join or die essay

Join or Die Essay
Lessons in the history of track and field teach us about working together in various ways. These ways include working together as a team and achieving goals. Track and field teams help with building character, bonds, and relationships between athletes, coaches, and agents. Examples of these being achieved can be shown through the history of the hard work and dedication of the famous Olympians, Jesse Owens dealing with segregation, Carl Lewis bringing endorsements into the game, and Allyson Felix with having a great work ethic by not giving up and staying determined.
To begin with, Jesse Owens is known as a legacy in the world of track and field. He taught Americans about working together facing segregation in America during his time. Many whites thought of African Americans as useless, however Jesse Owens proved them wrong. He himself was an African American man who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. At the time, Adolf Hitler was using the Olympic Games to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany. He and other government officials had strong hopes that German athletes would dominate the games with victories since the German athletes achieved a "top of the table" medal haul. Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of "Aryan racial superiority" and just like Racist Caucasians, they portrayed ethnic Africans as inferior. As a result, Owens worked hard with his coach and teammates and surprised Americans and Germans by winning four gold medals on August 3, 1936. He won the 100 meter sprint, long jump on August 4, the 200 meter sprint on August 5, and was later added to the 4 x 100 meter relay team, following a request by the Germans to replace a Jewish-American sprinter. He won his fourth on August 9 (a performance not equaled until Carl Lewis won gold medals in the same events at the 1984 Summer Olympics). With all his victories, Hitler still reflected upon Owen's victories with a shrug as African physiques were primitive and stronger than whites. However, Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels in Germany as whites, while at the time blacks in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels while traveling. Owens was an outstanding role model for African Americans who were suffering racial segregation during his time. He showed that blacks were equal to whites and that skin color had nothing to do with performance. He was even trained by Caucasian track coach, Charles Riley, and they had a positive relationship, which taught us that blacks could work together with whites because were all equal.
Carl Lewis became one of the biggest sporting celebrities in the world by the start of 1984, but owing to track and field’s relatively low profile in America, Lewis was not nearly as well known there. The 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles is what brought Lewis a household name in America. Lewis and his agent Joe Douglas, founder and manager of the Santa Monica Track Club of which Lewis was a member, worked together and continuously discussed his wish to match Jesse Owens' feat of winning four gold medals at a single Olympic Games and to “cash in” afterward with the lucrative endorsement deals which would surely follow. Although Lewis was the one who brought endorsements into the game of track and field, it did not start out so smooth. Lewis’ self-congratulatory conduct did not impress several other track stars. "He rubs it in too much," said Edwin Moses, twice Olympic gold medalist in the 400 m hurdles. "A little humility is in order. That's what Carl lacks." Further, Lewis’ agent Joe Douglas compared him to pop star Michael Jackson, a comparison which did not go over well. Douglas said he was inaccurately quoted, but the impression that Lewis was aloof and cocky was ingrained the public’s perception by the end of the 1984 Olympic Games. Additionally, rumors that Lewis was gay circulated, and though Lewis denied the rumors, it hurt his marketability as well. Lewis’ look at the Games, with a flattop haircut and flamboyant clothing, added to the reports. "It doesn't matter what Carl Lewis's sexuality is," high jumper Dwight Stones said. "Madison Avenue perceives him as homosexual." Nike had Lewis under contract for several years already, despite questions about how it affected his amateur status, and he was appearing in Nike television ads, in print, and on billboards. However, after the Olympics, because he was faced with a new negative image, Nike dropped him. "If you're a male athlete, I think the American public wants you to look macho," said Don Coleman, a Nike representative. "They started looking for ways to get rid of me," Lewis said. "Everyone there was so scared and so cynical they didn't know what to do." Lewis and Nike eventually did split, and Lewis signed an endorsement deal with Mizuno. As a result, these lessons from Lewis’ past teaches us that working together with a trusted agent can help with a successful career, but you must stay clean in the public eye because people’s perception can make or break you, just as it did with his Nike endorsements.
The most recent track phenomenon is Allyson Felix. At just 18 years old, Felix competed in her first Olympics, the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. Coming into the games, she had her heart set for winning a Gold Medal in her individual event. She competed in the 200 meter race and finished second, behind Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown, and earned the silver medal. She was disappointed in her loss of a Gold Medal, but did not lose confidence and kept training with her trainer Bobby Kersee, hoping for a Gold Medal for the next Olympics. In 2005, she became the youngest champion to compete at the World Championships, and two years later, she became only the second female to win three gold medals at a single World Championships. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Felix ran a personal best of 21.93 in the 200 meters, but again finished behind Campbell-Brown, taking a second silver medal. Once again she was disappointed because she had been working for that Gold Medal since she lost in 2004. She did, however, earn one gold medal that year, with the women's 4-by-400-meter relay team. Felix did not give up and continued her challenging elite workouts with her trainer six days a week for four and a half hours to accomplish her main goal. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Felix finally struck an independent gold medal, beating out Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Carmelita Jeter in the 200, respectively, with a time of 21.88 seconds. Her longtime rival, Veronica Campbell-Brown, finished fourth in the race. A lesson learned from Allyson Felix is to keep persevering until you reach success in your goals, whether you’re an athlete in sports, or just generally in life. She stayed determined, did not lose confidence from getting beat in the Olympics twice in a row, stuck with, and continued working with her long-time coach Bobby Kersee, and finally earned the Gold Medal in her third Olympic Games. As Felix shows, working together with a respected coach who personally understands what’s best for the athlete’s needs can bring great success.
In conclusion, the history of track and field teaches us many lessons about working together. From Jesse Owens serving as a role model to other fellow African Americans facing segregation, to Carl Lewis working with his agent to bring endorsements into track and field, and Allyson Felix working with Bobby Kersee to finally earn her Gold Medal, track and field is a phenomenal sport where we can look back to past events and learn from them.