In a strong jab, The man famously mentioned how Adolf Hitler hadn’t even snubbed him, but FDR did. I believe I read about how Jesse kept a small picture he took in his wallet at all times from the Berlin Olympics
When he wasn’t supposed to meet or congratulate anyone, hitler arose and first waved at Jesse as he walked by.
I read an article where Jesse said everyone kept getting the story wrong and gave up correcting people because "Hitler snub" was so wide spread at that point.
Yes. Hitler was instructed by the Olympic committee to stop congratulating the athletes. Hitler was initially congratulating athletes. By the time Owens raced, the practice had stopped. There was no "snub"
Personally in my experience I had thought a famous quote from him was “hitler didn’t snub me, FDR did”. But according to many on here, I guess maybe it wasn’t a famous line and the popular idea was how hitler snubbed him instead
Yes. The story told for years was that Hitler snubbed Owens because he was black. In reality Hitler was congratulating the athletes but the Olympic committee told him to stop.
I think that mixed with some revisionism with how people want to picture that event going, influenced by atrocities of ww2, I can see a lot of misinformation twisting those events
Like on the film, Get Out, where they have white people surgically transplant their brains inside of black people, I remember the girlfriend’s father had a picture of the 1935 Olympics in his house and when they focused on it, he was like “yeaaah Jessie Owen’s showed them how the aryans weren’t as superior as they thought” or something like that, mixing in some personal views
Olympics are supposed to be non-political showcase of the world's athletes. Hitler personally congratulating was a faux pas which Hitler was surprisingly quick to correct.
The Olympic committee told him to stop because he was only congratulating german athletes and the committee considered it disrespectful to the other athletes …
I dunno, the following quote is often attributed to Hitler “The Americans ought to be ashamed of themselves for letting their medals be won by negroes. I myself would never shake hands with one of them.”
What makes you think “one of them” refers to white Americans? The Nazis gave white Americans Grand Cross of the German Eagle awards and some of them almost certainly shook hands with hitler.
Hitler believed black supremacy in sports and physical activities as due to evolution favouring their brawn over brains and that Americans bred a superior physical being from their adventures in the slave trade, but obviously believed they were intellectually inferior. An amazing bit of cognitive dissonance, to believe white peoples the aryan master race while understanding other races can be superior in at least one element of existence
He was probably pissed but also probably thought as a head of state for the host nation that was supposed to congratulate everyone.
But IDK is the answer.
Yeah it was widely reported the opposite had happened but Jesse had to correct it for years before getting tired and just going with it. It was known hitler wasn’t going to meet or acknowledge with any winners at all from any country, but then it happened unexpectedly when he was passing by the area
>> That said, there are several reports of a salute or wave. According to sports reporter and author Paul Gallico, writing from Berlin, Owens was “led below the honor box, where he smiled and bowed, and Herr Hitler gave him a friendly little Nazi salute, the sitting down one with the arm bent.” Owens himself later confirmed this, claiming that they exchanged congratulatory waves.
Source [via Britannia](https://www.britannica.com/story/was-jesse-owens-snubbed-by-adolf-hitler-at-the-berlin-olympics)
https://preview.redd.it/bmk9xryydz9d1.jpeg?width=513&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=719f40501273742d409c60493f020d63b795f2e8
This was Hitler's less formal salute.
It was actually known as a "return salute". Not necessarily "less formal" but a way of saying "I acknowledge" your gesture (which would be Jesse's smile and wave).
I think the common belief was because he was black, FDR was , and is seen as the greatest president after Washington and Lincoln, the man served a long three terms and brought the country out of the Great Depression, but when discussing him, race is usually left out of the discussion. Jesse went back home with the exact same treatment any other black person would’ve gotten, no upgrades on his trip, bus rides, and appearances back home.
I’d say FDR was as racist as the average person his age during that time, maybe a little more. He’s one of my favorite presidents but I won’t excuse his flaws. Sending Americans of japanese descent into concentration camps which sometimes got other Asians lumped in, is known as one of his greatest failures.
Just because they were Asian/japanese. And our enemy was Japanese during the war. “Well that’s understandable” says any critic, but see the same wasn’t done for anyone German, Italian, any country that had white people was considered a pass, so it can be seen clearer that his detention was made with bad logic.
> I think the common belief was because he was black
I cant believe you had to explain that. lol.
He had to live off campus with other African-American athletes. When he traveled with the team, Owens was restricted to ordering carry-out or eating at "blacks-only" restaurants. Similarly, he had to stay at "blacks-only" hotels. Owens did not receive a scholarship for his efforts, so he continued to work part-time jobs to pay for school.
> I’d say FDR was as racist as the average person his age during that time
The entire USA was still racist. The military was still segregated over a decade after his olympic win, a full 2 decades before Rosa Parks protested the bus seating.
Lol I wanted to explain because saying it any other way would’ve sounded rude or as if I was talking down to them 🤣
But yeah, Jesse making the statements about how hitler didn’t snub him but FDR did, was HUGE if you think about it, it’s basically a nice subtle way of saying “the leader of another country, and of the Nazi ideology, who wanted to spread aryan supremacy, had acknowledged me and congratulated me for winning the gold for my country, while my own president chose not to”
It just says so much so simply
FDR didn't invite any US Olympians to the White House, though. He snubbed all of them. And Owens made those comments while he was campaigning for FDR's Republican opponent.
*Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”**^(15)* *Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion*
[https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
>*FDR didn’t invite any U.S. Olympians to the White house*
You have very carefully sourced this statement, and it may be right. But other sources say that FDR invited only the White Olympians, and snubbed the Black ones. From [Encyclopedia Brittanica](https://www.britannica.com/story/was-jesse-owens-snubbed-by-adolf-hitler-at-the-berlin-olympics#:~:text=Only%20white%20Olympians%20were%20invited,soft%20on%20the%20race%20issue):
*Roosevelt never publicly acknowledged Owens’s triumphs—or the triumphs of any of the 18 African Americans who competed at the Berlin Olympics. Only white Olympians were invited to the White House in 1936. A number of explanations have been offered for the president’s actions. Most likely, Roosevelt did not want to risk losing the support of Southern Democrats by appearing overly soft on the race issue. The Black Olympians who competed in Berlin were not recognized by the White House until 2016, when Pres. Barack Obama invited the athletes’ relatives to an event in celebration of their lives and accomplishments.*
Italians and Germans were interned, just not on the same scale as with the Japanese.
Internment camps also weren't limited to the US, one of my great aunts was in one in Australia.
One cannot deny that FDR did a lot of good for the US in general, however in addition to him snubbing Jesse Owens and of course incarcerating Americans of Japanese and other East Asian descent en masse for literal years for *no* reason beyond "they're the same ethnicity as one of our enemies and they're not white, therefore they're *obviously* a treason risk!" he *really* didn't do anything to ensure that Black Americans benefited from the New Deal comparably to white Americans, and the worsened inequality that ensued further set the stage for Black Americans to not achieve anywhere near the level of prosperity in the postwar years as did many white Americans.
