Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed

[El Kabong]

Ali once whispered in his ear,when his time was nearing,"You,realy are the greatest"

I have heard things like that but I don't buy it because there was part of him that despised what Louis stood for when he should have been proud of what Louis did. I am not saying Ali should have adopted the same ways and manners of Louis but don't call him an Uncle Tom...it's not right to call a hero like Joe Louis an Uncle Tom and he should have known better.

I didn't like what the track athletes did in Mexico City in 1968 either...they said Jesse Owens was an Uncle Tom too, he was also a hero and deserving of respect.

Those things upset me....there was no need to bring down the old heroes, just disagree and don't say they never stood for anything, because Joe Louis and Jesse Owens stood for alot!

[Trainer Monkey]

I have heard things like that but I don't buy it because there was part of him that despised what Louis stood for when he should have been proud of what Louis did. I am not saying Ali should have adopted the same ways and manners of Louis but don't call him an Uncle Tom...it's not right to call a hero like Joe Louis an Uncle Tom and he should have known better.

I didn't like what the track athletes did in Mexico City in 1968 either...they said Jesse Owens was an Uncle Tom too, he was also a hero and deserving of respect.

Those things upset me....there was no need to bring down the old heroes, just disagree and don't say they never stood for anything, because Joe Louis and Jesse Owens stood for alot!

They said nothing of the sort,they were both wearing opposite gloves to show a unified front,and if they both wore them it would be a left and a right all sides unified
Where do you get this crap from man?
Dude honestly,get off the right wing sites,even ESPN debunked that last night
Here I'll spell it out for you RUSH LIMBAUGH LIES

[El Kabong]

"He came under fire in 1968 for opposing a black American boycott of the Olympics, and for a time was derided as an "Uncle Tom" and a toady to white people. The charges stung Owens. He attempted to defend himself in a 1970 biography, Blackthink, but two years later he became more militant and published another book, I Have Changed."

- Jesse Owens: Biography and Much More from Answers.com


I don't make that stuff up or just throw it around without consideration. It's a FACT, he opposed a boycott of the '68 games and the Black Power spectacle at the games and was called names for it.

I do TRY to get my facts correct and Rush Limbaugh has fuck all to do with this

[Trainer Monkey]

"He came under fire in 1968 for opposing a black American boycott of the Olympics, and for a time was derided as an "Uncle Tom" and a toady to white people. The charges stung Owens. He attempted to defend himself in a 1970 biography, Blackthink, but two years later he became more militant and published another book, I Have Changed."

- Jesse Owens: Biography and Much More from Answers.com


I don't make that stuff up or just throw it around without consideration. It's a FACT, he opposed a boycott of the '68 games and the Black Power spectacle at the games and was called names for it.

I do TRY to get my facts correct and Rush Limbaugh has fuck all to do with this

So it was the two black Olympians who were on the pedestal that were also boycotting the Olympics at that particular Olympics
You got your names wrong,because it was the black power salute that caused all the fuss to this day
And it wasnt even supposed to be a black power salute

[El Kabong]

No I didn't get my facts wrong, they might have been misunderstood though.

#1 The Black Athletes were going to boycott the 1968 Summer Olympics due to the issues of segregation and Jim Crow Laws.

- Jesse Owens opposed this and didn't see how it would solve anything. That of course rubbed certain eliments of the Civil Rights Movement the wrong way...George Foreman caught the same flack for waving around American flags when he won a gold medal

#2 Tommie Smith (Gold) and John Carlos (Bronze) held up their fists in protest to the National Anthem of the United States of America

- Jesse Owens talked with them, tried to get them to appologize. He failed, they were kicked off the team for what they had done and in a meeting with them and there he was called an Uncle Tom and a toady for "the white man"


This has been American History 101 with your professor Lyle, thank you and goodnight

[Kev]

Well Joe Luis wasn't perfect of course. He turned his back on Jack Johnson when he offered to help him for the first Schmeling fight.

