The Ongoing Sports Revolution
Sport, Society and Social Change I think the 1960s is a pivotal time in American society. It’s a time of revolutionary change in the world of sports for both men and women of all races. Although the color line was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947, it wasn’t until the 1960s that America’s professional leagues had witnessed complete integration. The 1960s is a transformative movement in sports history. It changed the visible world and the foreseeable future. It placed the black athlete in a position of responsibility and influence to bring, as Jim Brown would argue, “African Americans to the forefront on every level.” This is a history lesson in of itself. The previous century saw the rise of the black athlete and the fear created by his success. The color line instantly followed segregating sports just as it had normal facets of daily life. Keep in mind that the NHL started its desegregation process in 1958 but remains racist, the NBA (1947/1950 had Asian and Af...