How Did Jesse Owens Impact Society

Katie Schickling
Sports in Society
Assignment 2
26 September 2013
Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens was of the most influential African-American athletes that grew up in discrimination. His accomplishments helped move people towards acceptance and integration. His athletic achievements were elite and he was among one of the top athletes in America at this time. His courage, along with his accomplishments, had a major impact on society and helped ease issues that were occurring at this time.
Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama on September 12, 1913. Adults saw potential in Jesse Owens when he was in elementary school and would race other kids. Owens then continued to attend high school in Cleveland, Ohio at East Technical High School where he was a track star. Here he set the record for the 100-meter dash with a time of 9.4 seconds. He continued breaking records while he attended Ohio State University. In the 1935 Big Ten Championships, Jesse tied his 100-meter record and
set world records in the 200-meter dash, the long jump and the 220-meter hurdles. (Neimark. 1979)
Jesse grew up in a time where racial segregation was at its highest.
He had to live in an all-black dormitory off campus despite the fact that he was the school’s major track star. He was not an acceptance to any racial segregation going on at this time despite his accomplishments. Even though he was one of, if not the best track athlete in the world, he was not able to receive a scholarship. (Neimark. 1979)
Jesse Owens walked into a hostile environment coming into the 1936 Olympic Games which was held in Berlin, Germany. At the time, Adolf Hitler was the leader in Germany and the Nazi movement. Hitler tried to use the Olympic games to prove that the German race was superior to all other ethnicities. Jesse proved the world wrong by winning four gold medals and breaking three world records, which was an Olympic record that stood until 1984. After winning the gold medals, he was able to stay in the same hotel room as the white people and was a major start to the Civil Rights Movement. (Neimark.
1979) Jesse Owens accomplishments affected many families throughout America and the entire world. He paved the way for many young kids and other black athletes to get involved. He gave hope to these families by showing an African-American in the United States could compete amongst, and in his case beat, the best athletes around the world. Families were starting to get together more and talk about all Owens did while it was a major push for many people in the involvement of the Civil Rights Movement. Even though Jesse Owens was so popular after the Olympic Games in Berlin, when he came back to the United States, not much had changed besides him becoming a hero to young kids. He did not get viewed any differently and could not find the best jobs and ended up owning his own dry cleaning business. The influence of his push in the Civil Rights Movement was a stepping-stone to integrating within the school systems, public operations and the entire country as a whole. Jesse Owens was one of the most talented athletes in a time where he was not accepted and valued as much as he should have been. Although he was facing discrimination, his accomplishments led to a beginning of acceptance of all people and integration of the country. He helped ease, and solve, many issues that were currently happening at the time he was competing as a track athlete and United States Olympian.

Works Cited
Neimark, P. G. (1979). Jesse: the Man Who Outran Hitler. New York: Ballantine
Books.