The Heritage : : Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism

Locations
Call Number: Black Studies 306.48 Br
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Black Studies 306.48 Br	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Prologue: Here I stand -- Part one: Rise and fall -- Stick to sports -- The good Americans -- Juice -- Jump, man -- Part two: War games -- "Our way of life" -- The sanitation department -- Props -- Part three: the awakening -- Ferguson -- A seat at the table -- "Who is the patriot?" -- Epilogue: The peacemakers.
"It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state. The ballfield was an escape from the world's worst problems, top athletes were treated like heroes, and cheering for the home team was as easy and innocent as hot dogs and beer. "No news on the sports page" was a governing principle in newsrooms. That was then. Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start, were committing a political act simply by being on the field. In fact, among all black employees in twentieth-century America, perhaps no other group had more outsized influence and power than ballplayers. The immense social responsibilities that came with the role is part of the black athletic heritage. It is a heritage built by the influence of the superstardom and radical politics of Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos through the 1960s; undermined by apolitical, corporate-friendly 'transcenders of race,' O. J. Simpson, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods in the following decades; and reclaimed today by the likes of LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, and Carmelo Anthony"--Book jacket flap.
"The Heritage is the story of sports post-9/11, once neutral but now embedded with deference toward the military and police, colliding with the political reawakening of the black athlete in post-Ferguson America"-- Provided by publisher.
It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state. Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Bryant reveals that from the start black athletes were committing a political act simply by being on the field. He examines the social responsibilities that came the black athletic heritage. -- adapted from book jacket.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

History submitted by aamasud on August 24, 2019, 7:36am How to be a good athlet