''Olympic Pride, American Prejudice'' is a 2016 American
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
written and directed by Deborah Riley Draper. Dr. Amy Tiemann, Michael A. Draper, and
Blair Underwood
Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film ''Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series '' L.A. Law''.
Underwood has ...
(who also narrated the film) were executive producers. The film premiered at the LA Film Festival in 2016.
Synopsis
While the story of
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.
Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...
is well-documented, the film focuses instead on the 17 Black athletes from the United States other than Jesse Owens who participated in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Most of these other athletes did not receive major news coverage at the time, particularly before the games; and most are still relatively unknown. None of the eighteen athletes were alive at the time of the movie's production, so Draper used interviews with families, audio footage from historical interviews, and newsreels and newspaper coverage to tell the athletes' stories.
The film contrasts the status of Black Americans at that moment in history—when personal and institutional racism kept Black Americans from having equal rights—with Hitler's and the Nazi Party's rise to power along with the upswing in
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
in Germany. Draper includes interviews with sources in Germany, as well as
Gretel Bergmann
Gretel Lambert (born Margarethe Bergmann; April 12, 1914 – July 25, 2017) Against the background of rising
White Nationalism
White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwo ...
in Germany, the United States was conflicted about whether American Jewish and Black athletes should even go to the Games at all. United States Olympic Association president
Avery Brundage
Avery Brundage (; September 28, 1887 – May 8, 1975) was an American sports administrator who served as the fifth president of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972. The only American and only non-European to attain that p ...
was against a boycott, Fiorello La Guardia and the N.A.A.C.P. supported it, while the African American press felt the athletes should participate to "disprove the myth of white supremacy."
The movie also specifically highlights the achievements of the two Black women on the team—
Louise Stokes
Louise Mae Stokes Fraser (October 27, 1913 – March 25, 1978) was an American track and field athlete.
Biography
The oldest of six children, Louise Mae Stokes was born in Malden, Massachusetts on October 27, 1913, to William, a gardener, and ...
and
Tidye Pickett
Tidye Pickett (November 3, 1914 – November 17, 1986) was an American track and field athlete. She represented the United States in the 80-meter hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, becoming the first African-American woman to compet ...
—who had to manage hazing and injuries as well as the usual stresses of international travel and American racism.
The Black members of the U.S. team won a total of fourteen medals—eight gold, four silver and two bronze—half of the Olympic points for the entire American team. When they returned to the US, there were still few job opportunities for them, and President Roosevelt refused to shake the hands of the returning medal-winners out of concern for alienating Southern voters. While things did not always work out for most of the 1936 Black Olympic athletes, many of the modern day people interviewed felt that their actions laid the groundwork for future civil rights victories.
Reception
On
review aggregator
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Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100.
Following the release of the movie, the families of the eighteen athletes were honored at a
Team USA
The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions.
Olympic teams
Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...
event in Washington DC in 2016 and were invited to the White House—an honor the White athletes received in 1936 that their Black colleagues did not.
1936 Black Olympic athletes
*
Dave Albritton
David Donald Albritton (April 13, 1913 – May 14, 1994) was an American athlete, teacher, coach, and state legislator. He had a long athletic career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first high jumpers to use th ...
Ralph Metcalfe
Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. (May 29, 1910 – October 10, 1978) was an American track and field sprinter and politician. He jointly held the world record in the 100-meter dash and placed second in that event in two Olympics, first to Eddie Tola ...
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.
Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...
*
Tidye Pickett
Tidye Pickett (November 3, 1914 – November 17, 1986) was an American track and field athlete. She represented the United States in the 80-meter hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, becoming the first African-American woman to compet ...
Louise Stokes
Louise Mae Stokes Fraser (October 27, 1913 – March 25, 1978) was an American track and field athlete.
Biography
The oldest of six children, Louise Mae Stokes was born in Malden, Massachusetts on October 27, 1913, to William, a gardener, and ...
*
John Terry
John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...
*
Archie Williams
Archie Franklin Williams (May 1, 1915 – June 24, 1993) was an American U.S. Air Force officer, athlete, and teacher. He was the winner of the 400 meter run at the 1936 Summer Olympics. As recorded on his birth certificate, his name is Archie a ...
2016 in film
2016 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, and a list of films released and deaths.
Evaluation of the year
In his article highlighting the best films of 2016, Richard Brody of ''The ...