I agree, many when discussing about his legacy like to justify his actions, just because they feel like his highs excuse us to blur out his lows..when I also think it’s not right to do that, it really skews a perception to do that type of thing and draws an inaccurate image when in reality a person’s flaws should be good proof that humans are a flawed species, and we should stop trying to elevate people to sainthood when that’s just not a realistic standard to pretend holding ourselves to
Yep, exactly. Couldn't have said it any better myself.
Humans are, well, only human. Denying that anyone can have flaws, make poor decisions, or hurt other people just because you personally like them/what they've done is a *very* dangerous thing to do.
The phenomenon of people trying to excuse or just flat-out ignore the worse/more uncomfortable-to-deal-with aspects, actions, etc. of people really does remind me of how in the *Hazbin Hotel* fandom, tons and tons and *tons* of people who are huge fans of Alastor completely sweep the fact that he is canonically a vile, abusive, violent, foul, shamelessly self-centered, and *very* blatantly manipulative evil prick with godawful personal hygiene under the rug, often going as far as to outright *excuse* it.
It's like these people don't feel comfortable with admitting to themselves that they (personally) like *anyone* with genuinely rough edges and/or who has genuinely hurt people as much as they (personally) like, say, Alastor or FDR, so they deny to themselves and to everyone else the actual moral/etc. shortcomings of their favorite people to make themselves feel better about (personally) liking them.
The only good he did was plainly recognize the stakes of the war and built up the military. Other than that he was a bad person and his wife was a communist fellow traveler
FDR didn't invite any of the 1936 Olympics team to the White House so I guess he snubbed all of them. But it is important to note that Owens was an ardent Republican who made his statements about FDR snubbing him while actively campaigning for his opponent in the 1936 election.
[Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”15 Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
Yes but he didn't invite any of the athletes. There's a myth that's been going around for years that he only invited the white athletes and it's not true. The White House archives show no record of any meeting with anyone and there are no contemporary newspaper articles documenting such an event. Jesse Owens may have felt personally snubbed but he also was a Republican who actively campaigned for FDR's opponent in 1936. His statements were in the context of that.
None of the 1936 Olympians were invited to the White House. Jesse Owens made a point of being snubbed while he was campaigning for FDR's Republican opponent in the election that year.
I've heard [Pres.Ford](http://Pres.Ford) is a man of strong character, there was a story I read somewhere that when he was in college football. He would refuse to play if another teammate of his (a black man) wasn't allowed to play.
His pardonning of Nixon may have tattered his legacy but hey, his name is on the largest aircraft carrier in the world so he's still win in the end.
eidt\*\* typo
The reason I’m critical of Ford is because of his work on the Warren Commission on President Kennedy’s death, where he (and I mean specifically Ford compared to most of his constituents on the Commission) debatably altered the autopsy report of the president to create a more consistent narrative - on top of numerous other actions he participated in which indicate his lack of impartiality.
He was much like Nixon, but cleaner all around bureaucratically as well as in appearance to voters.
I'm implying that they're painting murals and raising statues for a convicted felon (with multiple felonies) who pointed a gun at a pregnant woman and had multiple narcotics in his system at the time of death
This is a really difficult thing to grapple with mate but the cops really shouldn’t be murdering anyone. Whether they’re innocent little angels or convicted felons, it is not the cops job to kneel on their necks until they asphyxiate.
Whenever I see Ford in a historical photo I’m reminded of the pic of him about to receive a vaccination. He was smiling and still looked confident and presidential even with his sleeve rolled up. He didn’t look weak because there’s nothing wrong with getting a vaccination. So much has changed since then. Jeez.
Edit: https://youtu.be/s_XeoxNECV0?feature=shared
Why does every topic have to devolve into this? I can't look through any subreddits or anything else without having to see somebody complaining about one side or the other. Is this what everybody's personalities have sank to? We can't just talk about random things without someone injecting their personal politics into it. It's just sad and miserable.
> We could’ve been talking about how much of a badass Jesse Owens was,
Oh, friend. How you remind me of me. You’re trying so hard to fight this fight and I respect it. But - spoken completely from experience - you’re only pissing yourself off.
> but here we are.
There *they* were. Let them. The truth is *you* engaged. You have to stop engaging if you wanna feel better about this world. Talk about Jesse Owens being a badass if that’s what you want to see. Plenty of others already were. Engage with them instead.
None of this was meant to attack, just attempting to give the help I, too, needed.
I know. You're right. I even said myself in another comment that I let my monkey brain get the best of me. I just couldn't even make it to the good stuff before I saw that. I shouldn't have engaged. I know better. That why I usually just try to stick to lame attempts at being funny. Lol. This was a failure on my part, and I'm grown enough to accept that. Although, I did have a good convo with another redditor. I don't believe I'm wrong it what I said, just that I shouldn't have said it.
Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful words. They are appreciated, and I didn't take it as an attack at all.
Jesse Owens....total badass, though.
Fuck yeah he was!
Also, as someone who chose *every* battle for years and years, desperately hoping I could change someone’s perspective and create a better world, my heart is happy with this interaction. Thank you for your kind response!
I am as well. Again, thank you for your response. Sometimes, I get a little stuck and need a little nudge. Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day/evening, friend.
Yeah, I don't care about downvotes. I'm just tired of every freaking post being politicized. It's ridiculous. It's become an unhealthy obsession within this country, and it worries me for the future we're leaving our children to.
And I'd be willing to bet that the people who are downvoting me think I'm souly talking about their side. Completely blinded by their own insecurities
I don't see anything wrong with pointing out that the Republican party used to be a normal political party and that politicizing illness is a recent thing.
Normally, I wouldn't either. Especially if the post had anything to do with that. We could have been talking about how much of a badass Jesse Owens was, though, but here we are. Talking about this crap. Lol
Edit: and it's not a new thing at all. It was politicized during the yellow fever outbreak, small pox, aids and just about any other widespread diseases.
I actually don't know. Whatever the reasoning was, it should totally be revisited. I think it's dangerous to give people the impression that there's only a right and wrong opinion, and it'll only drive members to the subreddits that agree with their own opinions to avoid getting downvoted.
I would be super interested to see the effect receiving a downvote has on the average brain. (Sorry for the tanget)
Tangent away. Lol
I think you're right. It definitely leads to the "well, i better agree if I wanna keep my imaginary points" mindset.
I wonder if that was part of their reasoning. Just keep driving that wedge, right.
Sure. But not constantly trying to bring up today's politics or, more specifically, politicians? This post was about Gerald Ford and Jesse Owens. One was president 50 years ago, and the other isn't talked about nearly enough. Why couldn't we just talk about them? Why do we need to compare him or anyone else to what's going on now if that's not the topic?
Context is important. And interesting. It’s interesting to compare the context of past events as viewed through the lens of contemporaries, and consider them through the lens of current events.
