Themes In Glory Road

It was 1945 and Jackie Robinson was still not allowed to play in the major leagues. One example of racism is when somebody calls you by your race and they don’t call you by name. Racism does exist in sports as shown through Jackie Robinson; Justice at Last and my observations.

One summer, there was a kid named Dean Gullberry and Dean liked to play the game of basketball. Dean would always go out to the river court and do what he does best. Dean had three best friends that he had always spent time with 24/7 playing basketball and just hanging out. His friends Ben Dover who lived across the street from Dean, Dixie Normous who Dean met at the river court but didn’t go to his school, and Jack Koffing who Dean met playing travel ball back at Compton. Dean Gullberry had always wanted to play in his city’s basketball league but people kept on saying that he wasn’t good enough, strong enough or big enough to be in the league. That's until Ray Lewis came and spoke one of his motivational speeches to Dean.

In the 1920s, there was a great demand for entertainment, especially with the improvements of the middle class and the development of disposable income and leisure time. With entertainment came sports, and with sports came racism. Many sports, football in particular, was on the edge about being segregated or not. According to Sports Institute Magazine, “ The degree to which these degrading segregation policies hurt black communities – in and outside of sports”. Jackie Robinson once said, “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is your respect as a human being.” This was the main problem in sports. Coaches and managers didn't even care how good players were or what their personality was like. If you were a minority player, they didn't want to invest in you or coach you. They just didn't want anything to do with you.

In 1945, 2% of major leagues consisted of blacks and in 1995, 19% of major leagues consisted of blacks. The very first black person to play major league baseball was Jackie Robinson in 1947. By the 1970’s, a little less than a quarter of major league baseball players were black. Today, major league sports teams are much different than before, many teams consist of the minority being white people and the majority being other races. Segregation has changed immensely over time, in the past 5 decades blacks went from having no basic human rights to being recognized as equal beings and it shows through sports as well as many other areas of segregation such as the lack of opportunity and safety, segregation in schools, and discrimination in public

Throughout the life of America views on African Americans in sports have drastically changed. This is all because of one sport. That sport is the great game of

In the film Remember the Titans, racial prejudice and stereotypes are evident throughout. At the start of the movie we are taken back to 1971 where we are introduced to the town of Alexandria in Virginia and the new high school that resides in it, as two schools recently combined to form one desegregated student body called T.C. Williams High School. Football is an immense part of this town and for the people residing there. Shortly into the film, head football Coach Bill Yoast, nominee for the Virginia High School Hall of Fame, is demoted to assistant football coach and the school board hires an African American man by the name of Herman Boone to take his place. This starts an uproar in the Alexandria community as desegregation hadn't been

In the movie Remember The Titans, this movie is about a high school football team that is trying to get past racial segregation based on blacks and whites. In the beginning, the white and black players and coaches are very separated, even sitting at different lunch tables during lunch and dinner. Soon though, as the team begins bonding, the segregation goes away and vanishes, due to strong coaching and leadership, although there are a few hiccups. One player who is is still racist gets cut by Gary, and a racist coach becomes non-racist towards the end of the movie, and this movie sets examples for many high schools to follow this high school 's example.

Remember the Titans is a movie based in Virginia during the 1960’s and 1970’s when the South was really into racism. Through the movie a football team goes through the tough choice of having to play with different races. It took a lot of time to get use to play with both black and white members of the team but through time and effort they all start getting use to each other

Baseball is often considered America’s Pastime; a sport that has its roots in the foundation of the country and has been enjoyed by generation after generation. Heroes of the game have become types of folk heroes within the borders of the United States of America, and citizens from all backgrounds have come to venues from coast to coast in order to enjoy the game. The sports’ professional participants, as expected, have directly reflected racial standards of the country at any given time; the sport was dominated by whites until the color barrier was broken, ushering in new participants of different descents. The involvement of African Americans in Major League Baseball is extremely vital for the sport, and is a topic that has been somewhat addressed by the league’s hierarchy. Despite those efforts to increase African American participation, however, the black people of America have recently seen their representation in

In the documentary “Undefeated” by T.J. Martin and Daniel Lindsay, an underprivileged black high school football team tries to break the streak of never having won a playoff game as long as the school has been around. Through all of the struggles that these kids face, they learn to come together with the help of their football coach. While the film was nominated for an Oscar, there are two completely different views on whether the film was about overcoming difficulties, considering the situation or about made up miracles that are only seen in fictional movies.

Imagine getting up everyday before high school and preparing for war. For Melba Pattillo Beals this fear was a scary reality. In the beginning of “Warriors Don 't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock 's Central High” by Melba Pattillo Beals, she begins talking about what it’s like to come back to the haunted racist halls of Little Rock Central High School. This was a time when civil rights was a major issue and the color separation between white and black was about to be broken. Melba and nine other students entered Central High School becoming the first African American students to go to an all white school. Her book describes the hardship and struggle she faced growing up in Little Rock and what it was like to be hurt and abused all throughout high school.

The NBA did not desegregate until the late 1950’s roughly 5 years after baseball had fully Integrated. Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton and Earl Lloyd were the first African Americans to be over Drafted in the second round by the Boston Celtics. Beforehand there were African American Teams, in the 1904 they were called black fives. They were branches outside of the YMCA, During the black fives era the teams emerged out of the cities: New York, Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cleveland. The teams were affiliated with churches, social clubs and newspapers. These teams were created and funded in many ways, because of the Jim crow Laws that prevented any other color other than whites to play on a college or pro level. African Americans

I wanted to first say that these are strictly my own opinions and I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback. First, there is a perception in sports that I heard numerous of times that African Americans do not make the best coaches. I would definitely argue that notion. I believe that African Americans in most cases do not receive the same treatment as any white coach in college and major sports. I do believe there needs to be a Rooney Rule, especially in collegiate sports. For instance, almost 88% of coaches in Division I college football are white, only 21% are African American in division I football. There must be equal representation especially when you contend that 58% of division I basketball players are African American, and almost

Don Haskins, who was known as "The Bear" is one of the best coaches in collage basketball history. He started off by playing college basketball at Oklahoma A&M. After he was done playing college ball he went to coach the boy's and girl's at Benjamin High. He also leaded the basketball programs at Hedley and Dumas high schools which are both located in Texas. In 1961, Haskins took over the UTEP program. His first two teams both had winning seasons and made a few apperances in the NCAA Tournement He was doing pretty good in El Paso. When his 1966 team won the NCAA Championship, he was known as the first coach to ever start a black lineup in the major college level. This event was captured in an 2006 motion picture called "Glory

Throughout history there have been several events across the country that has helped abolish slavery and segregation such as “Brown vs. Board of education” and the “Emmitt Till Murder Case”. In small towns however there have been events that have changed the beliefs of communities. Some will eventually be known nationally. Others will never be heard of by those that live outside of those small communities.