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Jack Johnson's Role In The Civil Rights Movement

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While at Dartmouth, although it was a period of social change, racial tensions were still high when he arrived on campus along with the first “substantial group of African American males” (Hoover and Eschenbach). Bogan believed that they were “pioneers of their race” (Bogan). Although, Dartmouth held a reputation for being welcoming to black men, the Civil Rights Movement was “a time of heightened consciousness [towards race],” so they banded together to form their own community (Hoover and Eschenbach). While Bogan did believe that sports were a way to rise above low socioeconomic status, he, unlike many others, realized that “education was the thing that was going to allow [him] to achieve a measure of success and financial independence” (Hoover …show more content…

He grew up in a crowded lower-middle class home, filled with eight children in a “predominantly white neighborhood” (Carroll 9) (Foster 52). Although he was small, Pollard was “much faster than other children his age,” so he began playing high school football, despite his size. He hoped that like his inspiration, Jack Johnson, he could also succeed as a “black athlete in the white-dominated athletic world” (Carroll 26 - 28). Johnson had overcome racial boundaries to become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, setting an example and sending a message to young Fritz Pollard—that it was possible for black men to succeed in athletics (Carroll 27-28). This propelled Pollard forward, allowing him to flourish as he became an excellent high school football player, and went on to play for Brown University (Carroll 30). At this time, Brown’s racial climate was tense, so integrating into the team as an equal proved to be a challenge, but “once [his teammates] saw his talent, he won them over… [so] they had his back no matter what” (Waleik). Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy to win over the rest of the football community, as he was often the target of “verbal and physical abuse…even death threats,” on and off the field (Waleik). Despite this, Pollard still became tremendously successful, playing and coaching for the NFL after college, in addition to being inducted into the Brown Athletics Hall of Fame (1971), and finally the Professional Football Hall of Fame (2005), an honor for which he had been passed over 40 times prior (Hoover and Eschenbach). Pollard set an example, like the one Jack Johnson set for him, for the many young black athletes that would come after him, like J. Mayo William ’21, who faced major adversity and poverty yet still played on Brown’s football team and later went on to play in the NFL (Hoover and Eschenbach). Although, Pollard is one of

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