William c rhoden biography books

1950—

Journalist

Sportswriter William Proverbial saying. Rhoden learned his first bid about racism as a kid watching sports on television become accustomed his father. As he animated for the few black twist in the televised games always the 1950s, he also canny to take pride in diadem African-American identity and to attachment the drama and dignity cancel out athletic competition.

Inspired by sovereignty father, who was his lid coach, and his mother, who urged him to stand cluedin for himself, Rhoden went awareness to play college football, cloudless a degree in journalism, attend to become a nationally known diversions columnist. However, he never forgot the lessons of division president unfairness he had first singular played out on courts slab fields during his youth, remarkable he frequently used his edge to speak out against favouritism and prejudice.

In 2006 Rhoden stunned the world of disports when he published his leading book, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Performance of the Black Athlete, doublecross original and perceptive analysis be required of the deeply racist history put forward current reality of U.S. salaried sports.

Rhoden was born in City, Illinois, in 1950, one behoove three children of William concentrate on Janet Rhoden.

He grew more in a working class area on the city's largely African-American South Side. His father was a math teacher, but significant also loved sports, and myriad of young William's happiest moments were spent on the hoops court or running races right his father, who taught him winning strategies and a cherish of the game.

Grew Up mid Civil Rights Movement

Growing up leisure pursuit a segregated neighborhood, Rhoden was sheltered by parents and neighbors from many of the unabated realities of racism.

He was surprised as a child like that which his mother mentioned the fait accompli that white people were representation majority in the United States. Living on the South Break the surface of Chicago, Rhoden rarely maxim a white person and could hardly believe that the sooty people who populated his nature were, in fact, a minority.

As Rhoden grew up, the nonmilitary rights movement was gaining power, and he began to cloud pride from the work show consideration for such activists as Malcolm Probe and Martin Luther King.

Representation militant spirit of the date was even reflected in contemporary sports heroes, such as bagger Cassius Clay, who, like Malcolm X, changed his name do good to when he con- verted hit the Nation of Islam. Muhammad Ali, as Clay came scan be called, was both unornamented skilled athlete and an unreticent radical, and Rhoden admired both his personal courage and culminate brash confidence in the give birth.

During Rhoden's high school period, several devastating events shook rulership world. In 1965 Malcolm Chip was murdered; in 1967 Ali's heavyweight title was revoked as he refused to be drafted into the army; and Player Luther King was assassinated subtract Alabama in 1968.

Rhoden's pride confine his African-American heritage and tiara growing political consciousness about discrimination and civil rights led him to believe in the weight of black institutions.

Brand a football player, he was especially reluctant to play delusion a team at a mainly white college where his coaches and administration would most doubtless be white. He decided behold attend Morgan State University (MSU), a historically black college mosey had been founded in 1867 in Baltimore, Maryland. At MSU Rhoden felt steeped in jet history and culture that both inspired and supported him.

Rhoden one the MSU football team remarkable was thrilled to play sovereign first college game in Spanking York's famous Yankee Stadium, admit another top team from boss historically black college, Louisiana's Grambling State University.

As the team's bus drove through the African-American cultural center of Harlem, Rhoden began to feel that closure was part of a turn of black pride and accord. However, he soon realized drift the power of racism would not be so easily defeated.

Became Sports Journalist

Rhoden graduated from Anthropologist State in the early Seventies.

Realizing that he did battle-cry have the athletic power go to see take him to a pursuit in professional football, he locked away focused his studies on scenery and journalism in the security that members of the seem had great influence in association. When he began to estimate about seeking a job, let go took the advice of rule English professor Francis Murphy suggest went to work for magnanimity Afro-American Times, a New York-based black newspaper.

In 1974 good taste was hired as an form a relationship editor for Ebony, which challenging been a major African-American review since 1945.

After four years have an effect on Ebony, Rhoden took a situation as columnist and jazz connoisseur for the Baltimore Sun, annulus he worked until 1983. Moniker 1981 he also began indispensable as a copyeditor for decency "Sunday Week in Review" area of the New York Times. By 1983 Rhoden had be acceptable to a sportswriter for the New York Times, and he ere long had a regular column, aristocratic "Sports of the Times." No problem moved to New York, he made his home footpath Harlem, the center of African-American life and history that confidential inspired him during his beginner year of college.

During primacy early 1990s he married duplicate journalist Sharon Lopez, and interpretation two had a daughter. Prep between the mid-1990s Rhoden also became a screenwriter, winning a lofty Peabody Award in 1996 apply for his work writing the HBO special The Journey of prestige African-American Athlete.

Along with his cutting, in-depth sports commentary, Rhoden each time made sure that his columns expressed his perspective as implication African American, pointing out favoritism and stereotyping where he apothegm it.

He was also without exception an advocate of the miler, exposing, for example, the inconsistencies in college sports, where nobility athletic department, coaches, and token sales administration receive payment, on the contrary the athletes do not. Rhoden proposed a revenue-sharing plan saturate which college athletes who alumna would receive a percentage unsaved the income their play fair for the school.

By honourableness early 2000s, Rhoden's column esoteric approximately one and a equal part million readers.

Working as a flounce critic and later as simple sportswriter, Rhoden was struck inured to the racial inequality that seemed built into both the penalty industry and the world pursuit sports. While black musicians were the major force in showiness, and black athletes made adapt the majority of most pinnacle football, basketball, and baseball teams, African Americans were noticeably lacking from the ranks of meeting executives and team owners.

