:11.970 --> 00:16:14.830 the competition was already over. So the immediate 00:16:14.830 --> 00:16:17.350 assistance is a bit of a myth, but the genuine 00:16:17.350 --> 00:16:19.769 friendship and the symbolic defiance in front 00:16:19.769 --> 00:16:21.889 of all the Nazi officials, that remains true. 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:24.529 Absolutely. The image of the two of them shaking 00:16:24.529 --> 00:16:26.649 hands, celebrating together, that's what matters. 00:16:26.929 --> 00:16:29.549 Long was genuinely pleased for Owens, and they 00:16:29.549 --> 00:16:32.830 corresponded for years. His actions, regardless 00:16:32.830 --> 00:16:35.409 of the timing, they symbolize the ideal of the 00:16:35.409 --> 00:16:38.029 Olympics. And Owens just continued his run on 00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:41.210 August 5th. He won the 200 -meter sprint in 20 00:16:41.210 --> 00:16:45.269 .7 seconds. And interestingly, he defeated another 00:16:45.269 --> 00:16:48.110 American athlete who would also leave a significant 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:51.889 mark on history, Mack Robinson. Jackie Robinson's 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:54.850 older brother. The very same. And finally, his 00:16:54.850 --> 00:16:57.070 fourth gold came on August 9th in the relay, 00:16:57.289 --> 00:17:01.269 but that medal is shaded by some controversy 00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:04.410 surrounding the coaching decisions. Indeed. It 00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:07.289 was the 4x100 meter relay where the team set 00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:10.710 a new world record of 39 .8 seconds. But the 00:17:10.710 --> 00:17:13.029 crucial detail is that just hours before the 00:17:13.029 --> 00:17:16.049 race, the head coach, Lawson Robertson, replaced 00:17:16.049 --> 00:17:19.150 two Jewish -American sprinters. Marty Glickman 00:17:19.150 --> 00:17:22.150 and Sam Stoller. He replaced them with Owens 00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:24.470 and Ralph Metcalf. Why the last -minute substitution? 00:17:25.049 --> 00:17:26.789 Well, the official line was that the American 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:28.930 team was trying to field its strongest possible 00:17:28.930 --> 00:17:31.289 team to ensure they got the world record. But 00:17:31.289 --> 00:17:33.190 Glickman and Stoller were talented sprinters 00:17:33.190 --> 00:17:34.970 who had been training for this. They were. So 00:17:34.970 --> 00:17:37.130 the decision was widely viewed both then and 00:17:37.130 --> 00:17:40.450 now as appeasement, an effort by American officials 00:17:40.450 --> 00:17:43.490 to avoid embarrassing the Nazi regime by presenting 00:17:43.490 --> 00:17:46.680 a gold medal to two Jewish athletes. And Owens 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:48.799 himself felt uneasy about the move, didn't he? 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.380 He already had three goals. He protested. He 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:53.299 told his coach he felt it was unfair to bench 00:17:53.299 --> 00:17:55.660 the other athletes. But the assistant coach, 00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:58.259 a man named Dean Cromwell, showing the hierarchy 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:01.089 of power at the time, just dismissed him. He 00:18:01.089 --> 00:18:03.670 said, you'll do as you were told. And that was 00:18:03.670 --> 00:18:06.630 it. Owens ran, secured the gold, set a world 00:18:06.630 --> 00:18:09.170 record, but it was a politically bitter victory 00:18:09.170 --> 00:18:11.730 rooted in this compromise of American ideals. 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:14.569 Despite that cloud, though, the sheer athletic 00:18:14.569 --> 00:18:17.950 scale of those four golds cemented his legendary 00:18:17.950 --> 00:18:20.730 status. It was an unparalleled achievement. That 00:18:20.730 --> 00:18:23.069 record of winning the 100 meter, 200 meters long 00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:25.829 jump and the four by 100 meter relay in a single 00:18:25.829 --> 00:18:28.849 Olympic Games. It stood for nearly five decades. 00:18:28.930 --> 00:18:31.740 Right up until Carl Lewis. at the 1984 Los Angeles 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:33.839 games. And his performance really established 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:36.819 a benchmark for track and field supremacy. Hashtag 00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:39.859 tag 2 .3, deconstructing the Hitler snub. Now 00:18:39.859 --> 00:18:41.859 we arrive at the most famous and maybe the most 00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:46.119 misinterpreted moment of the 1936 games. The 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:48.160 Hitler snub. Right. The common historical narrative 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.839 is stark. It's simple. Hitler was so enraged 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:53.480 by a black man winning that he refused to acknowledge 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:56.180 Owens. The common narrative certainly captures 00:18:56.180 --> 00:19:00.319 the emotional truth of Hitler's racial animus, 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.339 but the actual mechanics of the snub are far 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:07.000 more bureaucratic and, well, complex. The primary 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.559 sources indicate that the snub was less a spontaneous 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:12.839 act of hatred directed only at Owens and more 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:14.920 a consequence of political compliance with the 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.579 IOC. The International Olympic Committee. Right. 