Orson Scott Card once said, “I am especially grateful, however, to have known the fifties, before we began to poison our own civilization. People who experienced the 1950s thought it was the most fabulous years of a person’s life. It was different from previous years because of America’s adaptation of ideas. The 1950s were a time for change. Popular culture was significantly influenced by the people’s change of ideals at the time. Although some may disagree, popular culture in the 1950s experienced a pivotal change for the better. As aforementioned, 1950s’ popular culture changed a great deal. Americans had gained great deal of money. Unemployment and inflation rates were low. Economy was booming which meant that Americans had more money and …show more content…
Television advancements helped sports excel. Television made sports more accessible to people as they can now watch it from home. Because of increased attention on sports, the flaws that sports had were showcased. Previously, sports were an all-white field, but in the 1950s black integration into sports became big. On the contrary, integration was not always easy, Althea Gibson was an exceptional tennis player, but could not get the recognition she deserved since a lot of the professional tennis world was not accessible to her. This did not last long as a white tennis player Alice Marble wrote in American Lawn Tennis “lambasting her sport for denying a player of Gibson's caliber to compete in the world's best tournaments ” (biography.com). Marble was all about encouraging racial diversity in sports and when someone as good as Gibson was not able to thrive she decided to do something about it. Because of this, Althea Gibson went on to become the first African American that competed at the U.S. National Championships and she was also the first black player to compete at Wimbledon. Not only did she break records in tennis, but she also broke records in golf as well. Tennis and golf were not the only sports undergoing racial transformations. Despite having polio, a crippling disease, Wilma Rudolph overcame her disability and was first African American to win three gold medals in track and field at one Olympic event. The NBA was also integration blacks into their sports. Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, and Nat “Sweetwater Clifton” were the first African American players in the NBA. In 1951 and 1952, Floyd Patterson won the New York Golden Gloves title in amateur boxing. Later on in 1956, he became youngest world heavyweight champion with his defeat of the Archie Moore, also African American, and the oldest light heavyweight champion. Jim Brown won the Rookie of the Year in 1957 for his extraordinary football talent. Last,
Jackie Robinson went on to win rookie of the year that season, 6 world series, and most importantly show African-Americans they can are just as good as Cauc...
One of the major stands that were made during a black athlete’s tenure during his or her sport were their statements on racism. Racism in America was an ongoing situation in the 1900’s that seemed to have no resolve before black athletes took a stand. One prime example can be Jackie Robinson who became the first African-American athlete to play baseball in the modern era. Jackie grew up in one of the most racist towns in Pasadena, California and came from a poor family as his parents were sharecroppers and...
Coontz, Stephanie. “What We Missed About the 1950s.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 9th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 27-43. Print.
From the outside, the 1950’s was a great time for America. Society revolved around the idea of America being a middle-class nation. Americans worshipped conformity, and materialism satisfied the need to conform. However, the prosperity of materialistic America hid the growing, numerous problems. Dissent in any way was not tolerated; all injustice was stifled by a fear of difference. In “Fifties Society,” Alan Brinkley discusses the truth of the era; that the fear of nonconformity was hidden by the seemingly prosperous middle-class nation. Brinkley argues the Beat movement and “feminine mystique” show that the people who did not fit in reveal the true colors of 1950’s society.
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.
In a book about African-Americans and Popular Culture Boyd (2008, pg.67) states that the politics of the Olympics combined with the spotlight enabled by television allowed Smith, Carlos, Muhammad Ali and countless other black athletes with a platform to give voice to those without voice. Also, to expose the pain and suffering that had long been ignored in the United States.
Sports have impact in greater development in different countries based on the individuals’ representatives and the history behind the person. Keep in mind that, boxing was one of the significant sports in America’s history. "Boxing provoked the deepest white anxiety about Blacks manhood and Blacks equality". More importantly, Jack Johnson was one of the greatest figure in U.S. boxing history. From my greatest general studies on this topic because of the time frame, like any other sports in the twentieth century, boxing was also segregated, but Jack Johnson was able to be the first African American to won the heavyweight champion in the twentieth century. The heavyweight champion was a symbol of masculinity and ranked highly among the white upper and middle class society.
Stephanie Coontz's essay `What we really miss about the 1950's' is an essay that talks about a poll taken in 1996 by the Knight-Ridder news agency that more Americans preferred 1950's as the best decade for children to grow up. Coontz doesn't believe that it is a decade for people to remember fondly about, except for financial reasons and better communication within families. Coontz doesn't believe in it as the best decade because of the votes, the 50's only won by nine percent, and especially not by African Americans. Examples from family and financial issues in the 50's that makes it better than other decades from 20's to 80's. She doesn't believe that the 50's should be taken `literally' because from 50's there were changes in values that caused racism, sexism discrimination against women. Even though the 50's were good, it didn't lead to a better 60, 70, and 80.
Specifically during the Gilded Age, African Americans, women and the lower-class were all discriminated against in sporting arenas just as they have been in every aspect of American society. Unfortunately early on in the Gilded Age, sports clearly showed the "significant under-representation among key equality and diversity groups in society"(http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=9). However, as sports became more popular, Americans came to the realization that there were barriers that needed to be broken between minorities, women and different social-classes. Changing the face of America, the history of sports started off from being games played primarily for entertainment and leisure, to creating equality amongst everyone. The history of sports has been marked by division and discrimination but also has affected modern popular culture and changing social attitudes and standards towards gender equality, social-class and race.
Shropshire, Kenneth L. 1996. In black and white: race and sports in America. New York: New York University Press.
The Fifties were a good time to be a white middle class American These years brought an UN-thought of prosperity and confidence to Americans who barely remembered the Great Depression. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life of mainstream America: bland predictable and reassuring. Which didn't seem bad after the depre...
Discrimination and segregation of African Americans had existed for generations. Whites and blacks were separated in schools, churches, on buses, in restaurants and on the playing fields. In the early 1900’s, there was not only continued bias towards African Americans; many lived in contiguous neighborhoods, minimizing interaction with other Americans. Sports where African Americans once demonstrated dominance such as cycling and horse racing discriminated also. Cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor at one time dominated American cycling until “jealous white rivals colluded to force Taylor to see his sustenance in Europe by 1901” (Wiggins, p.158) Taylor was a pioneer for African American athletes. He “overcame the constraints of a society bounded by the racial hypocrisy...
The nineteen fifties was a decade of prosperous times in America, but the average lifestyle of an American seemed extremely dull. The average American conformed to social norms, most Americans in the nineteen fifties dressed alike, talked the same way, and seemed to have the same types of personality. Music is what started to change the conformist lifestyle in America. Teenagers started to rebellion against their families by listening to Rock-n-Roll...
Since the end of Jim Crow laws and the signing of the Civil Rights act and the Brown vs. Board of Education law, much of society believes that racism, especially in sports have ceased. However, racism is still embedded in the cloth of American society. Racism in society and in sports may not be overt as it
Throughout history, it is easy to recognize how African Americans have triumphed in sports. It is also enlightening and empowering to see and recognize the challenges that women faced in the past with achieving recognition in sports as compared to that of men.