Jesse Owens

One of the best. My Hero is James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens a track and field athlete who broke the color barrier. He was the first black person to win four gold medals in one meet at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. During the games Adolf Hitler was there discriminating.

Jesse Owens is my hero because he showed African-Americans that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and follow your dream. Owens was born on September 12, 1913. As a young boy Jesse was often too sick to help his brothers and sisters in the fields. He had eight brothers and sisters. He was born in Oakville, Alabama, and when he was nine his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Jesse went to Ohio State University. In college Jesse did track and field. He also won medals.

Owens went to Berlin after the hard decision he had to make to see if he wanted to go or not because of the discrimination. Some didn't want him to go because all the discrimination he was having in America. People thought it would be worst in Germany. When he got in Berlin he got custom shoes made by the founder of Adidas (Adolf Dassler). Jesse won gold medals in the 100 meter, 200 meter, long jump, and 4 by 100 meter relay. In Berlin he was competing against Luz Long for the long jump it was a great battle but Owens came out on top. During this time Jews were disliked by Germans Adolf Hitler put them in camps. There were two Jews on the U.S.A. Team. The coach took the Jews out of the 4 by 100 relay, because the coach didn't want any trouble with Adolf Hitler. Jesse didn't think this was right so he didn't compete until the Jews that was on the team said it was okay for him to compete in their place.

Adolf Hitler didn't want to shake Jesse's hand so he had someone say that he left for an emergency that had come up to avoid shaking Jesse's hand. During, the Olympics Jesse had to overcome all of the discrimination that the Germans were bearing on him. Owens single-handedly crushed Adolf Hitler myth about Aryan supremacy. The Aryan Supremacy is White supremacy or white supremacism is a racist ideology centered upon the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior in certain characteristics, traits, and attributes to people of other racial backgrounds and that therefore white people should politically, economically and socially rule non- white people. This was the first Olympics broadcasted on National Television.

Jesse Owens is my hero because he broke the color barrier in track and field and single-handedly crushed Adolf Hitler myth about Aryan supremacy. Jesse was the first person to win four gold medals in one Olympic meet, and he was an African-American. That's what made him unique.