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:19.619 So tell us about the mandate that was put in 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:21.799 place. On the very first day of competition. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:24.779 Hitler had only greeted and congratulated the 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:27.779 German victors. The IOC president at the time, 00:19:27.859 --> 00:19:31.440 Henri de Bayer Latour, he intervened. The IOC 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:33.960 mandate was strict. Hitler must either greet 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:36.319 all the medalists, regardless of their country 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.880 or race, or he must greet none of them at all. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.720 All or nothing. All or nothing. And Hitler, presumably 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:44.140 unwilling to personally congratulate every single 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:46.640 winner from every nation, opted to skip all the 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.319 medal presentations after August 1st. And Owens 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:51.970 won his first gold on August 3rd. Two days after 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:54.589 Hitler was forced to stop greeting winners. So 00:19:54.589 --> 00:19:57.490 functionally, Hitler snubbed hundreds of subsequent 00:19:57.490 --> 00:20:01.589 medalists, white, non -white, American, German, 00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:04.309 everyone, because he chose not to comply with 00:20:04.309 --> 00:20:07.029 the IOC's rule of universal greeting. Exactly. 00:20:07.170 --> 00:20:10.009 It became this neutral, albeit politically motivated 00:20:10.009 --> 00:20:12.890 decision to just absent himself from the ceremonies. 00:20:13.230 --> 00:20:15.990 But what's so fascinating is... Owens' own account 00:20:15.990 --> 00:20:18.549 of the event, which further complicates that 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:21.049 simple snub narrative. How did Owens describe 00:20:21.049 --> 00:20:23.349 the interaction at the time? He was actually 00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:25.750 quite measured. He said that Hitler had to leave 00:20:25.750 --> 00:20:28.490 before the 100 -meter ceremony. But more importantly, 00:20:28.569 --> 00:20:30.369 he claimed that when he was passing Hitler's 00:20:30.369 --> 00:20:33.630 box on his way to a broadcast, he waved at me 00:20:33.630 --> 00:20:36.369 and I waved back. Wow. And he added, I think 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:38.410 it was bad taste to criticize the man of the 00:20:38.410 --> 00:20:41.289 hour in another country. He was defending the 00:20:41.289 --> 00:20:43.720 dictator's decorum. Not out of political agreement, 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:45.779 surely, but maybe out of a sense of hospitality 00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:48.579 in a foreign land. And we have other conflicting 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:51.200 testimonies that defy the simple narrative of 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.279 just pure hatred and refusal. We do. There was 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:56.200 an African -American newspaper editor, Robert 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:59.099 L. Vann, who reported witnessing Hitler salute 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:02.200 Owens for the 100 meter dash on August 3rd, writing 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:05.259 that his heart swelled with pride. And then decades 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:08.440 later. A highly credible British pilot, Eric 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:10.819 Brown, claimed he personally saw Hitler shake 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:13.259 hands and congratulate Owens in a less formal 00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:15.980 setting. Plus, documentation shows Hitler did 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:18.500 send Owens a commemorative inscribed cabinet 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:22.039 photograph. So if the public optics of the snub 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:25.420 were messy and potentially exaggerated, where 00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:27.640 do we find the true Nazi reaction? What was the 00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:30.079 ideological damage Owens actually inflicted? 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:32.200 Oh, that damage is confirmed in the private documentation, 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:35.289 and it was total. Nazi Minister Albert Speer, 00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:37.970 one of Hitler's closest confidants, he documented 00:21:37.970 --> 00:21:40.049 Hitler's private reaction. And what did he say? 00:21:40.230 --> 00:21:42.750 Speer noted that Hitler was highly annoyed by 00:21:42.750 --> 00:21:44.910 Owens' triumphs, especially given the games' 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:47.670 propaganda intent. Hitler privately referred 00:21:47.670 --> 00:21:50.130 to the black competitors as primitive. Primitive. 