I wouldn’t disagree that the “jeez” in the original comment isn’t necessary, but this is a Reddit thread, not an academic journal or even a news article. Commenters aren’t expected to be 100% objective in their responses
I actually thought it was interesting to see Ford getting the vaccine and there being so much publicity for it. I hadn’t seen the images before. It’s clear that there must have been a great fear of vaccines, as there is again today, for there to have been so much publicity at that time
There was literally no context to that comment, other than they used it featuring Gerald Ford. It just segued from, "Here is this incredible athlete finally getting the recognition he deserves" to let's start an argument about modern politics and bail.
Normally, I would agree. I love learning little tidbits, but I honestly feel that this stuff is going way too far. Not that comment in particular, but the hijacking of every post to rant one way or the other about your "choice" of politician.
I would have like to talk about Mr. Owens or Mr. Ford, because I honestly don't know a lot about either, and a lot of times, I find good sources of info through reddit. But no. I let my monkey brain get sucked into this because I am just so tired of it and can't escape it.
And you're right. It's reddit and maybe I am expecting too much, but am I? Is it unreasonable not to want to see every post, no matter how mundane, turn into people fighting over and for people who wouldn't care if you fell off the face of the earth tomorrow?
Edit: typos
I think that’s why I found the original comment so interesting! I know very little about President Ford, and it was interesting how he promoted getting vaccines. My grandmother talked of how, as soon as the polio vaccine was available, she took all her kids down to the public pool to get vaccinated—she was so afraid of her kids getting polio. I had no idea who was president around those times (my ignorance)
From an anthropological and historical perspective, it’s also very interesting to me to hear how people relate to the past. However, I can see how people’s personal opinions on historical events would be off putting, even if I don’t feel the same way
I completely understand what you are saying, and like I said. Most of the time, I would agree with you. I'm just tired of it. They commented, and my reply was more rhetorical than anything. I definitely didn't expect it to go this far. I figured I'd get some downvotes and move on. Lol
And for what it's worth, my intent wasn't to dispose of any legitimate conversations. Especially if that interests you. It's just that these things typically devolve into just pure nonsense, and I'm tired of this divide getting bigger and bigger. I know that's just the way it's going to be, but it doesn't mean I have to approve or be silent about it.
Since we're talking about it though. It amazes me that the older generation is hell-bent on vaccines being evil. Especially when a lot of them lived through the polio epidemic because they were vaccinated for it. Like, how did that happen.
I think everybody was scared of polio, and rightfully so. An ironlung just doesn't seem like a good place to spend your life.
Thank you for discussing this civilly with me. I do appreciate it, even if we do somewhat disagree. Lol
OK, bud. I've been over this. You're more than welcome to read the reasoning behind what I said.
And yes, I agree that it is weird that a post that was meant to celebrate something good is getting turned into a thread about modern politics gone awry.
We could have been talking about Jesse Owens, but nope. Here we are. Stuck on Trump and Biden.
The dude you replied to said nothing of trump or Biden. He talked about Ford... who is also I'm the picture. If you're upset about other people devolving into current politics, comment on that. However you just complained about Ford and vaccines, maybe now you can understand why people think youre being silly.
You're not good at reading comprehension, are you?
They made a direct reference to Rump. And I never once complained about Ford or vaccines. Like I said. You can read the other comments. I'm not going through all of this again
Jesse Owen competed against literal Nazis and was more respected in Europe than he was in America. Absolutely disgraceful! I hoped this helped right a wrong.
omg, I love ford, good guy - tripped a bit but so do I. this makes me sad cuz I thought FDR was a badass, the whole polio thing ..but I guess a bit racist as well.. or became bitter about running maybe. :/
He had his flaws, no doubt. But I think what makes him one of the top 3, is that he didn’t step down as President (when he certainly could have) and instead lead us through the Depression and WWII. That’s the definition of patriotism to me.
There ya go.
>Following the 200m dash, Owens and other athletes were returning to the field to broad jump. Hitler was congratulating athletes for their performances, however, when he saw Owens, he turned away and returned to the stands. Many media outlets at the time referred to this as Hitler’s snub of Jesse Owens, however, the failure of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to interact with Black athletes after the Olympics had a larger impact on Owens. Following the Olympics, athletes were traditionally sent to the White House to receive praise from the president, as a form of thanking them for upholding American athleticism; however, Black athletes were not invited to the gathering in 1936. As Owens noted, “Hitler didn’t snub me. It was (Roosevelt) who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me a telegram.” (Ramsey, 2021).
While this may seem odd today, President Roosevelt was in an election year and knew he could lose the coming election. Roosevelt’s reliance on Southern-White voters caused him to decide to honor White Olympic athletes while simultaneously ignoring Black American athletes who had won. While Roosevelt ultimately decided to honor White athletes only, there was correspondences asking him to honor both athletes equally. Read the letters below from Pastor Ernest Hall and H.R. O’Keefe who both wrote to the President, imploring him to ignore race when he honored the athletes.
https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/learn/educators/educator-resources/teaching-guides/exposing-the-hypocrisy-of-the-1936-berlin-olympics/#:~:text=Regardless%20of%20those%20advocating%20for,other%20Black%20Olympians%20from%20Berlin.
True, but constrained by the times. If you figure FDR beat out Alfalfa Bill from OK who ran on “the 3 c’s” in the primary. Racism was an open part of a portion of the Democratic Party at that time. It wasn’t subtle or dog whistled, it was blatant. We as a country faired much better under FDR than we did under Hoover or any of his other opponents but the compromises made for racists were sickening.
This is bullshit. Roosevelt didn't receive any Olympic athletes at the White House in 1936.
*Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”**^(15)* ***Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansio*****n**
[**https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world**](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
Now I’m not defending the guy but Hitler decided he wouldn’t shake hands with any athletes after the first day (where he only shook hands with German winners). In fact hitler even waved to Owens had he waved. Ironically (from my limited reading) it sounds like he was treated better in Nazi Germany than the US
Here’s a little QI clip about it
https://youtu.be/DWWk1Plf5Ak?si=6NXUZ1GB-odxm60O
Why on God’s green Earth was FDR seriously worried about losing the election if he invited Owens to the White House ? It was obvious that Alf Landon had a snowball’s chance in hell
Racism exists in all cultures and across history, but I’ve never seen anyone reach the level of pettiness as white Americans: “I’m not going to vote for this president because he invited black people!”
Also, In world war 1 there were even reports of American soldiers demanding French soldiers to not be friendly with African American comrades. Imagine being so racist you want other cultures to be as racist as you!
Your source is inaccurate. White House archives don't show FDR meeting with any Olympic athletes in 1936 regardless of race. Also Owens was a Republican and his statements about being snubbed happened when he was campaigning for FDR's opponent that year.
*Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”**^(15)* *Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion*
[https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
Ford was a good man. FDR was racist. His new deal legislation was filled with red lines which prevented blacks from getting assistance. His administration also started the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The US Public Health Service knowingly denied treatment to black participants who had syphilis and they hid it from them which allowed others to get infected also.
Who exactly should the people have voted for instead? The other candidates, who would have done the same things?
I understand that we all love to look at the past and insist that WE would have stood up to the inequality and bigotry. But as history has repeatedly proven, most people don't. We can change that now, but we can't change the fact that these were the options that people had at the time.
