Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling
In 1938 Joe Louis and Max Schmeling had a rematch after Max Schmeling won on a round-twelve knockout. What made this fight so popular was the fact that Joe was a black American and Max a German, and this enabled people to have this fight portray a battle of powers. Given most Americans opposed Hitler's belief of Germany's racial superiority, many protests were started once Schmeling arrived in the United States. To make matters worse President Franklin D. Roosevelt told Joe, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany." As a result, President Roosevelt added more tension to the whole situation. In addition to this, a Nazi party publicist fanned the flames by writing newspaper reports suggesting that Joe being a black man had no chance in defeating a German and that Schmeling's victory would help fund Germany's further construction of tanks. This rematch only lasted 124 seconds, resulting in a victory for Joe, and Max Schmeling never fought in the United States again.
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4 comments:
What a blow that must have been from a morale standpoint to the Nazi ideology! To have an American African- American beat the "master race" definitely must have fueled the fire.
It's interesting to see how the different ideas and perspectives surrounding this fight stacked up and turned into a simple fight between the US and Germany, an underrated African-American man against the overrated German winner.
The amount of shame brought to Germany when Schmelling was knocked out in 124 seconds must have been incredible. They lost to someone of a more "primitive" race after calling themselves the most ultimate, superior race. It was a major win for the rest of the world.
This must have been not only a big victory for America, but also for African Americans. For once, they have been allowed to represent their country against other countries and they were extremely successful in the fight. Joe Louis was definitely a black icon. However, it is disappointing that even after this victory, Louis continued to be discriminated against as a black American in his everyday life.
this is so crazy how just a regular boxing match was turned into a boxing match between the U.S and Germany to see who was the better fighter and country. It must have been such a dream for Joe when he won because he had won in 124 seconds and he was African American. He was chosen to represent his country and he helped them greatly and people were so grateful for him afterwards.
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