Examines how sports map the social, political, and cultural landscapes of the modern South. This title explores the symbols that have shaped southern regional identities since the Civil War. It includes essays that tackle gender and race relations in intercollegiate athletics and address the popularity of NASCAR in the southern states.

This extraordinarily rich compendium of primary sources charts the significant, intertwining history of African Americans and sport. "The Unlevel Playing Field" contains more than 100 accounts taken from newspapers (both black and white), periodicals, and autobiographies, by literary and sports figures, activists, historians, and others. 65 photos.

The year 2003 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of W.E.B. Du Bois' "Souls of Black Folk," in which he declared that "the color line" would be the problem of the twentieth century. Half a century later, Jackie Robinson would display his remarkable athletic skills in "baseball's great experiment." Now, "Sport and the Color Line" takes a look at the last century through the lens of sports and race, drawing together articles by many of the leading figures in Sport Studies to address the African American experience and the history of race relations.
The history of African Americans in sport...

The essays presented here examine the complexity of black American sports culture, from the organization of semi-pro baseball and athletic programs at historically black colleges and universities, to the careers of individual stars such as Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, to the challenges faced by black women in sports.