11 Chapter 10 A Legacy of Strength

Chapter 10 A Legacy of Strength Though he was traveling the world and speaking about how great life was in the United States, life was not great for many black people, especially in the South. America was still a racially divided country. To try to change that, many African Americans joined the Civil Rights Movement as the 1960s began. They rallied and marched, calling for an end to Jim Crow laws and other forms of racism. Some leaders in the movement wanted Jesse to support their cause through speeches. However, he chose not to.

At that time, he believed protest was not the way to change things. He wanted to live his life as best he could. He did not want to rock the boat. He appreciated what people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were doing to make life better for African Americans. But he did not think they should protest. In 1970, he cowrote a book titled Blackthink, in which he expressed these feelings. "If the Negro doesn't succeed in today's America," he wrote, "it is because he

has chosen to fail." He even compared the ideas of some black leaders to the ideas of Hitler. He wrote that he believed that arguing and protesting were not the answers to America's problems with race. Many of his longtime admirers were shocked and hurt. They were angry that a black hero like Jesse had said he was not on their side. For the first time in his life, he received hate mail. Hearing from other blacks changed him. He realized he had been focusing on his own story and not appreciating the troubles other black people endured. He finally understood what the Civil Rights Movement was all about. Two years later, he wrote another book, I Have Changed. In it, he apologized for Blackthink. Finally, Jesse understood the goals of the Civil Rights Movement more clearly. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Jesse was paid to appear in advertisements for products such as credit cards, cigars, and soup. He also ran an advertising business that

helped companies make ads and get attention for their products. All of his and Ruth's three daughters graduated from college, including two who had attended Ohio State. In 1961, Marlene had become the first African American woman named homecoming queen at OSU. In the early 1970s, Jesse and Ruth moved from Chicago to Arizona.

In the 1970s, Jesse again played a role in the Olympics. In 1972, he was honored at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He returned to the country where he first won Olympic glory. The organizers of the Games gave him a special award, and once again he heard cheers from a huge crowd. And in 1973, he was elected to the board of directors of the US Olympic Committee.

Over the next few years, he received many other awards. Ohio State gave him an honorary college degree. He had never graduated from the school, so the degree meant a great deal to him. The NCAA, which organizes college sports, gave him the 1974 Theodore Roosevelt Award. That same year, he was elected to the International Track and Field Hall of Fame.