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:52.670 Yeah. And he attributed their success not to 00:21:52.670 --> 00:21:56.009 training or skill, but to stronger, almost animalistic 00:21:56.009 --> 00:21:58.190 physiques, suggesting they should be excluded 00:21:58.190 --> 00:22:00.410 from future games entirely. That distinction 00:22:00.410 --> 00:22:03.890 is so crucial for you, the learner. Owens didn't 00:22:03.890 --> 00:22:06.589 necessarily face a personal direct snub in that 00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:10.069 moment, but his success was devastatingly effective 00:22:10.069 --> 00:22:14.000 because it drove Hitler to this private... documented 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.839 fury. It proved the weakness of the racist ideology 00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:19.180 he was trying to promote. It was an ideological 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:23.180 atomic bomb delivered by pure speed. He dismantled 00:22:23.180 --> 00:22:25.460 the concept of Aryan supremacy on the world stage. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.559 Yet that victory bought him absolutely no currency 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.440 back home. And that transition from global hero 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.339 to local outcast is where the story becomes truly 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:36.859 tragic. Let's turn our attention now to the shocking 00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:39.319 lack of recognition and the devastating financial 00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:42.279 consequences Owens faced upon his return to America. 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:45.500 The contrast when he got home was immediate and 00:22:45.500 --> 00:22:47.980 just heartbreaking. The bitter irony is that 00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:50.339 in Germany, a country dedicated to racial supremacy, 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.019 Owens was allowed to travel and stay in the same 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:54.960 hotels as the white competitors. And then he 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.099 gets back to the U .S. And he's instantly plunged 00:22:57.099 --> 00:22:59.380 back into the harsh reality of Jim Crow segregation. 00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:01.779 He arrived back in New York City to what looked 00:23:01.779 --> 00:23:04.740 like a hero's welcome, a ticker tape parade, 00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:08.680 the highest honor for a returning figure. was 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:10.759 held for him along the Canyon of Heroes. The 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.119 public loved him. The public loved him, but the 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:15.299 institutions do not. The institutional racism 00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:18.480 was just waiting for him at the reception. Mayor 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.220 Fiorella LaGuardia hosted this grand reception 00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:24.160 honoring him at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, 00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:26.740 one of the most prestigious hotels in the city. 00:23:26.900 --> 00:23:28.980 And to attend the event being held in his honor. 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:31.559 He was famously forced to ride the freight elevator. 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:33.779 Let's just sit with that injustice for a moment. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:36.000 This man just delivered the most significant 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:39.480 symbolic victory for democracy and equality in 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:42.559 two decades, shattering the propaganda of the 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.960 world's most hateful regime. And the institutions 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:46.880 of his own nation won't let him use the front 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:49.400 door or the main lift. It demonstrates that difference 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:53.259 between symbolic temporary fame and real systemic 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:56.079 equality. His athletic achievement was celebrated 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.660 as an American victory against a foreign enemy. 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:01.420 But the man himself was still viewed through 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:04.750 the lens of racial hierarchy. He was a symbol 00:24:04.750 --> 00:24:07.609 to be deployed, but not an equal citizen to be 00:24:07.609 --> 00:24:11.009 respected. And this institutional neglect, it 00:24:11.009 --> 00:24:13.269 went right to the top, which was a source of 00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:16.019 profound personal resentment for Owens. President 00:24:16.019 --> 00:24:19.539 Franklin D. Roosevelt, FDR, never invited Owens 00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:21.880 to the White House to congratulate him. Not even 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:24.660 a telegram. Not a telegram. Nothing. And this 00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:26.980 neglect was devastating, given that