William c rhoden biography of michael jackson

Sportswriter William C. Rhoden learned his first lessons about racism as a child watching sports on television with his father. As he cheered for the few black players in the televised games of the s, he also learned to take pride in his African-American identity and to love the drama and dignity of athletic competition.

About the Author​​ William C. Rhoden is a sports columnist for the New York Times.

Inspired by his father, who was his first coach, and his mother, who urged him to stand up for himself, Rhoden went on to play college football, earn a degree in journalism, and become a nationally known sports columnist. However, he never forgot the lessons of division and unfairness he had first seen played out on courts and fields during his youth, and he frequently used his column to speak out against racism and prejudice.

In Rhoden stunned the world of sports when he published his first book, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete, an original and perceptive analysis of the deeply racist history and current reality of U. He grew up in a working class neighborhood on the city's largely African-American South Side.

His father was a math teacher, but he also loved sports, and many of young William's happiest moments were spent on the basketball court or running races with his father, who taught him winning strategies and a love of the game. Growing up in a segregated neighborhood, Rhoden was sheltered by parents and neighbors from many of the grim realities of racism.

He was surprised as a child when his mother mentioned the fact that white people were the majority in the United States. Living on the South Side of Chicago, Rhoden rarely saw a white person and could hardly believe that the black people who populated his world were, in fact, a minority. As Rhoden grew up, the civil rights movement was gaining strength, and he began to take pride from the work of such activists as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.

At the end of 26 years as a columnist, a writer takes a cue from Jim Brown, the legendary Cleveland Browns player who dared to quit on top.

The militant spirit of the times was even reflected in new sports heroes, such as boxer Cassius Clay, who, like Malcolm X , changed his name to when he con- verted to the Nation of Islam. Muhammad Ali, as Clay came to be called, was both a skilled athlete and an outspoken radical, and Rhoden admired both his personal courage and his brash confidence in the ring.

During Rhoden's high school years, several devastating events shook his world.