The 1936 Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, were held in Berlin, Germany. Though WWII had not yet started, Adolph Hitler saw this as the perfect opportunity to show the alleged superiority of his radical government, antisemitism, and belief in the Aryan Race. Jewish German athletes were forbidden to participate.
Because of Hitler’s extreme ideas, some nations refused to participate. Others decided to compete and demonstrate how wrong Hitler was by medaling. Of the 3,943 athletes participating, Germany had 433, the most of any nation. When the dust settled on August 16, 1936, Germany had taken 30% of all available medals and won the most gold, silver, and bronze. Seventy percent had been won by athletes in other nations.
American athlete Jesse Owens was about to show Hitler just how wrong his superior race ideas were.
On this day in 1936, Owens won the gold in the long jump with a distance of 26 ft 5 inches, just 3¼ inches short of his own world record set in 1935 and unbroken for 25 years! This was his second gold, and he would go on to win two more. Four gold medals were more than any one athlete had won.
There are two important things about Owens that must be mentioned. First, he was an Ohio State Buckeye and known affectionately as the Buckeye Bullet. Feel free to say it. You know you want to: O-H… I-O! Second, Owen was black.
While we are quick to criticize Hitler (and rightly so), let’s not forget what the United States was like at this time. In the United States, segregation was in full swing. While at OSU, black students had to be housed off campus. When travelling with the team, he could only stay in “blacks only” hotels. After the welcome home parade in New York, “Owens was not permitted to enter through the main doors of the Waldorf Astoria New York and instead forced to travel up to the reception honoring him in a freight elevator. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) never invited Jesse Owens to the White House following his triumphs at the Olympic Games.”1
Hitler was accused of not greeting and congratulating Owens. This has been explained and shown that there was a moment when Hitler acknowledged Owens. “On October 15, 1936, Owens … addressed an audience of African Americans at a Republican rally in Kansas City, remarking: “Hitler didn’t snub me— it was our president who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me a telegram.”2
Racism exists all across this nation. Though great strides have been made to eradicate it, it still proves to be very active in hearts. Jews are hated. Blacks are hated. Whites are hated. Mexicans, Asians, and a host of others have experienced the ugliness and humiliation of racism’s hate.
A missionary friend of mine told me about the racism that still exists in the USA. This missionary was going to a place where all the people were black, and his family would be the only white people. Upon arriving on the field, they found out quickly that they were not accepted or wanted because of their skin color.
To get to that field, this missionary had to candidate at churches in order to raise support. Pastors in churches in southern America told this missionary that they were going to give him support but he was not to show slides, Power Point, or any video of where he was going. The church will SUPPORT it, but they don’t want to SEE it. The moment they see it, the support is gone.
Let me tell you something. I doubt that there are many saved individuals in those churches. These are independent, fundamental Baptist churches FULL of lost people. 1 John 3:15 and 4:20 says, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him…If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” How can a person legitimately profess salvation while hating and despising someone else because of the color of their skin or their ethnicity? That goes contrary to the Word of God and the truth set forth by Jesus.
Some have said that God is color blind. While I appreciate the sentiment, I totally disagree. Why would He turn a blind eye to the skin colors He created. God sees them very clearly but there is no partiality because of the skin color.
Racism existed in Bible days and Jesus experienced it. John 1:44-47 says, “Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. (45) Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (46) And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (47) Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
People hated the Samaritans, but Jesus talked to the woman at the well and she was saved. Read that story in John 4.
I have to believe that racism is always going to be a part of the human condition. So long as we have carnal, sinful hearts, humanity is going to experience racism. But, Christians, this is something that ought NEVER be named among us. We are to love people, not judge them because of their skin.
On this Lord’s Day, I encourage each of us to sincerely pray a prayer in regards to this topic. Psalms 139:23-24 tells us, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: (24) And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens#Life_after_the_Olympics
2Ibid.
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