Jim Thorpe - Racism

Racism

Thorpe, whose parents were both half Caucasian, was raised as an American Indian. His accomplishments occurred during a period of heavy racial inequality in the United States. It has often been suggested that his medals were stripped because of his ethnicity. While it is difficult to prove this, the public comment at the time largely reflected this view. At the time Thorpe won his gold medals, not all Native Americans were recognized as U.S. citizens. (The U.S. government had wanted them to make concessions to adopt European-American ways to receive such recognition.) Citizenship was not granted to all American Indians until 1924.

While Thorpe attended Carlisle, students' ethnicity was used for marketing purposes. A photograph of Thorpe and the 1911 football team emphasized racial differences among the competing athletes. The inscription on the most important game ball of that season reads, "1911, Indians 18, Harvard 15." Additionally, the school and journalists often categorized sporting competitions as conflicts of Indians against whites; newspaper headings such as "Indians Scalp Army 27–6" or "Jim Thorpe on Rampage" made stereotypical journalistic play of the Indian background of Carlisle's football team. The first notice of Thorpe in the New York Times was headlined "Indian Thorpe in Olympiad; Redskin from Carlisle Will Strive for Place on American Team." His accomplishments were described in a similar racial context by other newspapers and sportswriters throughout his life.