Today the Black American athletes participation in sports is taken for granted. But if not for sacrifices, and the varying levels of racism that the men and women listed here had to endure, we wouldn't be celebrating todays Black athletes achievements. From the team sports to the individual participating competitors, the Black American athletes of yesterday had to brave abuse, blatant racism and discrimination to prove to everyone else that they belong.
From the courage and stance of Curt Flood to the determination and spirit of Wilma Rudolph. Against the pride and unity of Tommie Smith and John Carlos to the path-breaking class and spirit of Althea Gibson, they are all components combined to create a force of greatness, strength, courage, innovation and talent. Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford invaded and broke golf's unwritten rule of Whites only when Sifford became the first African American person to play on the PGA Tour. Elder became the first African American golfer to play in the Masters.
The story of the Tennessee State Tigerbelles is little known. Their accomplishments — especially given the Jim Crow circumstances under which they competed — are astonishing. These incredible women burst onto the scene at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 when they won several bronze medals. They continued that domination at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, through the Olympic Games well into the 1990's. Under Coach Temple’s leadership, five members of Tennessee State University’s track team won gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Wilma Rudolf triumphed as the first American woman who won three gold medals at a single Olympics.
The story of Louise Stokes and Tidye Pickett should be told, because these were the first two Black women to qualify for the U.S Olympic team in 1932. Tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe are remembered as pioneers in their game. Although they were shut out of playing with White players, Althea soon became the first Black woman to win a tennis title, and Arthur the first Black man to win a tennis title. Black jockeys are not as common as they once were. The jockey of the first Kentucky derby winner was Black. Thirteen out of the first fifteen winners of the derby were ridden by Black jockeys.
Willie O’Ree the first Black hockey player to play in a National Hockey League (NHL) game, had a short but pathbreaking stint with the Boston Bruins. From Barbados, British West Indies, ‘Barbados’ Joe Walcott was the first Black fighter to claim a world championship (welterweight) in the 20th century. Joe Gans became the first ever native-born Black American world title holder. Boxing great Henry Armstrong hammered away at discrimination in the 1930s and 1940s by refusing to fight in segregated arenas. Joe Louis' and Jesse Owens' defeat of German supremacists led to White America rooting for a Black man.
Between 1903 and 1946 players with Black skin, including Cubans, Latin Americans, and Black Americans, were banned from organized baseball. The Negro National League was formed in 1920 by Andrew "Rube" Foster, and had teams in Chicago, Dayton, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City. It was here that players like Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays's, Cool Papa Bell of the Pittsburg Crawford's, Ben Taylor of the Indianapolis ABC's, Oscar Charleston of the Philadelphia Stars and so many more flourished. In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier to become the first African American player in major league baseball in the 20th Century.
Before the National Basketball Association integrated, there were the Black basketball teams known as “the Black Fives”, named in reference to teams starting five players in the early days of basketball. The Black Fives Era pioneered basketball. From 1907 through the 1920s, African American teams competed for “the Colored Basketball World Championship.” In the 1940s, a handful of Black players were signed by White minor teams. In 1948, Don Barksdale won a gold medal at the London Olympic Games as the first Black player on a U.S. Olympic basketball team. Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper and Sweetwater Clifton came into the National Basketball Association in 1950. Earl Lloyd was the first African American to play in the NBA.
A total of nine African Americans suited up for National Football League. teams between 1920 and 1926. Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first Black players in what is now the NFL in 1920. Pollard became the first Black coach and starting quarterback in 1921. However, after 1926, all of these Black players disappeared from the subsequent NFL. For the next few years, a Black player would sporadically pop up on a team. For instance, Harold Bradley played one season with the Chicago Cardinals in 1928, and David Myers played for two New York City-based teams in 1930 and 1931.
There is not information on these two players in the annuals of the NFL. In 1933, the last year of integration, the NFL had two black players, Joe Lillard and Ray Kemp. Both were gone by the end of the season. In 1946, the Cleveland Browns of the All-American Football Conference, signed Bill Willis and Marion Motley, to become the first professional football team to have Black players since 1933. During that same year the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League signed Woody Strode and Kenny Washington.
The Los Angeles Rams not only signed the first African American players in the modern NFL, but they continued to break the mold of the old league. They brought on the first player from a historically Black college (Grambling), Dan Towler and Paul Younger. The other players grew up in the Los Angeles area and played collegiate ball at local universities.
The Los Angeles Rams were not only trendsetters, but they were an integral part of the team that took the NFL by storm, winning the 1951 NFL Championship. It would be the first ever major sports championship on the West Coast. The Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Texans followed in 1950, but the bulk of NFL teams did not sign a Black player until 1952. The racist owner of the Washington Redskins (George Preston Marshall) did not signed a Black player (Bobby Mitchell) until 1962.
Some of these athletes were "firsts" in their sport. They felt a responsibility and heavy pressure of carrying the weight of their race on their shoulders. If they had failed, who knows how long we would have to wait, before we got another chance. The Black men and women athlete of the past have laid down the groundwork for the African American athlete of today to follow.