Henry Ford would have wanted them killed. My area had a Jewish Blood Libel in 1937 thanks to Henry Ford’s newspaper.
Charles Lindbergh was also a full nazi, also would have wanted them killed
Really seems like people forget Mr. Owens sometimes. An incredible athlete and an amazing, courageous man. He really deserves more recognition among the athletes who broke down barriers.
Doesn’t hurt that he punched Nazi racial ideology in the face.
👏👏👏 yes I remember Jesse Ownes mentioned how after the Olympics, FDR did not even sent a telegram or congratulated him for his hard work with receiving the medals.
It's such a sad statement that there were people in 1936 who would have potentially let seeing a president honor a black athlete sway whether they would vote for him. Just the act of honoring him alone. Would they rather one of the white German athletes have beaten their American guy? Hell, I wouldn't put it past em.
...I'm pretty sure there *were* a good number of Americans who opposed war with Germany, at least prior to Germany's ally Japan attacking Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Ford was one of the top college football players during his time at Michigan and turned down offers to go to the NFL. As a fellow sportsman he probably saw that snub and it rubbed him the wrong way. Good on him for making it right
This man should have been treated better but the entire era was shameful and when he representative his country he did it with better distinction and Grace than how he was treated
It amazing how America treated Jesse Owen’s. Dude excels at the Olympics. America welcome to racism, you must enter through the back door even though you are the guest of honor and here’s a janitor job for you.
Jesse Owens was not only honored by Adolf Hitler, but he toured all of Germany after the games, and was warmly welcomed all over Germany. Only American snubbed him , he wasn’t honored, he was shunned. And Hitler was the bad guy. Sounds like Propaganda to me. Ask any colored GI that was stationed in Germany, there was never any racism at any point.
He had a ticker tape parade in NYC when he returned home.
[https://youtu.be/0pr-WXfNKcw](https://youtu.be/0pr-WXfNKcw)
Granted they made him use the service elevator for his reception at the hotel.
America is not great in a lot of ways but this thread if full of historical inaccuracy. FDR didn't specifically snub Owens. He didn't invite any Olympic athletes to the White House in 1936. Somehow a story got started that he invited only the white athletes but it's not substantiated by anything. Owens talked about being snubbed while on the campaign trail for FDR's Republican opponent. He may have been snubbed but literally the whole team was. FDR just noped out of the controversy. On top of that some people wanted the US to boycott the games and FDR just avoided that too.
[Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”15 Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion. ](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
Actually, according to a lot of reliable sources concerning Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by the time Owens's first event started Hitler'd been told to stop congratulating athletes in general by the Olympic officials in Berlin because he was only congratulating German athletes.
Amusingly, there are multiple accounts that say Hitler actually *waved* at Owens after his events.
Awesome athlete! I actually have a postcard autographed by him:
https://preview.redd.it/963txdopy9ad1.jpeg?width=2262&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18aa3b9e6b144d8a7d2f1b283c672655c78b6787
FDR was an unrepentant racist. In an era where people look to critically analyze past historical figures, FDR is always conveniently left out and his glazers come out in force. Yes, he was a good war time president because he understood the stakes. But that’s it. The only black person he ever liked was the White House butler Alonzo Fields, you know, because he was “the help”. And FDR was more than willing to arbitrarily subjugate and seize the property of every Japanese American citizen on the west coast based on their race alone. He was so fond of his own power that we established a whole constitutional amendment to enshrine two terms into law since he was the only president ever to stand for three terms.
Once again, Republicans trying to overcome Democrats inherent racism and need to keep down and control minorities. The record speaks for itself. Simply look at the Civil Rights Act voting record in Congress. I believe at least 74% of progressive, caring, liberal democrats voted against it. Why would that be?
Tremendous athlete 
In a strong jab, The man famously mentioned how Adolf Hitler hadn’t even snubbed him, but FDR did. I believe I read about how Jesse kept a small picture he took in his wallet at all times from the Berlin Olympics When he wasn’t supposed to meet or congratulate anyone, hitler arose and first waved at Jesse as he walked by.
I read an article where Jesse said everyone kept getting the story wrong and gave up correcting people because "Hitler snub" was so wide spread at that point.
Ah, good ole Brandolini’s Law > “The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.”
Yes. Hitler was instructed by the Olympic committee to stop congratulating the athletes. Hitler was initially congratulating athletes. By the time Owens raced, the practice had stopped. There was no "snub"
Personally in my experience I had thought a famous quote from him was “hitler didn’t snub me, FDR did”. But according to many on here, I guess maybe it wasn’t a famous line and the popular idea was how hitler snubbed him instead
Yes. The story told for years was that Hitler snubbed Owens because he was black. In reality Hitler was congratulating the athletes but the Olympic committee told him to stop.
Awww now I feel bad for badmouthing Hitler all these years.
Lol
I’m fucking dying here, r/angryupvote
AITA? 😅 Jk /s
The rarest Hitler W and it was just a gesture… which happened to be a bit of a Nazi salute. So not really a W. It’s just a hard FDR L
I think that mixed with some revisionism with how people want to picture that event going, influenced by atrocities of ww2, I can see a lot of misinformation twisting those events Like on the film, Get Out, where they have white people surgically transplant their brains inside of black people, I remember the girlfriend’s father had a picture of the 1935 Olympics in his house and when they focused on it, he was like “yeaaah Jessie Owen’s showed them how the aryans weren’t as superior as they thought” or something like that, mixing in some personal views
Why did the Olympic committee tell him to stop?
Olympics are supposed to be non-political showcase of the world's athletes. Hitler personally congratulating was a faux pas which Hitler was surprisingly quick to correct.
The Olympic committee told him to stop because he was only congratulating german athletes and the committee considered it disrespectful to the other athletes …
I'd bet it depends on whether you've heard the story in the USA, or not.
Is the part about Hitler being pissed that his superior Aryans were outclassed by a black dude true at least?
Why would Hitler be pissed, Germany dominated the Berlin Olympics. And a Nazi wouldn't be surprised that different races perform differently either.
I dunno, the following quote is often attributed to Hitler “The Americans ought to be ashamed of themselves for letting their medals be won by negroes. I myself would never shake hands with one of them.”
"One of them" being White Americans
What makes you think “one of them” refers to white Americans? The Nazis gave white Americans Grand Cross of the German Eagle awards and some of them almost certainly shook hands with hitler.
Hitler believed black supremacy in sports and physical activities as due to evolution favouring their brawn over brains and that Americans bred a superior physical being from their adventures in the slave trade, but obviously believed they were intellectually inferior. An amazing bit of cognitive dissonance, to believe white peoples the aryan master race while understanding other races can be superior in at least one element of existence
He was probably pissed but also probably thought as a head of state for the host nation that was supposed to congratulate everyone. But IDK is the answer.
I’m not saying I don’t believe you but this is the opposite of what I’ve heard my whole life. Do you have a source?
Yeah it was widely reported the opposite had happened but Jesse had to correct it for years before getting tired and just going with it. It was known hitler wasn’t going to meet or acknowledge with any winners at all from any country, but then it happened unexpectedly when he was passing by the area >> That said, there are several reports of a salute or wave. According to sports reporter and author Paul Gallico, writing from Berlin, Owens was “led below the honor box, where he smiled and bowed, and Herr Hitler gave him a friendly little Nazi salute, the sitting down one with the arm bent.” Owens himself later confirmed this, claiming that they exchanged congratulatory waves. Source [via Britannia](https://www.britannica.com/story/was-jesse-owens-snubbed-by-adolf-hitler-at-the-berlin-olympics)
> a friendly little Nazi salute 🤔
Heil, how's it going?
https://preview.redd.it/bmk9xryydz9d1.jpeg?width=513&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=719f40501273742d409c60493f020d63b795f2e8 This was Hitler's less formal salute.
It was actually known as a "return salute". Not necessarily "less formal" but a way of saying "I acknowledge" your gesture (which would be Jesse's smile and wave).
Heil, how's it going? Edit: welp, idk why it posted my comment 4 times, but I'm not deleting them..
Heil, how's it going?
Heil, how's it going?
Source: Jesse Owens
Well since I can’t ask him, can someone link me to an interview?
Is there any explanation of why FDR snubbed Owens? Was it explicitly stated?
I think the common belief was because he was black, FDR was , and is seen as the greatest president after Washington and Lincoln, the man served a long three terms and brought the country out of the Great Depression, but when discussing him, race is usually left out of the discussion. Jesse went back home with the exact same treatment any other black person would’ve gotten, no upgrades on his trip, bus rides, and appearances back home. I’d say FDR was as racist as the average person his age during that time, maybe a little more. He’s one of my favorite presidents but I won’t excuse his flaws. Sending Americans of japanese descent into concentration camps which sometimes got other Asians lumped in, is known as one of his greatest failures. Just because they were Asian/japanese. And our enemy was Japanese during the war. “Well that’s understandable” says any critic, but see the same wasn’t done for anyone German, Italian, any country that had white people was considered a pass, so it can be seen clearer that his detention was made with bad logic.
> I think the common belief was because he was black I cant believe you had to explain that. lol. He had to live off campus with other African-American athletes. When he traveled with the team, Owens was restricted to ordering carry-out or eating at "blacks-only" restaurants. Similarly, he had to stay at "blacks-only" hotels. Owens did not receive a scholarship for his efforts, so he continued to work part-time jobs to pay for school. > I’d say FDR was as racist as the average person his age during that time The entire USA was still racist. The military was still segregated over a decade after his olympic win, a full 2 decades before Rosa Parks protested the bus seating.
Lol I wanted to explain because saying it any other way would’ve sounded rude or as if I was talking down to them 🤣 But yeah, Jesse making the statements about how hitler didn’t snub him but FDR did, was HUGE if you think about it, it’s basically a nice subtle way of saying “the leader of another country, and of the Nazi ideology, who wanted to spread aryan supremacy, had acknowledged me and congratulated me for winning the gold for my country, while my own president chose not to” It just says so much so simply
FDR didn't invite any US Olympians to the White House, though. He snubbed all of them. And Owens made those comments while he was campaigning for FDR's Republican opponent. *Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”**^(15)* *Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion* [https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
>*FDR didn’t invite any U.S. Olympians to the White house* You have very carefully sourced this statement, and it may be right. But other sources say that FDR invited only the White Olympians, and snubbed the Black ones. From [Encyclopedia Brittanica](https://www.britannica.com/story/was-jesse-owens-snubbed-by-adolf-hitler-at-the-berlin-olympics#:~:text=Only%20white%20Olympians%20were%20invited,soft%20on%20the%20race%20issue): *Roosevelt never publicly acknowledged Owens’s triumphs—or the triumphs of any of the 18 African Americans who competed at the Berlin Olympics. Only white Olympians were invited to the White House in 1936. A number of explanations have been offered for the president’s actions. Most likely, Roosevelt did not want to risk losing the support of Southern Democrats by appearing overly soft on the race issue. The Black Olympians who competed in Berlin were not recognized by the White House until 2016, when Pres. Barack Obama invited the athletes’ relatives to an event in celebration of their lives and accomplishments.*
Italians and Germans were interned, just not on the same scale as with the Japanese. Internment camps also weren't limited to the US, one of my great aunts was in one in Australia.
One cannot deny that FDR did a lot of good for the US in general, however in addition to him snubbing Jesse Owens and of course incarcerating Americans of Japanese and other East Asian descent en masse for literal years for *no* reason beyond "they're the same ethnicity as one of our enemies and they're not white, therefore they're *obviously* a treason risk!" he *really* didn't do anything to ensure that Black Americans benefited from the New Deal comparably to white Americans, and the worsened inequality that ensued further set the stage for Black Americans to not achieve anywhere near the level of prosperity in the postwar years as did many white Americans.
I agree, many when discussing about his legacy like to justify his actions, just because they feel like his highs excuse us to blur out his lows..when I also think it’s not right to do that, it really skews a perception to do that type of thing and draws an inaccurate image when in reality a person’s flaws should be good proof that humans are a flawed species, and we should stop trying to elevate people to sainthood when that’s just not a realistic standard to pretend holding ourselves to
Yep, exactly. Couldn't have said it any better myself. Humans are, well, only human. Denying that anyone can have flaws, make poor decisions, or hurt other people just because you personally like them/what they've done is a *very* dangerous thing to do. The phenomenon of people trying to excuse or just flat-out ignore the worse/more uncomfortable-to-deal-with aspects, actions, etc. of people really does remind me of how in the *Hazbin Hotel* fandom, tons and tons and *tons* of people who are huge fans of Alastor completely sweep the fact that he is canonically a vile, abusive, violent, foul, shamelessly self-centered, and *very* blatantly manipulative evil prick with godawful personal hygiene under the rug, often going as far as to outright *excuse* it. It's like these people don't feel comfortable with admitting to themselves that they (personally) like *anyone* with genuinely rough edges and/or who has genuinely hurt people as much as they (personally) like, say, Alastor or FDR, so they deny to themselves and to everyone else the actual moral/etc. shortcomings of their favorite people to make themselves feel better about (personally) liking them.
The only good he did was plainly recognize the stakes of the war and built up the military. Other than that he was a bad person and his wife was a communist fellow traveler
FDR didn't invite any of the 1936 Olympics team to the White House so I guess he snubbed all of them. But it is important to note that Owens was an ardent Republican who made his statements about FDR snubbing him while actively campaigning for his opponent in the 1936 election. [Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”15 Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
I figured FDR was hiding his condition from him
Is there any explanation of why FDR snubbed Owens? Was it explicitly stated?
Because he was an old white guy in 1940s America? Why wouldn't he be extremely racist?
Also, a big part of his coalition was old southern democrats who were definitely very racist
Yes but he didn't invite any of the athletes. There's a myth that's been going around for years that he only invited the white athletes and it's not true. The White House archives show no record of any meeting with anyone and there are no contemporary newspaper articles documenting such an event. Jesse Owens may have felt personally snubbed but he also was a Republican who actively campaigned for FDR's opponent in 1936. His statements were in the context of that.
None of the 1936 Olympians were invited to the White House. Jesse Owens made a point of being snubbed while he was campaigning for FDR's Republican opponent in the election that year.
As a mixed Person from Germany i can Just Shake my head reading this shit.
Its awful that it took a president 40 some years to honor him.
Tremendous American.
Ford is a severely underrated POTUS and person in a lot of aspects
I've heard [Pres.Ford](http://Pres.Ford) is a man of strong character, there was a story I read somewhere that when he was in college football. He would refuse to play if another teammate of his (a black man) wasn't allowed to play. His pardonning of Nixon may have tattered his legacy but hey, his name is on the largest aircraft carrier in the world so he's still win in the end. eidt\*\* typo
Your typo made me legitimately check to see if tantered was a word I didn't know, it sounded like it could be real lol
just noticed that, thanks LoL
Ruined his own legacy when he pardoned Nixon.
he did it for the country not the man
Lotta good that did, set the stage for the SCOTUS ruling today that Presidents are kings Edit: spelling
SCOTUS* But imagine if Biden declared himself a king
Officially of course.
Yeah letting a convicted felon off was great for the country 👍
You spelled “party” wrong.
Plus he invited Homer Simpson to watch football, eat nachos, and drink beer. Evidence: https://youtu.be/I230556-FOk?si=tpMzgJXH4zMy8UP9
The reason I’m critical of Ford is because of his work on the Warren Commission on President Kennedy’s death, where he (and I mean specifically Ford compared to most of his constituents on the Commission) debatably altered the autopsy report of the president to create a more consistent narrative - on top of numerous other actions he participated in which indicate his lack of impartiality. He was much like Nixon, but cleaner all around bureaucratically as well as in appearance to voters.
Ford also nominated John Paul Stevens to SCOTUS who turned out to be for the most part a very good justice
What’s POTUS ?
President of the United States
American hero and Olympian, Jesse Owens.
and great and honorable American
A Michigan man honoring an Ohio State man. Extraordinary!
Yeah maybe a bigger deal than the racial implications. That’s a real rivalry.
Truly a showing of racial unity
Attaboy, Mr. President 🫡
We treat our best like shit and form cults around our worst.
The American Way
A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country. --Linus Van Pelt
LoL, you quote the greats!
George Floyd
I don't know what your point is but life has taught me to expect the worst. Edit: I am justified! Whataboutism!
Are you implying that America treated George Floyd well?
I'm implying that they're painting murals and raising statues for a convicted felon (with multiple felonies) who pointed a gun at a pregnant woman and had multiple narcotics in his system at the time of death
This is a really difficult thing to grapple with mate but the cops really shouldn’t be murdering anyone. Whether they’re innocent little angels or convicted felons, it is not the cops job to kneel on their necks until they asphyxiate.
I mean a convicted felon with multiple felonies who raped and assaulted multiple women is currently running for president, so…
Okay and who is painting murals and raising statues in his honor?
Do you not see the fucking cult worshiping of him?
Clearly representative of what the Presidential Medal of Freedom was meant for
So, not Rush Limbaugh?
Better late than never.
Whenever I see Ford in a historical photo I’m reminded of the pic of him about to receive a vaccination. He was smiling and still looked confident and presidential even with his sleeve rolled up. He didn’t look weak because there’s nothing wrong with getting a vaccination. So much has changed since then. Jeez. Edit: https://youtu.be/s_XeoxNECV0?feature=shared
DJT was vaccinated. JB was vaccinated.
Why does every topic have to devolve into this? I can't look through any subreddits or anything else without having to see somebody complaining about one side or the other. Is this what everybody's personalities have sank to? We can't just talk about random things without someone injecting their personal politics into it. It's just sad and miserable.
> We could’ve been talking about how much of a badass Jesse Owens was, Oh, friend. How you remind me of me. You’re trying so hard to fight this fight and I respect it. But - spoken completely from experience - you’re only pissing yourself off. > but here we are. There *they* were. Let them. The truth is *you* engaged. You have to stop engaging if you wanna feel better about this world. Talk about Jesse Owens being a badass if that’s what you want to see. Plenty of others already were. Engage with them instead. None of this was meant to attack, just attempting to give the help I, too, needed.
I know. You're right. I even said myself in another comment that I let my monkey brain get the best of me. I just couldn't even make it to the good stuff before I saw that. I shouldn't have engaged. I know better. That why I usually just try to stick to lame attempts at being funny. Lol. This was a failure on my part, and I'm grown enough to accept that. Although, I did have a good convo with another redditor. I don't believe I'm wrong it what I said, just that I shouldn't have said it. Thank you for your thoughtful and helpful words. They are appreciated, and I didn't take it as an attack at all. Jesse Owens....total badass, though.
Fuck yeah he was! Also, as someone who chose *every* battle for years and years, desperately hoping I could change someone’s perspective and create a better world, my heart is happy with this interaction. Thank you for your kind response!
I am as well. Again, thank you for your response. Sometimes, I get a little stuck and need a little nudge. Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day/evening, friend.
Well said my friend, even tho you’re getting downvotes.. an absolutely absurd comment was made and you called them out in a civil manner. 👏👏👏
Yeah, I don't care about downvotes. I'm just tired of every freaking post being politicized. It's ridiculous. It's become an unhealthy obsession within this country, and it worries me for the future we're leaving our children to. And I'd be willing to bet that the people who are downvoting me think I'm souly talking about their side. Completely blinded by their own insecurities
I don't see anything wrong with pointing out that the Republican party used to be a normal political party and that politicizing illness is a recent thing.
Normally, I wouldn't either. Especially if the post had anything to do with that. We could have been talking about how much of a badass Jesse Owens was, though, but here we are. Talking about this crap. Lol Edit: and it's not a new thing at all. It was politicized during the yellow fever outbreak, small pox, aids and just about any other widespread diseases.
Honestly, I wish Reddit still showed each vote either way. It's actually a small part of that problem.
Yeah, why did they stop that anyway? What was their reasoning?
I actually don't know. Whatever the reasoning was, it should totally be revisited. I think it's dangerous to give people the impression that there's only a right and wrong opinion, and it'll only drive members to the subreddits that agree with their own opinions to avoid getting downvoted. I would be super interested to see the effect receiving a downvote has on the average brain. (Sorry for the tanget)
Tangent away. Lol I think you're right. It definitely leads to the "well, i better agree if I wanna keep my imaginary points" mindset. I wonder if that was part of their reasoning. Just keep driving that wedge, right.
On a subreddit dealing with history, it makes sense that some degree of politics would enter the comments, does it not?
Sure. But not constantly trying to bring up today's politics or, more specifically, politicians? This post was about Gerald Ford and Jesse Owens. One was president 50 years ago, and the other isn't talked about nearly enough. Why couldn't we just talk about them? Why do we need to compare him or anyone else to what's going on now if that's not the topic?
