Episode 81: Olympic Pride, American Prejudice

Bill and Jamal are joined by Director Deborah Riley Draper, along with Executive Producer Michael A. Draper and Line Producer Lacy Barnes of the newly released, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, a film about the 18 black athletes who defied racism during the 1936 Summer Games. We discuss how they were able to track down these athletes and their amazing stories, despite scarce records of their existence (14:28), why Jesse Owens is the only black athlete talked about from the 1936 Olympic Games (20:45), and the meaning and importance of "cultural inheritance" (35:50). Deborah Riley Draper also tells us about her first film, Versailles 73: American Runway Revolution, which has become an underground classic (26:27), and Draper tells us the unique attributes women and women of color bring to filmmaking (53:31). Finally we discuss the connection between the black athletes who participated in the 1936 Games and current professional athletes who have been positive voices on race and racism today, such as Carmelo Anthony and Russell Wilson (1:02:05). All this and much more on the latest edition of Bill Rhoden On Sports. Production assistance from Kevin Keating. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.