The first book to fully chronicle the struggles and triumphs of African American athletes in the Modern Olympic summer games. In the modern Olympic Games, from 1896 through the present, African American athletes have sought to honor themselves, their race, and their nation on the global stage. But even as these incredible athletes have served to promote visions of racial harmony in the supposedly-apolitical Olympic setting, many have also bravely used the games as a means to bring attention to racial disparities in their country and around the world. In Black Mercuries: African American Athletes, Race, and the Modern Olympic Games, David K. Wiggins, Kevin B. Witherspoon, and Mark Dyreson explore in detail the varied experiences of African American athletes, specifically in the summer games. They examine the lives and careers of such luminaries as Jesse Owens, Rafer Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Michael Johnson, and Simone Biles, but also many African American Olympians who have garnered relatively little attention and whose names have largely been lost from historical memory. In recounting the stories of these Black Olympians, Black Mercuries makes clear that their superior athletic skills did not always shield them from the racial tropes and insensitivity spewed by fellow athletes, the media, spectators, and many others. Yet, in part because of the struggles they faced, African American Olympians have been extraordinarily important symbolically throughout Olympic history, serving as role models to future Black athletes and often putting their careers on the line to speak out against enduring racial inequality and discriminatory practices in all walks of life.
David K. Wiggins is professor emeritus of sport studies at George Mason University. The author of many books, book chapters, and scholarly articles, his publications center primarily on the interconnection among race, sport, and American culture. Included among his books are Glory Bound: Black Athletes in aWhite America, The Unlevel Playing Field: A Documentary History of the AfricanAmerican Experience in Sport, and More than a Game: A History of the African AmericanExperience in Sport. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology, currently Editor-in-Chief of Kinesiology Review and past president of the North American Society for Sport History. Kevin B. Witherspoon is the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair in the Department of History and Philosophy at Lander University in Greenwood, SC. He is the author of many articles, chapters, and books, most of which focus on the intersection of race, culture, and sport in the Cold War era. His books include Before theEyes of the World: Mexico and the 1968 Olympics and Defending the American Wayof Life: Sport, Culture and the Cold War, co-edited with Toby Rider, both of which won the North American Society for Sport History Annual Book Award. Mark Dyreson is professor of kinesiology, affiliate professor of history, and co-director of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at Pennsylvania State University. He has published numerous articles, chapters, and books on the history of sport, including Making the American: Sport, Culture, and the Olympic Experience and Crafting Patriotism for Global Dominance: America at the Olympics. He is a past president of the North American Society for Sport History, a fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology, and has served as a managing editor and senior special projects editor for the International Journal of the History of Sport.
Black Mercuries is a delight. Anyone familiar with the iconic Black American Olympic sprinters--from Jesse Owens to Bob Hayes and beyond--will find their stories movingly told in this fine book. But the authors' deep research also uncovers dozens of forgotten or untold stories. In the end, Black Mercuries is a moving tribute to perseverance and talent.--Randy Roberts, award-winning author and professor of history, Purdue University Black Mercuries is not just a valuable reference resource for scholars studying Black athletes and US Olympians. Rather, Wiggins, Witherspoon, and Dyreson instructively offer critical analysis of both heralded and overlooked Black Olympians, taking into account historical context and the politics of race, as well as gender, to highlight how the significance of these athletes extends beyond their sporting achievements.--Cat M. Ariail, author of Passing the Baton: Black American Women Track Stars and American Identity Black Mercuries shines a light upon both the celebrated and the ignored giants of Black Olympic history. By doing so, it forges a new narrative about Olympic success, the obstacles some athletes are forced to overcome, and the bittersweet meaning of victory. Essential reading for those who want to understand a full account of our collective sports history.--Dave Zirin, author of The Kaepernick Effect and sports editor for The Nation From well-known names--like Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, the "Dream Team," and Simone Biles--to the obscure--like William Penn and Joseph Winton, who competed in tug o' war on the 1920 team--this meticulously researched book has it all. Black Mercuries blends storytelling with record keeping and is a must-have book for anyone interested in Olympic history or the story of the Black athlete.--Louis Moore, professor of history, Grand Valley State University The depth and breadth of African American Olympic sporting excellence fills the pages of Black Mercuries, as does the athletes' tenacity and perseverance both on and off athletic fields and courts.--Rita Liberti, Professor, Department of Kinesiology, California State University, East Bay and co-author of Re-Presenting Wilma Rudolph For those interested in Olympic history, this book is easy to pick up and hard to put down. For those interested in the African American experience, the stories of triumph, disappointment, and challenge will both resonate and inspire.--Stephen Wenn, lead author, The Gold in the Rings: The People and Events that Transformed the Olympic Games Wiggins, Witherspoon, and Dyreson do more than rescue the nation's African American Olympians from oblivion. They capture their triumphs and travails beyond sport, anchoring their lives in more than a century of racial change. This lucid and compelling collaboration, whose penetrating research explodes conventional narrative about race and sport, showcases three eminent historians of sport at the top of their game.--Rob Ruck, award-winning sports historian, author of Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL
