Analysis | An overview of the history of Black athletes

From older icons like Jesse Owens to present day icons like Serena Williams and her sister Venus, notable Black athletes throughout history have made their marks in the history of U.S. sports. Pictured, top row from left: Venus Williams, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens; bottom row from left: Bill Russell, Serena Williams. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, Photo Editor

Black athletes have played a huge role in shaping the history of athletics. Of the plethora of notable Black athletes throughout history, many have helped racially integrate U.S. professional sports, become activists on and off the field or court and changed racist narratives via their immense talents.

Their impacts cannot be overstated or forgotten, and as Black History Month is ending, this is the perfect opportunity to reflect upon examples of Black athletes who had the biggest impact on changing the status quo in and out of sports.

Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson walk so future generations can run

The mid 1900s for Black athletes were defined by the successes of Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson.

The 1936 Olympic Games were hosted by Germany, under the rule of Hitler at the time. The dictator wanted the games to be a display of the so-called superiority of the Aryans.

Owens, representing the U.S., destroyed that notion by winning four gold medals. The track and field star won gold in the long jump, 100-meter dash, 200-meter sprint and 4x100-meter sprint relay. During these games, he set the then-world record of 26.4 feet in the long jump, standing for 25 years.

Owens’s accomplishments at the games were a huge step in the right direction for the image of the Black athlete within America. In an era defined by segregation and racism, Owens rose above and cemented an important legacy.

Major League Baseball (MLB) became the first professional sports league in the U.S. to racially integrate on April 15, 1997, when Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

After playing in the Negro League for almost two years, Robinson made the step up and became the first Black athlete to play in a previously all-white league. This was a massive step for equality within sports in the U.S., cementing Robinson’s legacy.

In 1997, 50 years after making his Dodgers debut, every team in the MLB league retired jersey number 47 in honor of Robinson. His debut represented arguably the most important shift for the racial integration of sports.

Owens and Robinson provided important narratives and lasting images of Black athletes finding ways to make their mark in an era that attempted to deny them rights. Their sacrifices and triumphs set the stage for other athletes to fight for civil rights while playing professional sports. 

NBA player Bill Russell leaves his own mark in NBA history

One of the predominant proprietors of that mindset was Bill Russell, who played 13 seasons for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Russell’s dominance on the basketball court earned him 11 championships, the most in NBA history, five most valuable player (MVP) of the year awards, leading to the Finals MVP trophy being named after him. A talented individual, Russell dominated the NBA in an era where a majority of the league was white.

However, Russell’s biggest impact may not have been how many points he scored or games he won, but rather what he did for civil rights.

In 1961, Russell decided against playing in an exhibition game because two of his teammates were denied service at the team’s hotel due to them being black. He sat near Martin Luther King Jr. at the famous March on Washington and spoke to a group of school children who were protesting the racial segregation of their institutions.

Russell stayed an activist all the way up until his death on July 31, 2022 and spoke out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I sincerely hope that these kinds of strange days are forever behind us, and that real, lasting change will finally be realized,” Russell wrote in a June 2020 article for The Boston Globe. “Our lives depend on it."

Such activism allowed for future generations of Black athletes to thrive. By making sports more accessible to all communities and eliminating the color barrier from athletics, Owens, Robinson and Russell laid the groundwork for equality. But that doesn’t mean that societal issues haven’t persisted and sports haven’t continued to be a vessel for change.

An example of basketball players using their voice to speak out for change happened during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

The NBA sent players down to Florida to keep them in a COVID “bubble” so the season could proceed. After the death of George Floyd, players were concerned that their voice couldn't be heard when they were isolated from the large-scale protests occurring within the country. Just as Bill Russell refused to play in the exhibition game almost 60 years prior, some NBA players wanted to do the same.

After the shooting death of Jacob Blake by law enforcement, the Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott their upcoming NBA game on Aug. 26. This led to a chain reaction of pro sports teams deciding to use their voice to protest what they felt were unjust killings. Teams and athletes in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), MLB and Major League Soccer (MLS) all decided to protest just as the Bucks did.

That type of large scale protest and outcry for change is exactly what Bill Russell fought for.

He wanted Black athletes to have not only equality within their sport, but also a voice to fight social injustice on a larger scale.

Williams sisters make their own strides in tennis

An important example highlighting the shifting equality of sports is the success of tennis superstar sisters Serena and Venus Williams.

After breaking onto the scene at a young age, they shook the balance of tennis, which was considered to be a sport that only the rich and white elite could afford. Serena Williams won 73 total singles championships, including 23 Grand Slams and 23 doubles championships. Her sister, Venus, won 49 singles titles and 22 doubles, and the sisters competed numerous times together in doubles tournaments.

In a sport that didn’t have women or Black athletes competing in it for a long time, the Williams sisters proved that Black women can compete and dominate in the sporting arena. They sustained success over long careers and ultimately helped to further the narrative of how successful Black athletes can be when given the chance.

All the way from Jesse Owens to the NBA protests in 2020, Black athletes have shown that they deserve to be a part of the narrative of competition, despite the obstacles that may have held them down. There are an enormous number of Black athletes who have pushed for equality through history, and all those brave enough to stick their necks out were and continue to be important figures in the history of athletics.