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Blackthink: My Life As Black Man and White Man
In this book, for the first time, the man who is perhaps the most renowned athlete in American history makes known his views on this country's racial crisis, and offers his unique suggestions for meaningful and peaceful change.
Jesse Owens was born, one of nine children, on a tenant farm in northern Alabama in 1913. During the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin he astounded the world by winning four gold medals, in the process humiliating Adolf Hitler by conclusively shattering his claims of Aryan superiority.
Since that supreme triumph, Jesse Owens has remained in the public eye in varying capacities, while at the same time he has maintained sufficient privacy to allow him to watch and ponder the constantly changing relationship between blacks and whites.
He calls himself an "immoderate moderate." And as such he despises what he terms "Blackthink" -- "pro-Negro, anti-white bigotry." Blackthink, as it is practiced by black militants, Jesse Owens feels, is a vicious, unfair, and destructive philosophy. And he tells why.
But he is not content simply to state his points of view, and thus this book, to the extent that it becomes an autobiography, becomes that much deeper and more significant. For Jesse Owens draws heavily on the triumphs and failures in his own life to show what it has meant to him to be a black man in America.
He writes of his broad-jump victory over Hitler's champion Luz Long in the 1936 Olympics and his subsequent friendship with Long. He writes of his having to earn his living racing against horses, of his problems with the law over taxes, and of the many friends who have sustained him, among them Joe Louis and Martin Luther King, Jr.
BLACKTHINK is a frank book, at times shockingly so, and Jesse Owens spares neither his enemies nor himself when there is fault to find. Deeply personal, both damning and inspirational, it is an important statement of purpose and direction in these perplexing times.
Jesse Owens was born, one of nine children, on a tenant farm in northern Alabama in 1913. During the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin he astounded the world by winning four gold medals, in the process humiliating Adolf Hitler by conclusively shattering his claims of Aryan superiority.
Since that supreme triumph, Jesse Owens has remained in the public eye in varying capacities, while at the same time he has maintained sufficient privacy to allow him to watch and ponder the constantly changing relationship between blacks and whites.
He calls himself an "immoderate moderate." And as such he despises what he terms "Blackthink" -- "pro-Negro, anti-white bigotry." Blackthink, as it is practiced by black militants, Jesse Owens feels, is a vicious, unfair, and destructive philosophy. And he tells why.
But he is not content simply to state his points of view, and thus this book, to the extent that it becomes an autobiography, becomes that much deeper and more significant. For Jesse Owens draws heavily on the triumphs and failures in his own life to show what it has meant to him to be a black man in America.
He writes of his broad-jump victory over Hitler's champion Luz Long in the 1936 Olympics and his subsequent friendship with Long. He writes of his having to earn his living racing against horses, of his problems with the law over taxes, and of the many friends who have sustained him, among them Joe Louis and Martin Luther King, Jr.
BLACKTHINK is a frank book, at times shockingly so, and Jesse Owens spares neither his enemies nor himself when there is fault to find. Deeply personal, both damning and inspirational, it is an important statement of purpose and direction in these perplexing times.
215 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1970
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About the author
Jesse Owens
23 books16 followersJames Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay team. He was the most successful athlete at the 1936 Summer Olympics, a victory more poignant and often noted because Adolf Hitler had intended the 1936 games to showcase his Aryan ideals and prowess.
The Jesse Owens Award, USA Track and Field's highest accolade for the year's best track and field athlete, is named after him, in honor of his significant career.
The Jesse Owens Award, USA Track and Field's highest accolade for the year's best track and field athlete, is named after him, in honor of his significant career.
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June 26, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed Owens’ autobiography. Highly recommended.
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