Film: Race
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Text Type: Film
Date watched: 18/9/2020

The ‘Race’ is a film based on the real-life story of an African-American track athlete, Jesse Owens, who went on to win 4 gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. During the beginning of the movie Jesse Owens is introduced as a freshly scouted up and comer by Ohio State University coach, Larry Snyder. As a black athlete in a southern state in the 1930s of America , Jesse was subjected to constant racial discrimination and then continued to face this when he travelled to Berlin for the games. The movie shows the moral dilemma that Owens faces when we had to choose between competing at the Olympic games and doing what he believes is right- not participating in games run by Adolf Hitler. 

A character I found interesting was Jesse Owens and the moral dilemma he faced. Jesse Owens was a naturally gifted runner who had been scouted and trained up by the Ohio university coach, Larry Snyder. He trained hard and endured multiple physical and mental barriers including the racism he faced as a black man in a southern state in the 1930s, when the Jim Crow Laws were very prevalant. These laws legalised racial segregation based on the concept ‘separate but equal’ , ‘equal’ was a very controversial term however as these laws basically just dehumanised and minorities black people by limiting their opportunities, facilities and rights.  Coach Synder, a white man,  even asked upon recruiting Jesse Owens “Why here? Why not somewhere a bit more, progressive?” , this is in relation to the difference between the southern and northern states of America at the time, as the North was not nearly as racist or enforcing with the Jim Crow laws and therefore was a place where black people were more ‘accepted’. However Jesse obviously knew this and was aware of the differences yet chose because he wanted to go to ‘the best’. I thought this was a tricky decision he would have had to make because it was between either a place where he could be respected and treated as a human being or a place that he was treated like trash but had the best opportunity for his career. This makes me feel uneasy especially because the film is based on a completely true situation and the fact that someone, Owens, had to endure such hardship based on the colour of his skin in order to have a fair shot at his running career is just sad and something that in no way can I possibly compare or relate to as a white person however I can recognise the wrongness and shame of how such a thing was normalised.

The film highlighted the moral dilemma that Owens had to face whilst deciding between attending the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games or not. Aware of the discrimination that the Jews were facing in Germany including basic rights being stripped bare from them, Owens felt like the right thing to do was to not go. He was facing this problem because like the Jews in America, he too understood what it meant to be discriminated against and he didn’t want to participate in a games run by people doing exactly he was so against. Owens was becoming quite the name in the sporting community and he knew that “ I got people lookin’ at me for an example.”, and if he went in the games he as stating to his followers that he was okay with what they were doing which he was not. On the other hand these games were something that he had been training for for a long time and had the opportunity for greatness. Pressured to go by his coach, family and bystanders Jesse Owens did decided to go. I thought this was the right thing to do as an competitive sports players myself I understand the passion and dedication that goes into the training for an event maybe not of olmypic level but never the less, however the non-competitive side of me struggled to agree with it. Like Jesse Owens I was torn about the situation because in a perfect world  I would like to say that I wouldn’t take part in something knowing the wrongness of the people behind it yet never having been in a situation even vaguely comparative its hard to say what I would do. 

Even saying this I was glad to see him compete for the fact that it showed the how amazing he was breaking 3 world records,  ‘shoving’ his success in Hitler’s face and gaining recognition as a black man in the 1930s.  After his first success the president of the olympic committee took Owens to meet and be greeted by Hitler as this was standard protocol for the champion but once arriving the found out he had “left early to avoid traffic,”, this trivial excuse was a pathetic excuse and later was revealed it because “He wouldn’t be see touching that thing” as in Jesse because he was an African American. This further enhanced the prejudice and discrimination held by Hitler and the Nazis even in an event that was supposedly meant to ‘bring people together’ and it showed that although on the track to Jesse “Out there there ain’t no black or white, just fast or slow” and after winning a gold medal, prejudice still stops decent human decency and clouds basic judgment. I thought Hitler refusing to shake Owens hand was petty and embarrassing considering he was supposed to be a leader and lead by example however obviously considering circumstances was not that surprising yet still slightly surprising as I would’ve thought he would want to show a good case in-front of the rest of the countries. 

The title of the text was clever, ‘Race’ , because although based around the olympic games , it focused on the difficulty people of different race  were having to face because of this ‘difference’ in skin colour or religion. Writing it down it seems silly, because it is almost unbelievable to me that someone could be so harshly discriminated against for such a shallow reason, based not on actions or words but because of how they look or what they choose to believe in.  I think the purpose of it was also to show how even though back home Owens was being racially targeted and discriminated against and in Germany when Hitler refused to greet him, he still managed to bring the entirety of the crowd watching there and across the world together to celebrate a truely amazing success. It showed that although somehow as humans we manage to seperate people based on surface scraping reasons we can all be brought to forget and look past that though a shared love for great sport. Which I thought was smart because this is a reality of the world we live in and  when I thought about it, it seemed so silly that something as trivial as sport can defy all prejudices, which makes you realise how unsubstantial prejudices based on race really are when all it takes is a good race to make you forget how much you ‘hate’ someone.