Spring Break
URI historian discusses racism in '68 Olympics
Betsy Cohen
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: News
11/20/08 - Sports and politics are not a good mixture according to Robert Weisbord, a professor at the University of Rhode Island.
Weisbord, who teaches African American history, Arab/Israel conflict and Holocaust classes at URI, gave a lecture last night in Lippitt Auditorium. The presentation, titled "Racial Questions in the Modern Olympics - The Case of Mexico City (1968)," was sponsored by the URI Center for the Humanities.
For the past 55 years, Weisbord has researched racial issues. His research has brought him to places like the International Olympic Headquarters in Switzerland, along the waterfront of Mt. Geneva and to the United States Olympic Committee Headquarters in Colorado Springs.
When visiting the archives in Mexico City, he found that the people "were a little less helpful than I had hoped."
Weisbord displayed a great sense of humor to offset the serious topics surrounding racism and the Olympics.
When visiting one Olympic stadium, "I went down into a sprinter's crouch and had a little bit of trouble getting up," Weisbord said, joking.
He began the historical aspects of his lecture by briefly introducing the 38 members of the audience to racial issues that began in the late 1800s. To give a general idea, the first modern Olympics were held in the 1890s. The United States hosted its first Olympics in 1904.
For pre-game entertainment back in those "Anthropological days, indigenous people were used to competing in mud-wrestling and greasy-pole climbing," Weisbord said. "People came to gawk [at them]."
In 1932, four African-American athletes were not allowed to compete because the Olympic track tryouts were to be held at John Hopkins University, which at the time was a very racist environment, Weisbord said.
Another case of racism he mentioned involved a team of Olympic women runners who had traveled to California. The black runners were not allowed to eat with their team in the hotel they were staying at and were forced to retreat into an attic to eat their meals.
Weisbord, who teaches African American history, Arab/Israel conflict and Holocaust classes at URI, gave a lecture last night in Lippitt Auditorium. The presentation, titled "Racial Questions in the Modern Olympics - The Case of Mexico City (1968)," was sponsored by the URI Center for the Humanities.
For the past 55 years, Weisbord has researched racial issues. His research has brought him to places like the International Olympic Headquarters in Switzerland, along the waterfront of Mt. Geneva and to the United States Olympic Committee Headquarters in Colorado Springs.
When visiting the archives in Mexico City, he found that the people "were a little less helpful than I had hoped."
Weisbord displayed a great sense of humor to offset the serious topics surrounding racism and the Olympics.
When visiting one Olympic stadium, "I went down into a sprinter's crouch and had a little bit of trouble getting up," Weisbord said, joking.
He began the historical aspects of his lecture by briefly introducing the 38 members of the audience to racial issues that began in the late 1800s. To give a general idea, the first modern Olympics were held in the 1890s. The United States hosted its first Olympics in 1904.
For pre-game entertainment back in those "Anthropological days, indigenous people were used to competing in mud-wrestling and greasy-pole climbing," Weisbord said. "People came to gawk [at them]."
In 1932, four African-American athletes were not allowed to compete because the Olympic track tryouts were to be held at John Hopkins University, which at the time was a very racist environment, Weisbord said.
Another case of racism he mentioned involved a team of Olympic women runners who had traveled to California. The black runners were not allowed to eat with their team in the hotel they were staying at and were forced to retreat into an attic to eat their meals.
