Discrimination In The 1936 Olympics

Race has been one of the leading factors of division between the people. This doesn’t just occur in America, but around the world. It also played a key event in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Germany, which has been referred to as the Nazi Olympics. Violent protests and leaked propaganda from Germany caused the U.S. Olympic Committee to reconsider their decision on sending an Olympic team. In the movie, Race, discrimination is viewed through the eyes of Jesse Owens, an Olympian who had the people against him. However, Jesse Owens and other African American Olympians showed the world, especially the Nazi regime that there is no superior race.
The 1936 Olympics was one of the most controversial events to take place. The host for the 1936 Olympics
was Berlin, Germany. Adolf Hitler, the chancellor of Germany, “saw the sporting competition as a chance to prove that Germany’s … Aryan race was superior” (L. Benson, Robinson & D. Benson, 1993, p. 113), “to all other races, particularly people of Jewish descent and people of color” (Peters, 2008, p. 31). It was Hitler’s way of saying, “Today, the venues and tomorrow the world.” (L. Benson et al., 1993, p. 113).
“Politics Has No Place in Sport”
The movie Race shows how the American people responded to the U.S.
Olympic Committee's plan to send athletes to compete in the games. Outside the Hotel Commodore in New York, protesters had assembled urging the Olympic committee to boycott the upcoming Olympics. Newspapers and other types of literature contained hateful words against the Jews. American reporters had gotten hold of some of Germany’s propaganda and were releasing it to the public. This lead to much negative feedback regarding the upcoming Olympics.
This issue sparked much division between the U.S. Olympic Committee. They wanted to vote whether or not they should send a U.S.A. team. In the movie Race, they were at odd ends with each other saying that, “politics has no place in sport” (Manuel & Brünig, 2016). A reason that propelled the Olympic committee into threatening to boycott, was that they were unhappy with Germany’s racial policy. However, they offered them an ultimatum. Germany had to stop releasing hateful propaganda and put keep the press in check. Hitler relented and lowered his “anti-Semitic and racist propaganda, just to appease the critics of his philosophy” (Peters, 2008, p. 31). On December 23, 1935, the Amateur Athletic Union held a final meeting to decide on the U. S.’s participation in the upcoming games. The final vote was a close one with a lead of 58-52 (L. Benson, Robinson, & D. Benson, 1993). The decision was final. America was going to send an Olympic team to
Germany.
Conclusion
Multiple meetings were held before December, 23rd. The country was divided in two. The U.S. Olympic Committee was on the verge of boycotting the 1936 Berlin Olympics due to the harsh racial policies regarding the Jews, and even colored people. They may not have wanted to incorporate politics with sport, but in a way they did. They were going to boycott the games because of the way Germany governed their country. I’m not saying that what Hitler did was good. It’s the way the Olympic committee tried to approach the situation. Looking back at it now, I would be embarrassed. They were against Germany’s racial policy about how they discriminated people (Jews). Yet, America was doing the same thing. There was still racial segregation in the United States (segregated buses, restrooms, schools, sports, etc.) and yet they wanted to call out another country over discriminating people because of their race.