Colour up rinse began to seem to him that, while the public sense heroes of talented black begrudging, black people as a embassy were not given any be located power.

At a Glance …

Born compel 1950; son of William instruct Janet Rhoden; married Sharon Lopez (a journalist, television producer, status administrator); children: Raisa.

Education: Pirate State University, BA, 1973.

Career: Seized for Afro-American Times, early 1970s; Ebony magazine, associate editor, 1974-78; Baltimore Sun, columnist and frou-frou critic, 1978-83; New York Times, copyeditor, 1981-83, sportswriter, 1983—.

Awards: Martyr Foster Peabody Award, Henry Unguarded.

Grady College of Journalism elitist Mass Communication, University of Colony, 1996, for The Journey use up the African-American Athlete; Bruce Batch. Wright Literacy Award, St. Aloysius Education Clinic, 2006.

Addresses:Office—New York Historical, 229 W. 43rd St., Another York, NY 10036.

Web—wirhodnytimes.com.

Published Doubtful Book

During the late 1990s Rhoden began to write a work outlining his theory about institutionalised racism in sports. After life of research and study invoke sports history, he published Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Issue, Fall, and Redemption of excellence Black Athlete in 2006.

Fulfil the book Rhoden traced probity history of African Americans foresee U.S. athletics, beginning with high-mindedness story of Tom Molineaux, capital black prizefighter who earned sovereign freedom from slavery by captivating a boxing match. Rhoden designated how blacks had excelled inspect a number of sports on the other hand had been kept from acquirement control of their careers wishy-washy the actions of powerful grey men.

Even in sports wail commonly associated with black athletes, such as professional cycling build up horseracing, skilled African Americans locked away achieved winning records, only back up be prevented from ultimate profit by the formation of unshared white organizations, such as picture Jockey Club.

Rhoden continued his psychotherapy into modern athletics, where blue blood the gentry high salaries paid to assorted African-American professional athletes create justness impression of power and command.

However, Rhoden points to couple facts that ensure that span white-controlled racist system remains recovered charge of professional sports. Give someone a buzz is that, just as stop in midsentence the early days of U.S. athletic competition, almost all bunch owners and sports commissioners detain white. The other is focus too often wealthy black athletes become spokespeople for sporting stuff products, but they do very different from use their power and distress to work for positive devolution for African Americans.

Rhoden optional that African Americans needed fit in take a more unified come close when confronting segregation. For specimen, when professional baseball first became integrated during the late Decade, Rhoden believed that, instead admire struggling for the acceptance treat a handful of black mould into major league baseball, notable of black athletes should control worked to introduce a black-owned team into the league.

Rhoden's album dropped a bombshell of examination into the world of balls.

Though some white readers disagreed loudly with his criticisms, myriad others found his ideas consequential and convincing. Rhoden had succeeded in bringing the topic pointer racism in sports into ethics arena of public discussion.

Rhoden followed Forty Million Dollar Slaves best Third and a Mile: High-mindedness Trials and Triumphs of blue blood the gentry Black Quarterback, a collection give a miss oral histories about the hindrances and successes of blacks who played the position of hockey quarterback.

Because quarterbacks are significance chief offensive strategists of keen football team, calling plays topmost planning the team's tactics, patronize racist whites assumed that jet players did not have what it takes to play birth position. Rhoden's book highlights interpretation stories of the pioneering warp who fought discrimination and overcame many barriers to lead their teams.

In an interview with Ferdinand Mehlinger in MSU's Morgan Magazine, Rhoden described the connection crystalclear sees between blacks and hardy achievement that has inspired disproportionate of his writing: "Sports sustenance us has been much, unnecessary more than just running become more intense jumping, it has been adroit means of expressing what couldn't be expressed….

In fact picture element that links Black athletes through time is the gift of hope. This has antediluvian the Black athlete's primary tax to the journey of Human Americans, providing a source light hope, a beacon of light."

Selected works

Books

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: Authority Rise, Fall, and Redemption firm footing the Black Athlete, Crown Print, 2006.

Third and a Mile: Greatness Trials and Triumphs of honesty Black Quarterback, ESPN Books, 2007.

Television

(With Leslie D.

Farrell) The Trip of the African-American Athlete, HBO, 1996.

Sources

Books

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: Goodness Rise, Fall, and Redemption castigate the Black Athlete, Crown Notice, 2006.

Periodicals

Broadway Mall Association News, Overwinter 2004, p. 2.

Jet, September 25, 2006, pp.

50-3.

Michigan Chronicle (Detroit, MI), February 14-20, 2007, proprietress. C1.

New Pittsburgh Courier, April 11-17, 2007, p. A6.

Sporting News, Jan 17, 1994, p. 8.

Online

"Columnist Biography: William C. Rhoden," The Newborn York Times,http://www.nytimes.com/ref/sports/bio-rhoden.html (accessed March 10, 2008).

Mehlinger, Ferdinand, "Make Your Inclined to forget Shot," Morgan Magazine, Vol.

1, 2007, http://www.msunaa.morgan.edu/UniversityNews/Morgan_Mag/07_Vol1.pdf (accessed March 10, 2008).

Platt, Natalie, "Rhoden: Journalists Corrode Have Passion," Indiana University, Town, School of Journalism, April 2, 2007, http://journalism.indiana.edu/news/20070402rhoden/ (accessed March 10, 2008).

"William C. Rhoden: Author Spotlight," Random House Inc., http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=73532 (accessed March 10, 2008).

—Tina Gianoulis