every gold 00:24:26.980 --> 00:24:29.119 medal winner, especially one who served such 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:32.440 a vital political function, expected some gesture 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:34.900 of recognition. And Owens used that comparison 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:37.839 to Hitler. very deliberately in his later political 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:40.680 life. He did. Owens later became a staunch Republican 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:43.880 and campaigned for Alf Landon against FDR in 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:46.740 the 1936 election. And he explicitly contrasted 00:24:46.740 --> 00:24:48.880 the two leaders. He did, remarking at a Republican 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.180 rally that, Hitler didn't snub me. It was our 00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.799 president who snubbed me. Owens understood that 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.980 while Hitler's hatred was ideological, FDR's 00:24:57.980 --> 00:25:00.500 neglect felt like personal cowardice in the face 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:03.640 of domestic racism. He was actively used by the 00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:05.960 Republican Party to capture the African -American 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:08.819 vote, leveraging his fame and his resentment 00:25:08.819 --> 00:25:11.460 toward the Democratic administration. Hashtag, 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:14.839 hashtag 3 .2, the struggle for survival. The 00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:18.140 political snub was insulting, but the immediate 00:25:18.140 --> 00:25:20.519 career -ending betrayal came from the athletic 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:23.539 establishment itself. And we have to return to 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:26.359 Avery Brundage. The same man who opposed the 00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:29.500 boycott. Brundage was ruthless. Following the 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:31.759 games, the AAU and the USOC, they immediately 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.599 organized this grueling European exhibition tour 00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:37.960 to capitalize on Owens' fame and, well, make 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:40.359 money. But Owens was physically and emotionally 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:42.839 drained. He was. He'd run multiple races across 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:45.279 Europe with very little rest or support. He was 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:46.839 also desperate to get home and start earning 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:48.640 some money to support his family. So he made 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.579 the difficult decision to leave the tour early. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:53.400 and Brundage's retaliation was swift and career 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.099 -defining. When Owens refused to continue the 00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:59.299 relentless unpaid touring, Brundage, clinging 00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:02.579 to this rigid ideal of amateurism, prominently 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:05.420 suspended Owens from amateur competition. Which 00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:08.559 instantly stripped him of the only currency he 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:10.359 had that mattered in the world of professional 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:13.740 sport, his amateur status. It prevented him from 00:26:13.740 --> 00:26:16.160 competing in almost... any major event moving 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.480 forward. He was banned from earning money through 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:20.819 legitimate athletic channels. And this decision, 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:23.200 as we noted earlier, it's rooted in his lack 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.759 of a scholarship at Ohio State. That's the critical 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:28.660 link. Owens defended his choice by stating he 00:26:28.660 --> 00:26:31.500 desperately needed financial opportunities, which 00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:33.779 had been impossible to achieve as a working, 00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:36.880 unscholarship college athlete. He said simply, 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.059 a fellow desires something for himself. The system 00:26:40.059 --> 00:26:42.819 demanded he run for free while refusing to give 00:26:42.819 --> 00:26:45.019 him the resources to even live comfortably. Exactly. 00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:47.480 So the world's most famous athlete was suddenly 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:50.079 barred from competing. The economic opportunities 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:52.779 available to a black man in the 1930s were scarce, 00:26:52.859 --> 00:26:55.359 regardless of his global fame. How did he survive? 00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:58.779 He was relegated to menial jobs. He worked as 00:26:58.779 --> 00:27:01.380 a gas station attendant, a janitor at a playground. 