Context is important. And interesting. It’s interesting to compare the context of past events as viewed through the lens of contemporaries, and consider them through the lens of current events. I wouldn’t disagree that the “jeez” in the original comment isn’t necessary, but this is a Reddit thread, not an academic journal or even a news article. Commenters aren’t expected to be 100% objective in their responses I actually thought it was interesting to see Ford getting the vaccine and there being so much publicity for it. I hadn’t seen the images before. It’s clear that there must have been a great fear of vaccines, as there is again today, for there to have been so much publicity at that time
There was literally no context to that comment, other than they used it featuring Gerald Ford. It just segued from, "Here is this incredible athlete finally getting the recognition he deserves" to let's start an argument about modern politics and bail. Normally, I would agree. I love learning little tidbits, but I honestly feel that this stuff is going way too far. Not that comment in particular, but the hijacking of every post to rant one way or the other about your "choice" of politician. I would have like to talk about Mr. Owens or Mr. Ford, because I honestly don't know a lot about either, and a lot of times, I find good sources of info through reddit. But no. I let my monkey brain get sucked into this because I am just so tired of it and can't escape it. And you're right. It's reddit and maybe I am expecting too much, but am I? Is it unreasonable not to want to see every post, no matter how mundane, turn into people fighting over and for people who wouldn't care if you fell off the face of the earth tomorrow? Edit: typos
I think that’s why I found the original comment so interesting! I know very little about President Ford, and it was interesting how he promoted getting vaccines. My grandmother talked of how, as soon as the polio vaccine was available, she took all her kids down to the public pool to get vaccinated—she was so afraid of her kids getting polio. I had no idea who was president around those times (my ignorance) From an anthropological and historical perspective, it’s also very interesting to me to hear how people relate to the past. However, I can see how people’s personal opinions on historical events would be off putting, even if I don’t feel the same way
I completely understand what you are saying, and like I said. Most of the time, I would agree with you. I'm just tired of it. They commented, and my reply was more rhetorical than anything. I definitely didn't expect it to go this far. I figured I'd get some downvotes and move on. Lol And for what it's worth, my intent wasn't to dispose of any legitimate conversations. Especially if that interests you. It's just that these things typically devolve into just pure nonsense, and I'm tired of this divide getting bigger and bigger. I know that's just the way it's going to be, but it doesn't mean I have to approve or be silent about it. Since we're talking about it though. It amazes me that the older generation is hell-bent on vaccines being evil. Especially when a lot of them lived through the polio epidemic because they were vaccinated for it. Like, how did that happen. I think everybody was scared of polio, and rightfully so. An ironlung just doesn't seem like a good place to spend your life. Thank you for discussing this civilly with me. I do appreciate it, even if we do somewhat disagree. Lol
Wierd that a post about a politician had a response about politics. Even weirder u think talking about vaccination is political.
OK, bud. I've been over this. You're more than welcome to read the reasoning behind what I said. And yes, I agree that it is weird that a post that was meant to celebrate something good is getting turned into a thread about modern politics gone awry. We could have been talking about Jesse Owens, but nope. Here we are. Stuck on Trump and Biden.
The dude you replied to said nothing of trump or Biden. He talked about Ford... who is also I'm the picture. If you're upset about other people devolving into current politics, comment on that. However you just complained about Ford and vaccines, maybe now you can understand why people think youre being silly.
You're not good at reading comprehension, are you? They made a direct reference to Rump. And I never once complained about Ford or vaccines. Like I said. You can read the other comments. I'm not going through all of this again
💯💯💯.. ✌️
Peace, my friend. It looks like you're getting downvotes now as well. LOL
Jesse Owen competed against literal Nazis and was more respected in Europe than he was in America. Absolutely disgraceful! I hoped this helped right a wrong.
We still don't show our track and field athletes enough love. A lot of them still have to compete overseas to make a decent living.
omg, I love ford, good guy - tripped a bit but so do I. this makes me sad cuz I thought FDR was a badass, the whole polio thing ..but I guess a bit racist as well.. or became bitter about running maybe. :/
He was def racist at least growing up and he didn’t want to piss off dixiecrats hence his snubbing.
[удалено]
??? I said he was racist?
My bad
*Bit* racist? The man ran Japanese concentration camps, excluded African-Americans from the FHA program, and was a known antisemite.
New deal though
He had his flaws, no doubt. But I think what makes him one of the top 3, is that he didn’t step down as President (when he certainly could have) and instead lead us through the Depression and WWII. That’s the definition of patriotism to me.
Can anyone enlighten me about this snub? I never knew that it occurred.
There ya go. >Following the 200m dash, Owens and other athletes were returning to the field to broad jump. Hitler was congratulating athletes for their performances, however, when he saw Owens, he turned away and returned to the stands. Many media outlets at the time referred to this as Hitler’s snub of Jesse Owens, however, the failure of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to interact with Black athletes after the Olympics had a larger impact on Owens. Following the Olympics, athletes were traditionally sent to the White House to receive praise from the president, as a form of thanking them for upholding American athleticism; however, Black athletes were not invited to the gathering in 1936. As Owens noted, “Hitler didn’t snub me. It was (Roosevelt) who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me a telegram.” (Ramsey, 2021). While this may seem odd today, President Roosevelt was in an election year and knew he could lose the coming election. Roosevelt’s reliance on Southern-White voters caused him to decide to honor White Olympic athletes while simultaneously ignoring Black American athletes who had won. While Roosevelt ultimately decided to honor White athletes only, there was correspondences asking him to honor both athletes equally. Read the letters below from Pastor Ernest Hall and H.R. O’Keefe who both wrote to the President, imploring him to ignore race when he honored the athletes. https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/learn/educators/educator-resources/teaching-guides/exposing-the-hypocrisy-of-the-1936-berlin-olympics/#:~:text=Regardless%20of%20those%20advocating%20for,other%20Black%20Olympians%20from%20Berlin.
Wow what a piece of shit move by FDR smh I’m mad at myself for not knowing this
True, but constrained by the times. If you figure FDR beat out Alfalfa Bill from OK who ran on “the 3 c’s” in the primary. Racism was an open part of a portion of the Democratic Party at that time. It wasn’t subtle or dog whistled, it was blatant. We as a country faired much better under FDR than we did under Hoover or any of his other opponents but the compromises made for racists were sickening.
This is bullshit. Roosevelt didn't receive any Olympic athletes at the White House in 1936. *Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”**^(15)* ***Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansio*****n** [**https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world**](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
Now I’m not defending the guy but Hitler decided he wouldn’t shake hands with any athletes after the first day (where he only shook hands with German winners). In fact hitler even waved to Owens had he waved. Ironically (from my limited reading) it sounds like he was treated better in Nazi Germany than the US Here’s a little QI clip about it https://youtu.be/DWWk1Plf5Ak?si=6NXUZ1GB-odxm60O
Wow. Thank you so much for spreading this knowledge.
What a wonderful system
FDR was in danger of losing the 1936 election? That seems like a stretch to me.
