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Limited to: Words in the TITLE "heritage"
Author Bryant, Howard, 1968- author
Title The heritage : black athletes, a divided America, and the politics of patriotism / Howard Bryant
Publ&date Boston : Beacon Press, [2018]
Rating Rating
book jacket
LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS
 ADULT  306.483 Bryant    AVAILABLE

Details

ISBN 9780807026991 (hardcover)
0807026999 (hardcover)
9780807027004 (ebook)
9780807038086 (paperback)
0807038083
NUMBER 40028178182
Descript xv, 272 pages ; 24 cm
Content Prologue: Here I stand -- Part one: Rise and fall -- Stick to sports -- The good Americans -- Juice -- Jump, man -- Part two: War games -- "Our way of life" -- The sanitation department -- Props -- Part three: the awakening -- Ferguson -- A seat at the table -- "Who is the patriot?" -- Epilogue: The peacemakers
Summary "It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state. The ballfield was an escape from the world's worst problems, top athletes were treated like heroes, and cheering for the home team was as easy and innocent as hot dogs and beer. "No news on the sports page" was a governing principle in newsrooms. That was then. Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start, were committing a political act simply by being on the field. In fact, among all black employees in twentieth-century America, perhaps no other group had more outsized influence and power than ballplayers. The immense social responsibilities that came with the role is part of the black athletic heritage. It is a heritage built by the influence of the superstardom and radical politics of Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos through the 1960s; undermined by apolitical, corporate-friendly 'transcenders of race, ' O.J. Simpson, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods in the following decades; and reclaimed today by the likes of LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, and Carmelo Anthony"--Book jacket flap
Note Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-256) and index
Subject African American athletes -- History
African American athletes -- Social conditions
Sports -- Political aspects -- United States
Sports -- Social aspects -- United States
Discrimination in sports -- United States