Celebrating Great Achievements in Black History -Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. That's impressive until you think about the circumstances.Jesse Owens in 1936 Berlin was as popular as Barack Obama would be at a 2010 Tea Party. Nobody was pulling for him.
Jesse was a track athlete, and Black man, in Nazi Germany. We're not talking Neo-Nazi we're talking The Old Nazis. Monocles, leather jack boots, we have ways of making you talk Nazis. He won gold in the 100, 200, Long Jump, and The 4X100 relay.
People have talked about what a great feat it was to beat Hitler's Aryan supermen in their homeland. I see it a little differently. You're black in Hitler's Germany, somebody fires a gun and you have four Nazis chasing you .... you damn right you are going to run fast. The trick was getting him to stop. Do you know who won the Silver in the 100M? Ralph Metcalf. Owens black teammate. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Usain Bolt never has that kind of pressure.