Departments

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Sports History

  • SOURCE: The Nation
    10/20/2020

    Baseball’s Race Problem

    by Gene Seymour

    Following comedian Chris Rock's observations, Gene Seymour argues that baseball is out of step with a multicultural America and ruled by traditions and unwritten rules that limit its appeal outside of White America. 

  • SOURCE: Black Perspectives
    10/2/2020

    Remembering Wilma Rudolph, the “Queen of the Olympics”

    by Scott N. Brooks and Aram Goudsouzian

    "Maybe most important, Rudolph was a real Black woman, not a stereotype. The Olympics lent her a special platform at a unique moment in American history, and Rudolph capitalized upon it with grace."

  • SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
    8/12/2020

    As College Football Grapples with the Coronavirus, it also Confronts its Racist History

    by Bennett Parten

    It's no coincidence that the south is the heartland of college football. The region first embraced the game as an expression of southern honor culture. While southern colleges were slow to adopt integrated rosters, today's Southeastern Conference teams rely heavily on the unpaid labor of Black players. 

  • SOURCE: WTOP
    7/13/2020

    Where Did The Term ‘Redskins’ Come From?

    Monday’s announcement that the D.C. region’s football team would be abandoning the Redskins brand marks the end of a decadeslong push to shift the team away from the historically racist and oppressive term.

  • SOURCE: Smithsonian
    6/24/2020

    A Brief History of Anti-Fascism

    by James Stout

    Today's anti-fascism isn’t about waving flags at football matches; it's about fighting, through direct action, racists and genocidaires wherever they can be found. The author discusses the history of the movement.

  • SOURCE: Boston Globe
    6/23/2020

    Cancel the Fall College Football Season

    by Victoria L. Jackson

    For too long, instead of facilitating the intellectual advancement and economic empowerment of young Black men, college sports have helped make American universities another institution perpetuating the undervaluing of Black lives.

  • SOURCE: The New York Times
    4/10/2020

    A History of Soccer in Six Matches

    From the Hungary team that shattered England’s delusions to the club that came to define the sport, through Pelé and Johan Cruyff, here are six games that explain modern soccer.

  • SOURCE: The Conversation
    2/13/20

    On the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, a look back at what was lost

    by Rob Ruck

    After World War II, Jackie Robinson hurdled baseball’s racial divide. But while integration – baseball’s great experiment – was a resounding success on the field, at the gates and in changing racial attitudes, Negro League teams soon lost all of their stars and struggled to retain fans.