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.I seemed to feel that it might be wrong to destroy the mythnow.Let it stand, I told myself.Let people believe it and it maydo some good.They are the remarks of a sensitive and thoughtful man whohas not come hurriedly to the beliefs he holds.And, to givehim the understanding he deserves, it would be good to sketchin the background.Jesse Owens was born in Alabama; he was old enough tohave learned what it meant to be a Negro in the South.Thenhe also learned somewhat the opposite, or how easy things canbe for one favored by fortune.He was a brilliant and famoushigh school athlete and even more brilliant and famous whenhe got into college.He was one of the most thrilling performers ever seen on arunning track, and there were several occasions when he wassensational.There that day at Ann Arbor in 1935 when hemade three world records 220 (20.3); 200 low hurdles (22.6);broad jump (26-81/4), a mark which still stands and tiedanother, the 100 in 9.4.And then on the world stage at Berlin, the greatest possiblemoment for a track athlete came for him before that huge Nazicrowd of 110,000.There Owens had the marvelous experience ofmaintaining an absolute peace in the most important week ofthis life to that time.The wonderful picture of him in those daysremains forever in the mind, a sepia streak running with a fault-less style so smooth and silken as to suggest flight through the air.4 OLYMPIC MEDALSFor example, his Olympic victories 10.3 in the 100 meters,CH.BAA.JOw.zBM.Final.q 30/11/04 15:00 Page 8787NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ABOUT THE CAREER OF JESSE OWENS20.7 in the 200 meters, 26-51/4 in the broad jump, and a sharein the 440-meter relay which brought him four gold medals.These flawless performances and publicity of the supposedinsult made Jesse Owens s name known everywhere andwhen he returned from Europe he decided to gather a fewmaterial rewards for himself.For nearly 20 years then heled a varied and unusually interesting life.He joined with Bill Robinson, the beloved Bojangles, forexhibitions.He ran races against horses and motorcycles,appeared in ball parks, traveled with a jazz band, sold insur-ance, was a newscaster and sports commentator, went back toOhio State to do graduate work, and recruited a basketballteam in Cleveland and took it on tour.Then, as war approached, Owens was called by the govern-ment to join its physical fitness program, first in Philadelphiaand then in Detroit where, eventually, he became a personneldirector for the Ford Motor Company.During one of hisbasketball tours before the war he had met up with AbeSaperstein in Seattle at a time when neither Owens s tournor that of the Trotters was prospering sensationally.So theyjoined forces with Owens, taking charge of the show betweengames of the double headers.This had been a very good deal for Owens and after the war herejoined the Trotters.So at last he came to that dramatic momentbefore the microphone in the Berlin stadium.That associationwith the Trotters also led him indirectly to the work in whichhe is now engaged and in which he believes so completely.First, Owens was approached during a stop in Chicago bya big clothing merchant who wanted to do something forunderprivileged youngsters and incidentally also to sell moreclothes.Jesse took this job because it revealed to him suddenlywhat it really was he ought to do and wanted to do.That is,he felt that now he was especially prepared to work withyoung people.CH.BAA.JOw.zBM.Final.q 30/11/04 15:00 Page 8888APPENDIX AAID TO YOUTHAfter a while he left the clothing store to take over theSouth Side Boys Club in Chicago and was so successfulwith this work that he was sent for by William G.Stratton,the present governor of Illinois, who was only hoping to beat that time.With an eye on the South Side vote, the gover-nor offered Jesse a job campaigning and Jesse agreed oncondition that Mr.Stratton should write into his platformthat, if elected, he would do something about helping theyouth of Illinois.That is how the Illinois Youth Commission was set up,modeled after those in New York and California, and howJesse Owens, one of four commissioners, came finally to thework he will sit all night to tell you about if you have timeand the will to listen.Jesse makes this work sound immensely important sinceit helps keep kids of all races and creeds out of mischiefand active at constructive things.He works patiently atrehabilitation with those who have got into trouble.Hemakes himself sound thoroughly dedicated to it and he iscompletely convincing.Jesse is 46 now.He getting just a little bald and just a littlebulgy here and there, as befits a man who has recently becomea grandfather.He has three daughters but no son.One teachesin a Chicago elementary school and is married to a teacher.One is a teller in a Chicago bank and she is the mother of thefirst grandchild [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]