Race and resistance in Boston : a contested sports history / edited by Robert Cvornyek and Douglas Stark ; foreword by Devin McCourty.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cvornyek, Robert, editor.

Stark, Douglas, editor.

McCourty, Devin, 1987- writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sports--Massachusetts--Boston--20th century.

Sports.

African American athletes--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century.

African American athletes.

African Americans--Massachusetts--Boston--Social conditions--20th century.

African Americans.

Discrimination in sports--Massachusetts--Boston--History--20th century.

Discrimination in sports.

Boston (Mass.)--Race relations--History--20th century.

Boston (Mass.).

Boston (Mass.)--20th century.

Physical Description:

xvi, 373 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Lincoln, [2024]

Summary:

"Race and Resistance in Boston reconstructs the history of Black sport in Boston, from amateur to professional, reimagining the crucial role it played in shaping the city's racial identity"-- Provided by publisher.

"Boston is a city known for its sports as well as its troubled racial conflict. But generations of Black athletes, teams, sportswriters, and front-office executives have exercised historic influence in Boston over the years as they advocated for racial integration and transformed their sports into modes of racial pride, resistance, and cultural expression. Race and Resistance in Boston goes beyond the familiar topics associated with the city's premiere professional teams, the Red Sox and Celtics, to recount the long history of Black sporting culture in the city. This collection of essays takes a closer look at Black Bostonians' involvement in sports as varied as soccer, cricket, boxing, baseball, golf, tennis, basketball, and hockey-and illuminates the effect of Boston's desMegregation and busing crisis on scholastic athletics in the 1970s and 1980s. With personal reminiscences from former New England Patriot Devin McCourty and journalist Bijan Bayne, as well as research from scholars of sport, Race and Resistance in Boston captures the intersection of Black history and sporting culture in America's City on a Hill. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Devin McCourty

Introduction

Robert Cvornyek and Douglas Stark

Part I Framing Race, Community, and Resistance in Boston

1 Integration in Sport: How Busing Reshaped Athletic Talent by Bijan Bayne

2 An Opening Conversation: Black Activism in Boston Sports by Joseph Cooper

3 The Middle Lane: Race, Sports, Boston, Hoops, and Community by Marcis Fennell, C. Keith Harrison, and Kelly Dwyer

Part II Legitimacy in the Jim Crow Era

4 Gentlemen of Color: Oliver and Fred Watson and New England Black Soccer by Brian Bunk and Ed Farnsworth

5 In Pursuit of the Boundary: Cricket in Boston's West Indian Community, 1900 to 1950 by Violet Showers Johnson

6 Black Eyes: A History of Race in the Boston PrizeRing by Andrew Smith

7 The Color of Baseball: Race and Boston's Sporting Community by Robert Cvornyek

8 Covering Race and Sports in Boston: The Pioneering Work of Mabray "Doc" Kountze by Donna L. Halper

9 Pioneers of African American Golf at the Crossroads: The 1941 Negro National Open Golf Championship Tournament in Boston, Massachusetts by Marvin Dawkins and Jomills Henry Braddock II

Part III Power and Performance in the Freedom Movement

10 Center of Controversy: Bill Russell and Boston by Aram Goudsouzian

11 Willie O'Ree: The Sky's the Limit by George Fosty

12 Zero Love: The Intersection of Race and Class in Boston Tennis by Sundiata Djata

13 Darling and the Dyke: Differing receptions in the coming-out of Jason Collins and Brittney Griner by Jamie Loke

14 The Enduring Sounds of Whiteness: Boston Sports Radio and Race by Donna L. Halper

15 Act as If: Alison Feaster, the Politics of Inclusion, and Achieving the American Dream in the National Basketball Association by Eileen Narcotta-Welp and Lis Erickson

Afterword

Shifting the Focus: Balancing Sports Commemoration and Race by Kathryn Leann Harris

Contributors.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781496232687

1496232682

OCLC:

1425245335