And I'm not sure why not paying taxes makes someone a hero in America.

In the UK one of our greatest living jockey's Lester Piggot didn't pay his taxes and we threw his ass in jail and stripped him of his OBE

And talking about Luis being forced to fight beyond his prime, Piggot came back to race after prison and finally retired at 60!

[CutMeMick]

And I'm not sure why not paying taxes makes someone a hero in America.

Bilbs, it's not because he didn't pay his taxes that made him a hero.

The hero part is one thing. The not paying his taxes are another thing....

The issue with him and the taxes was that Joe during his services in the army was also using his own money for expenses with other members of the force. He did exibition bouts for FREE! from station to stations all around. Thousands of dollars from his own pocket.

Years later the IRS came after him for some money. They continued to be after his ass for years to come.

[Trainer Monkey]

No I didn't get my facts wrong, they might have been misunderstood though.

#1 The Black Athletes were going to boycott the 1968 Summer Olympics due to the issues of segregation and Jim Crow Laws.

- Jesse Owens opposed this and didn't see how it would solve anything. That of course rubbed certain eliments of the Civil Rights Movement the wrong way...George Foreman caught the same flack for waving around American flags when he won a gold medal

#2 Tommie Smith (Gold) and John Carlos (Bronze) held up their fists in protest to the National Anthem of the United States of America

- Jesse Owens talked with them, tried to get them to appologize. He failed, they were kicked off the team for what they had done and in a meeting with them and there he was called an Uncle Tom and a toady for "the white man"


This has been American History 101 with your professor Lyle, thank you and goodnight

Penning a letter a few weeks prior to the games, Smith wrote to legendary track and field star Jesse Owens. At the 1936 Berlin, Owens won four gold models and angered Adolf Hitler who had planned to show the world the racial superiority of his Aryan super athletes.

“I wrote Jesse just before his death to let him know how much I admired him and to let him know that I thought he was the greatest athlete of all time not just for winning but because he never made the big dogs in the Olympic committee - who were all Jim Crow –put him down as a black man.”
Do you check anything?

[El Kabong]

Penning a letter a few weeks prior to the games, Smith wrote to legendary track and field star Jesse Owens. At the 1936 Berlin, Owens won four gold models and angered Adolf Hitler who had planned to show the world the racial superiority of his Aryan super athletes.

“I wrote Jesse just before his death to let him know how much I admired him and to let him know that I thought he was the greatest athlete of all time not just for winning but because he never made the big dogs in the Olympic committee - who were all Jim Crow –put him down as a black man.”
Do you check anything?

That doesn't disprove anything I said.


Yeah sure guys like Ali and Smith appologized later on. But like any young kid they ran off at the mouth against some really iconic figures and it shouldn't have happened. That's tough for me to respect...but yes later they corrected themselves.

Joe Louis turned down Jack Johnson's help because he couldn't be champion if he had ANYTHING to do with Johnson. Johnson was a great champion and flaunted his race and it rubbed people the wrong way and after he was beaten it set black fighters back....you think Sam Langford just chose never to get a title shot

I do understand the level of frustration there probably was between the generations of Louis and Ali but that is no reason to call out someone for being an Uncle Tom.

Ali was a talkative guy and I am sure like anyone else he regrets saying certain things....I am by no means perfect but I don't have cameras in my face either. Ali had a platform to speak from and sometimes he said the wrong things....he corrected himself in later years though.

[The Boxer]

I normaly don't agree with lyle to much he's right on this one.

anybody who like the joe louis documentry should check out the Jack Jonhson documentry. i think somebody has it on the file sharing board.

[WelshDevilRob]

I normaly don't agree with lyle to much he's right on this one.

anybody who like the joe louis documentry should check out the Jack Jonhson documentry. i think somebody has it on the file sharing board.

Great call.
Currenly halfway throught the Jack Johnson documentary. Fascinating insight.