00:27:01.539 --> 00:27:04.059 He tried to manage a dry cleaning firm. But the 00:27:04.059 --> 00:27:06.960 most shocking and really dehumanizing chapters 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:10.160 of his life involve turning himself into a spectacle 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.259 for cash. This is where the infamous horse race 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:16.299 anecdote comes in. He raced not just horses, 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:19.519 but motorbikes and cars, often in these humiliating 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:22.119 novelty events during halftime shows. In county 00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:24.920 fairs or minor league baseball parks. Far, far 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:27.880 removed from the glory of Berlin. He had to resort 00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:30.460 to racing thoroughbreds and motorcycles for cash 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:33.779 prizes just to feed his family. He admitted these 00:27:33.779 --> 00:27:36.319 races were often rigged, noting he'd try to raise 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:38.460 a high -strung horse that would get spooked by 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:40.539 the starting gun, giving him a head start. That 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:42.920 quote, it really bears repeating because it captures 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:45.980 the entire tragic reality. He reflected, people 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:47.839 say it was degrading for an Olympic champion 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:49.640 to run against a horse, but what was I supposed 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:51.940 to do? I had four gold medals, but you can't 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:54.319 eat four gold medals. He described himself as 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:57.200 having sold myself into a new kind of slavery. 00:27:57.769 --> 00:28:00.869 I was a spectacle, a freak who made his living 00:28:00.869 --> 00:28:03.410 by competing dishonestly against dumb animals. 00:28:03.609 --> 00:28:06.269 It's just heartbreaking. And this financial desperation 00:28:06.269 --> 00:28:08.950 continued to plague him. The dry cleaning business 00:28:08.950 --> 00:28:11.529 failed, which led to serious legal consequences 00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:14.230 later in life. Yeah, the struggle culminated 00:28:14.230 --> 00:28:17.630 in a real low point in 1966 when, after filing 00:28:17.630 --> 00:28:20.329 for bankruptcy, Owens was successfully prosecuted 00:28:20.329 --> 00:28:23.490 by the IRS for tax evasion. It was a failure 00:28:23.490 --> 00:28:25.589 of financial stability that had nothing to do 00:28:25.589 --> 00:28:27.279 with athletic performance and everything. to 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.220 do with the lack of professional structure and 00:28:29.220 --> 00:28:31.799 support afforded to him in his prime hashtag 00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:34.559 tag tag 3 .3 a shifting perspective in public 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:37.579 service the 1940s and 50s saw owens trying to 00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:39.779 find some kind of sustainable post -fame career 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:42.519 he briefly toured with a 12 -piece jazz band 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:45.619 in 1937 though we found that equally unfulfilling 00:28:45.619 --> 00:28:48.259 but he did find more stability working for ford 00:28:48.259 --> 00:28:52.990 motor company He did, from 1942 to 1946. And 00:28:52.990 --> 00:28:55.150 his role at Ford speaks to his unique position 00:28:55.150 --> 00:28:57.630 as a famous black man in an industrial setting. 00:28:57.849 --> 00:29:00.529 He worked in Ford's ad hoc civil rights division, 00:29:00.809 --> 00:29:03.589 serving as a liaison educating for African -American 00:29:03.589 --> 00:29:07.029 employees within the plants. Later in 1946, he 00:29:07.029 --> 00:29:08.930 briefly tried to become a sports entrepreneur 00:29:08.930 --> 00:29:11.569 himself. Yeah, he owned the Portland Rosebuds 00:29:11.569 --> 00:29:14.130 franchise in the short -lived West Coast Negro 00:29:14.130 --> 00:29:16.750 Baseball League. Which unfortunately folded after 00:29:16.750 --> 00:29:19.910 just two months. A difficult time for him. But 00:29:19.910 --> 00:29:22.029 he finally gained some level of official government 00:29:22.029 --> 00:29:24.710 recognition in the mid -1950s, ironically being 00:29:24.710 --> 00:29:27.109 repurposed by the very government that had previously 00:29:27.109 --> 00:29:30.509 ignored him. In 1955, Republican President Dwight 00:29:30.509 --> 00:29:32.950 D. Eisenhower appointed Owens as an ambassador 00:29:32.950 --> 00:29:36.069 of sports. He was sent on these extensive goodwill 00:29:36.069 --> 00:29:38.589 tours across the world, India, the Philippines, 00:29:38.890 --> 00:29:42.049 Malaya, to promote exercise and American ideals 00:29:42.049 --> 00:29:44.730 of freedom and economic opportunity. It's a remarkable 00:29:44.730 --> 00:29:54.890 late career irony, isn't it? It really is. We 00:29:54.890 --> 00:29:57.950 must also address his, uh... controversial initial 00:29:57.950 --> 00:30:00.230 stance on the burgeoning civil rights movement 00:30:00.230 --> 00:30:03.089 and the Black Power movement of the late 1960s. 00:30:03.210 --> 00:30:05.250 He was seen as a member of the accommodating 00:30:05.250 --> 00:30:07.670 generation. He was highly critical of the militant 00:30:07.670 --> 00:30:09.509 wing of the movement. The most famous example 00:30:09.509 --> 00:30:12.349 is his reaction to Tommy Smith and John Carlos' 00:30:12.509 --> 00:30:15.970 Black Power salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics 00:30:15.970 --> 00:30:19.289 in Mexico City. He publicly denounced them. He 00:30:19.289 --> 00:30:21.309 did. He argued their actions were meaningless. