Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete

by William C. Rhoden

Book Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "An explosive and absorbing discussion of race, politics, and the history of American sports."--Ebony

From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says New York Times columnist William...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307353141
• ISBN13: 9780307353146
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

INTENSE SPORTS AND HISTORY !

As a sportsfan, this is a must read! The author's writing style was fantastic. The way the title of the book was introduced to the reader was outstanding, like watching a car accident unfold. Exposing racism in the beginging stages of sports is a hard pill to swallow but very necessary, truth hurts! It's amazing to know that men envied by the masses for their lucrative salaries and lifestyles are virtually powerless in the strategic scope of sports. If you enjoy history, sports, and stories of triumph and struggle you will love this book.

Provocative!!

Mr. Rhoden I applaud you for this book. It is really on time and long overdue. Some of what you have written in this book concerning the Black Athlete I have been saying for years but no one wanted to hear it. All Blacks not just athletes, should read this book. Thank you again for calling it like it is.

The NBA as a Metaphor for the Plantation? Difference is They Get Paid Millions

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete by journalist William C. Rhoden gives a no-holds barred, unadulterated low-down about highly paid black athletes and the juxtaposition of slavery. How did Rhoden come to the conclusion that most Black athletes are highly paid slaves? He starts off methodically detailing the history of African Americans sports dating back to the plantation when slaves were a commodity; property to be used for entertainment as well as labor. Plantation owners would stage fights between slaves from different plantations as weekend amusement. Slaves also became jockeys to plantation owners who owned horses. This became a lucrative business and Black jockeys earned huge payoffs for their owners as well as for themselves on into Reconstruction and into the early 1900s. Blacks dominated horse racing but they were literally squeezed out of the market by greed, jealousy and blatant racism. Rhoden also details the rise and fall of the Negro Leagues and the tragedy of Arthur "Rube" Foster, who sacrificed everything in the 1930s to organize Black ownership of baseball teams and to give due respect to black baseball players who were unable to play in the major leagues. Ironically, integration saw the end of the Negro Leagues when prime players such as Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige went to the majors. Rhoden goes on to chronicle the early days of football and basketball. He recounts pioneers in both fields, including Paul Robeson of Rutgers and Raymond Chester of Morgan State and then the Oakland Raiders. It was not until the early 1970s that Southern colleges began recruiting Black football players; at one time the NBA was almost all-white. Rhoden contends that our young Black athletes, high school, college and professional, lack knowledge of their history in general, and the history of African Americans in sports, in particular. He cites this disconnect for not only the negative, destructive behavior that many of them indulge in but the apathy and lack of political noninvolvement and racial pride. Where are the young Muhammad Alis? But it is the Benjamins that are the prize at the end of the day. Poor inner-city or southern rural Black kids who show exceptional athletic talent become a victim of the "Conveyor Belt." A system, by which they are prepped, coddled and many times exploited at early ages on into high school and college with the main goal to snag the million dollar contracts and lucrative endorsement deals. Who would not want this? But at what cost? Even with all the money Black athletes command, there is still a lacking in coaching, those in top management and almost nil in Black team ownership with the exception of Robert Johnson of the Charlotte Bobcats. Also notable are the few African American sports journalists working to shape and control our image and the lack of exposure to Black agents, attorneys and other specialists to these new multimillionaires. Kellen Winslow

Challenge Your Views

For those in the media who have written about the book, commented on its contents or have interviewed William C. Rhoden: 1. Did you read the book or the brief excerpts that are typically part of the release sent to possible reviewers? 2. To "stimulate" debate - especially on talk radio - have you simply joked about the book's title in hopes of getting a few callers before the top of the hour news, weather and traffic report? 3. Did you give Mr. Rhoden time to discuss portions of the book or did you simply attempt to debate him based on your ignorance on the contents of the book? I stongly urge those interested in African American heritage to read Forty Million Dollar Slaves. In under 300 pages, Rhoden packages a wealth of material based on his research, interviews and - importantly - as a black man who came of age during the Black Power movement of the 1960s. Will every reader agree with Rhoden's historical outlook on the plight of the African American athlete in the white-dominated power structure? No. But it just may be the first time for the reader to be challenged concerning the "conventional" views on race & sports. Until America confronts the ramifications of slavery, it can never truly be free from the sordid past and the rewriting of history that plagues education today. Rhoden lays down the challenge....and the truth isn't the neat package the mainstream media loves to recite.

The Paradox of the "Slave Athletic Celebrity"

Rhoden's aim in this finely written and very readable screed is to explore the African American star athlete's paradoxical dilemma: On one hand, he is worshipped for his athletic prowess and is lavished with millions of dollars. On the other hand, he is beholden to white team owners, white league administrators, and as such is limited to the role of a super-paid lackey. Some reviewers object to the slavery analogy and the exodus from the plantation to the Promised Land that is heavily used in Rhoden's argument. But Rhoden is correct to point out that the slavery is both spiritual and power-based. Spiritual because too many African American athletes, Rhoden charges, are so busy micromanaging their careers that they have no sense of the broader context, of African American history (one star athlete was shocked with disbelief when he discovered that blacks were once banned from Major League Baseball). Power-based because too many blacks are relegated to "black" roles and forget the larger mission of making more opportunities for blacks in positions of privilege. Whether or not you agree with Rhoden's analogy, I would argue that the book is nevertheless very readable and entertaining, giving us powerful narratives of how black men, starting with the emancipated slave fighter Tom Molineaux, left America to fight the English champion Tom Cribb and showed whites that blacks' athletic performance defied stereotypes about being dense, ignorant, maladroit, etc. By studying Molineaux, Ali, and other African American greats, Rhoden shows how black athletes who see themselves as symbols of black power help forge the way for other black athletes. On a personal note, Rhoden, an African American, explains in his own life growing up in Chigaco in the 1950s and 1960s, that sports are a great avenue for learning about race and American history. I am no exception. As a child, I loved Hank Aaron and one day as I read about the way he was bullied and denied white restaurants and hotels, I got a bitter taste of what this country was like for people of color and contemplated the hideous color divide. Sports is a powerful metaphorical arena for talking about race and Rhoden has done an exemplary job of developing that metaphor in a book that is always engaging and provocative.