Great Depression1
Cut wages, growing unemployment, poverty, and suffering were unforgettable experiences during the Great Depression of the thirties. Many people learned to face these hard times with the help of famous sports figures. They gave hope and to many people pride in what they stood for to them. One of these great sports figures who helped Americans was boxer Joe Louis. In 1936 he fought the world champion Max Schmeling and had his first lose. Max Schmeling was a German boxer and the Nazis equated his victory over Joe Louis as a Nazi superiority over American democracy. Once again the two boxers, Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, fought in 1938 and this time Joe Louis won in the first round. This was an enormous lift for Americans. It was a victory for democracy. Joe Louis was also an inspiration to the African American people. He was a famous African American boxer and had beaten a
track team at the Olympic games in Berlin, Jesse Owens won four gold medals and set more new world records. This was humiliating and angered Adolf Hitler . While on the Ohio State University track team in 1935 he set a world record in the broad jump (26 feet 8 1/4 ). In conclusion the thirties were hard times but thanks to many great sport figures like Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Babe Didrikson Zaharias life had some moments of great pride and joy. Owens also helped the community by playing an active role in the youth athletic programs. Between 1936 and 1954 she won every woman's golf tournament she entered. They gave us recognition as a united group, Americans who were notice around the world. " (Cayton, Perry, Winkler, 764 ) Louis also went on to become a hero for the war effort and gave inspirational speeches. " ( Encyclopedia 97 ) This was as much a victory for the American people as for Owens. This is an important moral buster to the American people, white and black, because once again it showed Nazis were not a superior race.
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