There has to always be a first at anything, from first fish to breathe air on land, to first 'black' (well half white and half black ... so in the strange way these things work, not 'mixed race' but, 'black') President of the United States, we count these firsts and give them a significance that they don't always merit. However, normally they are immortalised, in a temporary kinda way ....
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| Jesse Owens On Winners Podium |
So in this manner we kinda have it in our minds that the 'first' black Olympic gold medal winner was Jesse Owens - haven't we? Or so we may think we have.
In fact, despite all the fame and significance given to Mr Owen for his four Olympic Golds ... it was in fact a Mr John Baxter Taylor (1882 - 1908), who was the first US Black (and probably first Black any nation), gold medal winner in 1908
In 1904 he visited England and France, competing as a runner, and winning most of his races, whilst studying at the University of Pennsylvania. So after he graduated in 1908, when the Olympics were held in London, Mr Taylor had two opportunities for a medal as a member of the US Olympic team. His first opportunity came when he participated in the men's 400 meter race, he apparently was doing well even though he was ill at the time. The race result was disputed because of a claimed foul, and a row between the Americans and British, resulted in the Americans boycotting the rerunning of this race. This created another first (and only), when Mr Wyndham Halswelle representing GB became the only athlete to win an Olympic title by a walkover.
However in his 2nd event, Mr Taylor collected an Olympic gold as a member of the USA's winning 1600 meter (one mile) relay team. The team; fellow Penn graduate Nathaniel J. Cartmell, Melvin Sheppard and William F. Hamilton setting a then world record in this race.
In point of fact, there were two African Americans who earned athletic Olympic medals at the earlier 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis. Joe Stadler had won a silver medal in the standing high jump, and George Poage (from the University of Wisconsin), had won two bronze medals for the 200-meter and 400-meter hurdles. However, its to Taylor, in 1908, that we have to look for the first African American to win Olympic gold.
On a similar theme, who until her death in July 2014, could name Alice Coachman as the first Black US woman Olympic gold winner, in the high jump at the 1948 London Olympics?
We view history these days through the eyes of pressure groups, who often have agendas, so it suits many for instance to sort of propagate the idea that it was Jesse Owens who stood up to Adolph Hitler in 1936, by winning the first ever black gold medal, in the Berlin Olympics .... but in fact the US has a far longer history of inter-racial tolerance than these 1960's 'civil rights' groups like to admit to, as it undercuts both their narrative and often their access to state funds as an 'oppressed' group.
It appears, that much like the Victorian/Edwardian Brits, the upper-classes in the USA, were more colour blind, than they are generally given credit for nowadays.
In fact, despite all the fame and significance given to Mr Owen for his four Olympic Golds ... it was in fact a Mr John Baxter Taylor (1882 - 1908), who was the first US Black (and probably first Black any nation), gold medal winner in 1908
In 1904 he visited England and France, competing as a runner, and winning most of his races, whilst studying at the University of Pennsylvania. So after he graduated in 1908, when the Olympics were held in London, Mr Taylor had two opportunities for a medal as a member of the US Olympic team. His first opportunity came when he participated in the men's 400 meter race, he apparently was doing well even though he was ill at the time. The race result was disputed because of a claimed foul, and a row between the Americans and British, resulted in the Americans boycotting the rerunning of this race. This created another first (and only), when Mr Wyndham Halswelle representing GB became the only athlete to win an Olympic title by a walkover.
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| Wyndham Halswelle - First Walkover Olympic Gold |
However in his 2nd event, Mr Taylor collected an Olympic gold as a member of the USA's winning 1600 meter (one mile) relay team. The team; fellow Penn graduate Nathaniel J. Cartmell, Melvin Sheppard and William F. Hamilton setting a then world record in this race.
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| US 1600 Meter Gold Medal Relay Team - 1908 London Olympic Games |
In point of fact, there were two African Americans who earned athletic Olympic medals at the earlier 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis. Joe Stadler had won a silver medal in the standing high jump, and George Poage (from the University of Wisconsin), had won two bronze medals for the 200-meter and 400-meter hurdles. However, its to Taylor, in 1908, that we have to look for the first African American to win Olympic gold.
On a similar theme, who until her death in July 2014, could name Alice Coachman as the first Black US woman Olympic gold winner, in the high jump at the 1948 London Olympics?
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| Alice Coachman - Gold Medal London 1948 |
We view history these days through the eyes of pressure groups, who often have agendas, so it suits many for instance to sort of propagate the idea that it was Jesse Owens who stood up to Adolph Hitler in 1936, by winning the first ever black gold medal, in the Berlin Olympics .... but in fact the US has a far longer history of inter-racial tolerance than these 1960's 'civil rights' groups like to admit to, as it undercuts both their narrative and often their access to state funds as an 'oppressed' group.
It appears, that much like the Victorian/Edwardian Brits, the upper-classes in the USA, were more colour blind, than they are generally given credit for nowadays.
Well let me the first to comment on this post and then be forgotten!
ReplyDeleteDuly, forgotten.
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