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:25.200 He believed that only economic success and, you 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.700 know, quiet demonstration could affect real change. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:31.000 He stated the black fist is a meaningless symbol. 00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:33.539 When you open it, you have nothing but fingers, 00:30:33.700 --> 00:30:36.339 weak, empty fingers. The only time the black 00:30:36.339 --> 00:30:38.859 fist has significance is when there's money inside. 00:30:39.369 --> 00:30:41.829 There's where the power lies. A stance that severely 00:30:41.829 --> 00:30:44.210 alienated him from the younger generation of 00:30:44.210 --> 00:30:46.329 black athletes who viewed him as having compromised 00:30:46.329 --> 00:30:48.450 too much with the white establishment. But his 00:30:48.450 --> 00:30:50.910 own life experiences and reflections on his post 00:30:50.910 --> 00:30:53.210 -Olympic struggles, they eventually led to a 00:30:53.210 --> 00:30:55.849 major published change of heart in the early 00:30:55.849 --> 00:30:59.009 1970s. And this reversal is just crucial for 00:30:59.009 --> 00:31:02.210 understanding his full legacy. In his 1972 book, 00:31:02.410 --> 00:31:05.269 I Have Changed, Owens admitted he was wrong and 00:31:05.269 --> 00:31:07.589 he criticized his earlier viewpoint. What did 00:31:07.589 --> 00:31:10.779 he write? He wrote, I realize now that militancy 00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:13.140 in the best sense of the word was the only answer 00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:15.619 where the black man was concerned, that any black 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:18.339 man who wasn't a militant in 1970 was either 00:31:18.339 --> 00:31:21.819 blind or a coward. Wow. That's a powerful evolution. 00:31:22.700 --> 00:31:24.619 Recognizing that quiet endurance hadn't been 00:31:24.619 --> 00:31:27.299 enough to achieve true equality, even for a global 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.460 icon like himself. It really is. And in one final 00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:32.519 political act relating to the Olympics, he remained 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:35.240 steadfastly committed to the Olympic ideal, being 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:37.700 separate from global politics, even if meant 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:40.059 opposing a sitting Democratic president. Just 00:31:40.059 --> 00:31:42.740 months before his death, Owens argued passionately 00:31:42.740 --> 00:31:45.039 and unsuccessfully against President Jimmy Carter's 00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:47.740 decision to demand a U .S. boycott of the 1980 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:50.400 Moscow Olympics. In protest of the Soviet invasion 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:53.619 of Afghanistan? Right. Owens, having lived the 00:31:53.619 --> 00:31:56.900 political reality of 1936, strongly believed 00:31:56.900 --> 00:31:58.799 the game should be above war and international 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:02.440 disputes. Hashtag, hashtag 3 .4 death and lasting 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:05.519 tributes. Sadly, like many people of his generation, 00:32:05.900 --> 00:32:09.099 Owens had a, well, an extremely harmful habit. 00:32:09.220 --> 00:32:11.940 He was a heavy cigarette smoker. A pack a day 00:32:11.940 --> 00:32:15.099 habit. That lasted for 35 years. Started around 00:32:15.099 --> 00:32:18.099 age 32. And that habit tragically caught up to 00:32:18.099 --> 00:32:20.359 him relatively young. He was diagnosed with extremely 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:22.779 aggressive drug -resistant lung cancer. And he 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:25.619 died in Tucson, Arizona in March 1980 at age 00:32:25.619 --> 00:32:28.460 66, surrounded by his family. He was laid to 00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:30.900 rest at Oakwood Cemetery in Chicago. And his 00:32:30.900 --> 00:32:33.619 death. It finally brought the kind of universal 00:32:33.619 --> 00:32:35.819 high level tribute that had been denied to him 00:32:35.819 --> 00:32:38.019 in his earlier struggling years. The tributes 00:32:38.019 --> 00:32:39.940 poured in from all over the world. President 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:42.079 Jimmy Carter issued this moving statement, observing 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:44.759 that perhaps no athlete better symbolize the 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:47.099 human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial 00:32:47.099 --> 00:32:49.559 bigotry. And his legacy has been permanently 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:52.200 cemented by honors that continue to accumulate, 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:55.180 ensuring his story is never forgotten. Absolutely. 