Robert G. Weisbord - Böcker

This timely book investigates Black-Jewish estrangement and the erosion of Black support for Israel. Topics such as the response of Afro-Americans to the early Zionist movement; the emergence of the Jewish state in the Middle East; the attitudes of such Black luminaries as Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Edward Wilmot Blyden; and Black reactions to the Arab-Israeli conflicts of 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 are chronicled and analyzed. The normalization of relations between Israel and the Republic of South Africa in recent years is examined along with Israel's ties with Black African countries, links between Arab and African nations and South Africa, and alleged Israeli military and nuclear collaboration with the apartheid regime. Another chapter looks at the friction between the Israeli government and a sect of Black Hebrew Israelites from the United States who settled in the Negev and at Black American involvement in the matter. The considerable effect that clashes over domestic questions, most notably affirmative action, have had on Black perceptions is also considered, as is the controversy between Jesse Jackson and the Jewish community.

Sports are the opiate of the people, particularly in the United States, Europe, and parts of South America. Globally, billions of fans feverishly focus on the summer and winter Olympics. In theory, international fraternalism is boosted by these "friendly competitions," but often national rivalries eclipse the theoretical amity. How the Olympics have dealt with racism over the years offers a window to better understanding these dynamics.  Since their revival in 1896, the modern Olympics were periodically agitated by political and moral conundrums. Racial tensions, the topic of this volume, reached their apex under the polarizing presidency of Avery Brundage. Race in sports cannot be disentangled from societal problems, nor can race or sports be fully understood separately. Racial conflict must be contextualized. Racism and the Olympics explores the racial landscape against which a number of major disputes evolved. The book covers various topics and events in history that portray discrimination within Olympic games, such as the Nazi games of 1936, the black American protest on the victory stand in Mexico City's Olympics, as well as international political forces that removed South Africa and Rhodesia from the Olympics. Robert G. Weisbord considers the role of international politics and the criteria that should be used to determine nations that are selected to take part in and serve as venues for the Olympic Games.