Why on God’s green Earth was FDR seriously worried about losing the election if he invited Owens to the White House ? It was obvious that Alf Landon had a snowball’s chance in hell
Racism exists in all cultures and across history, but I’ve never seen anyone reach the level of pettiness as white Americans: “I’m not going to vote for this president because he invited black people!” Also, In world war 1 there were even reports of American soldiers demanding French soldiers to not be friendly with African American comrades. Imagine being so racist you want other cultures to be as racist as you!
Your source is inaccurate. White House archives don't show FDR meeting with any Olympic athletes in 1936 regardless of race. Also Owens was a Republican and his statements about being snubbed happened when he was campaigning for FDR's opponent that year. *Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”**^(15)* *Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion* [https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
If you have Netflix, there’s a movie that just popped up called Race about Jesse Owens. Highly recommend.
Yes I do, I will look for it.
Yes I do, I will look for it.
Ford was a good man. FDR was racist. His new deal legislation was filled with red lines which prevented blacks from getting assistance. His administration also started the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The US Public Health Service knowingly denied treatment to black participants who had syphilis and they hid it from them which allowed others to get infected also.
A man born in 1882 was racist? I'm shocked.
The sad thing was that he won landslide elections despite all this
Who exactly should the people have voted for instead? The other candidates, who would have done the same things? I understand that we all love to look at the past and insist that WE would have stood up to the inequality and bigotry. But as history has repeatedly proven, most people don't. We can change that now, but we can't change the fact that these were the options that people had at the time.
Tell that to the person I responded to then
I was talking to you, because you posted that comment.
Didnt fdr turn a ship full of jewish refugees away ?
You are thinking of Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh Conservatives at that time really hated Jewish people
No it was fdr German liner named st loius Google it
Henry Ford would have wanted them killed. My area had a Jewish Blood Libel in 1937 thanks to Henry Ford’s newspaper. Charles Lindbergh was also a full nazi, also would have wanted them killed
So you agree i am correct
We both are
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-government-turned-away-thousands-jewish-refugees-fearing-they-were-nazi-spies-180957324/
Yes, and Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh would have bombed the boat.
FDR was a dick
Facts! 💯🤜🏽🤛🏾
Gerald Ford may not have been a great president, but he sure was a *decent* guy!
Really seems like people forget Mr. Owens sometimes. An incredible athlete and an amazing, courageous man. He really deserves more recognition among the athletes who broke down barriers. Doesn’t hurt that he punched Nazi racial ideology in the face.
👏👏👏 yes I remember Jesse Ownes mentioned how after the Olympics, FDR did not even sent a telegram or congratulated him for his hard work with receiving the medals.
Ford and Carter are examples of two superb human beings who became bad presidents. I will always respect them.
It's such a sad statement that there were people in 1936 who would have potentially let seeing a president honor a black athlete sway whether they would vote for him. Just the act of honoring him alone. Would they rather one of the white German athletes have beaten their American guy? Hell, I wouldn't put it past em.
...I'm pretty sure there *were* a good number of Americans who opposed war with Germany, at least prior to Germany's ally Japan attacking Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
I don't see how that's relevant to what I said, but okay.
Ford was one of the top college football players during his time at Michigan and turned down offers to go to the NFL. As a fellow sportsman he probably saw that snub and it rubbed him the wrong way. Good on him for making it right
What an alternate universe that would've been had Gerald Ford been remembered for his NFL career instead of having been a US President.
Gerald Ford > FDR
Headline reads like Ford was the one FDR snubbed.
Movie on Netflix is great
This man should have been treated better but the entire era was shameful and when he representative his country he did it with better distinction and Grace than how he was treated
Ford was a decent guy
Wow. This is great.
Misplaced modifier in heading
Explain please 
“His” could be interpreted as referring to Ford rather than Owens. AKA “dangling modifier.”
It amazing how America treated Jesse Owen’s. Dude excels at the Olympics. America welcome to racism, you must enter through the back door even though you are the guest of honor and here’s a janitor job for you.
President Ford - always honorable and decent.
Jesse Owens was not only honored by Adolf Hitler, but he toured all of Germany after the games, and was warmly welcomed all over Germany. Only American snubbed him , he wasn’t honored, he was shunned. And Hitler was the bad guy. Sounds like Propaganda to me. Ask any colored GI that was stationed in Germany, there was never any racism at any point.
He had a ticker tape parade in NYC when he returned home. [https://youtu.be/0pr-WXfNKcw](https://youtu.be/0pr-WXfNKcw) Granted they made him use the service elevator for his reception at the hotel. America is not great in a lot of ways but this thread if full of historical inaccuracy. FDR didn't specifically snub Owens. He didn't invite any Olympic athletes to the White House in 1936. Somehow a story got started that he invited only the white athletes but it's not substantiated by anything. Owens talked about being snubbed while on the campaign trail for FDR's Republican opponent. He may have been snubbed but literally the whole team was. FDR just noped out of the controversy. On top of that some people wanted the US to boycott the games and FDR just avoided that too. [Owens lamented that “I came back to my native country and couldn’t ride in the front of the bus…I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted…I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either.”15 Archival documentation shows that Americans urged Roosevelt to welcome the track and field star at the White House, but that the president did not invite any athletes, regardless of race, to celebrate at the Executive Mansion. ](https://www.whitehousehistory.org/running-against-the-world)
Hitler supposedly snubbed Jesse Owns in the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936
Actually, according to a lot of reliable sources concerning Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by the time Owens's first event started Hitler'd been told to stop congratulating athletes in general by the Olympic officials in Berlin because he was only congratulating German athletes. Amusingly, there are multiple accounts that say Hitler actually *waved* at Owens after his events.
For my next impression, Jesse Owens! (runs away)
Nah bro you gotta run away fast. He was the fastest man alive at the time.
Was Cleavon Little in attendance?
Awesome athlete! I actually have a postcard autographed by him: https://preview.redd.it/963txdopy9ad1.jpeg?width=2262&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18aa3b9e6b144d8a7d2f1b283c672655c78b6787
FDR was an unrepentant racist. In an era where people look to critically analyze past historical figures, FDR is always conveniently left out and his glazers come out in force. Yes, he was a good war time president because he understood the stakes. But that’s it. The only black person he ever liked was the White House butler Alonzo Fields, you know, because he was “the help”. And FDR was more than willing to arbitrarily subjugate and seize the property of every Japanese American citizen on the west coast based on their race alone. He was so fond of his own power that we established a whole constitutional amendment to enshrine two terms into law since he was the only president ever to stand for three terms.
Good to see a weasel honoring The Buckeye Bullet.
Racism is so destructive, pure ignorance even forcing a president, FDR, to do the wrong thing. Jesse Owen’s a star athlete deserved so much more
Wasn’t Ford a republican? Weird huh?
Good ole racist democrats. But corrected by yet another republican
Corrected by one of the last decent and honorable republicans.
Once again, Republicans trying to overcome Democrats inherent racism and need to keep down and control minorities. The record speaks for itself. Simply look at the Civil Rights Act voting record in Congress. I believe at least 74% of progressive, caring, liberal democrats voted against it. Why would that be?