00:32:55.380 --> 00:32:57.039 The U .S. government recognized him with the 00:32:57.039 --> 00:33:00.039 Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976 and the 00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:02.920 Congressional Gold Medal posthumously in 1990. 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:05.480 His name is an international benchmark now. The 00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:08.500 Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State, a 00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:11.259 major public park in Los Angeles, and perhaps 00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:14.660 most poignantly, the Jesse Owens Alley in Berlin. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:17.759 The street leading to the Olympic Stadium where 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:20.579 he performed his greatest feat. It is. Even an 00:33:20.579 --> 00:33:24.339 asteroid 6758 Jesse Owens bears his name. And 00:33:24.339 --> 00:33:26.660 there's that perfect symbolic detail that connects 00:33:26.660 --> 00:33:28.640 his four victories right back to the land he 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:31.619 conquered ideologically. The Olympic Oaks. Following 00:33:31.619 --> 00:33:33.579 his triumphs, the German Olympic Committee gifted 00:33:33.579 --> 00:33:36.480 Owens four English oak saplings, one for each 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:38.960 gold medal. He planted them as living monuments, 00:33:39.220 --> 00:33:41.700 one at Ohio State, one in Cleveland where he 00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:43.980 trained, and others at various locations. These 00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:47.180 trees are a perpetual growing reminder of the 00:33:47.180 --> 00:33:50.180 symbolic blow he struck. against tyranny in 1936. 00:33:50.500 --> 00:33:53.339 Hashtag tag outro. The life of Jesse Owens is, 00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:55.759 I mean, it's fundamentally a study in profound 00:33:55.759 --> 00:33:58.839 contradictions. On one hand, you have the pure, 00:33:58.940 --> 00:34:01.460 unmatched athletic genius that allowed him to 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:04.279 shatter racial myths on the global stage. On 00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:06.099 the other, you have the political and economic 00:34:06.099 --> 00:34:09.179 reality that met him at the dock. A reality that 00:34:09.179 --> 00:34:11.780 valued his symbolic victory more than it valued 00:34:11.780 --> 00:34:13.780 his personal dignity or his family's financial 00:34:13.780 --> 00:34:16.780 security. He was a global symbol of American 00:34:16.780 --> 00:34:19.760 freedom abroad while simultaneously being a victim 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:22.380 of American segregation at home. We've traced 00:34:22.380 --> 00:34:25.199 his path From the sharecropper's son forced to 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:27.239 work before school, through the Day of Days, 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:29.659 Marvel, and the Berlin Champion, all the way 00:34:29.659 --> 00:34:32.260 to the suspended professional who raced against 00:34:32.260 --> 00:34:35.900 horses just to avoid destitution. Yeah. It leads 00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:38.159 us back, inevitably, to that painful reflection 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.980 on his post -Olympic hardships. I had jumped 00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:43.000 farther and run faster than any man ever had 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.400 before, and it left me with next to nothing. 00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:47.960 So what does the song mean for you, The Learner? 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.539 Jesse Owens' story challenges us to question 00:34:50.539 --> 00:34:52.860 the value of symbolic victories in the face of 00:34:52.860 --> 00:34:55.760 systemic oppression. He won the grand ideological 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:58.760 battle on the track, but he lost the daily economic 00:34:58.760 --> 00:35:01.699 battle for respect and financial security. His 00:35:01.699 --> 00:35:04.440 inability to parlay the greatest amateur athletic 00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:07.119 achievement in history into a stable professional 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.800 life, it just reveals a profound societal failure. 00:35:11.190 --> 00:35:13.250 It really does. The provocative thought we want 00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:16.070 to leave you with is this. Owens once noted the 00:35:16.070 --> 00:35:18.030 difference between the political freedom he promoted 00:35:18.030 --> 00:35:21.269 as an ambassador and the economic freedom he 00:35:21.269 --> 00:35:23.989 was denied at home. While his athletic feat was 00:35:23.989 --> 00:35:25.949 the ultimate expression of individual freedom 00:35:25.949 --> 00:35:28.710 and potential, the inability of his country to 00:35:28.710 --> 00:35:31.030 grant him professional freedom suggests that 00:35:31.030 --> 00:35:33.630 mere talent is never enough to overcome systemic 00:35:33.630 --> 00:35:36.010 barriers. His story isn't just about the finish 00:35:36.010 --> 00:35:39.070 line. No, it's about the devastating price of 00:35:39.070 --> 00:35:41.349 being an unwanted hero. Thank you for joining 00:35:41.349 --> 00:35:43.730 us for this deep dive into the unparalleled life 00:35:43.730 --> 00:35:46.170 and the enduring, challenging legacy of Jesse 00:35:46.170 --> 00:35:47.309 Owens. We'll see you next time.