The book I chose to read was Forty Million Dollar Slaves by William C. Rhoden where the story of the up rise in African-Americans into sports is told. Being an avid sports fan I have been watching sports for many years. I had noticed that the NBA and NFL is made up of many African Americas and I also wonder why this was. Rhoden explains in his first chapter that today's African American athletes are focus on the present and must think of what their ancestors had to suffer and how they paved a path to put them in the position they are in today. As I began to read to book I learned that when sports where beginning whites dominated and participated in all sports. Slavery had blocked African Americans from playing sports until after the civil war. When slavery was abolished African Americans got here first chance to play sports. In the first chapter Rhoden portraits the story of African American Boxing. Tom Molineaux the first African American boxer story is told and how he impacted America. Tom Molineaux was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation and he challenge Tom Cribb in the first "Fight of the century". Tom Cribb was a white man and the boxing match was more than just a sport. The fight carried implications for the entire country as every African American felt they were fighting Tom Cribb. Tom Cribb winded up winning in the 11th round with a knockout, but America had seen sports in a whole new way. Molineaux did not win the boxing match but he won over America and a new prospective in sports. Three years later Jack Johnson became the first African American to win the heavy weight championship of boxing. After Johnson had won the title panic started over the African Americans rise in sports.
Where laws going to be put in place to regress African Americans sucsess.
Where Whites not ready to accept African Americans even though slavery had been abolished?
Is there a reason why African Americans dominate sports today?
Why do African Americans take up a large percent of the NBA and NFL but not the NHL(2.7%) or MLB(9%)?
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