Does Joe Louis mean more to you than just boxing?

Fair enough.

I just think that this sportsman had a bigger impact, perhaps than even he anticipated.

 

True true.

He was essentialy an average man put in an impossible position and he just happened to be the right sort of man.

 

Some are born great,some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust on 'em......

To my mind,Louis achieved greatness as a fighter and at the same time had greatness thrust on his shoulders,as an icon of black social and political advancement.

That's not to say he wasn't a source of inspiration for colored people and ,as an individual,he didn't use his position to break down racial barriers .

 

Your "mind" has asesed the situation correctly here.

 

It's amazing how one can remain humble after so many seemingly effortless victories. That experience alone must have made you a fan.

 

That's how history will see him, but as for boxing historians it's a totally different distinction. It's not really an injustice for him to be limited since it's the boxing portion of Joe Louis that makes him who he is. The public made him more then that. I don't like to blur lines or add outside-the-ring accomplishments.

In the ring: great fighter.

Outside the ring: true hero.

 

Agreed.
Ali, Johnson & Louis were Prizefighters only & to credit any of them with 'serious' political advancement is an insult to those who suffered & made the issue a life long struggle. The only thing special about these guys are that they held the Heavyweight title belt in the country's most popular sport ,along with Baseball & Horseracing, at the time. Other than being inspirational to some people their influence was negligible.

It is grasping for straws for someone to credit a man like Louis (who gladly accepted Jim Crow) for serious political advancement He was the exact opposite of leaders like W E B DuBois & Martin L. King who spoke of the 'fierce urgency of NOW' & made this a life long issue. I prefer taking the opinion of those who ACTUALLY struggled in the movement as opposed to the ill informed.

Do we forget that he abused women? Nearly choked Lena Horne to death. Did he set women's issues back also?
That he was a hapless heroin addict? So is he also responsible for the proliferation of drugs in America/Black community? The guy was for awhile a symol of pride & little more.

I like Joe Louis tremendously , but it is nonsense to credit someone with something that ran counter to his values. Issues that he (Loius)openly states HIMSELF that he WISH he had the COURAGE/ARTICULATION to stand up for like his peers did(Jackie Robinson/Paul Robeson,etc.....

 

joe louis is timeless

 

One of boxings elite.
One of mankinds greatest creations.

I've read 'The great black hope' and 'Heroes without a country'. Both books took my breath away.
There are no words.