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 The medal — being auctioned online — recalls both the Nazi
propaganda myths that Owens busted with his world record-setting
100-yard dash, and the American segregation that he came home to
when he returned to the U.S. after the Games, which Adolf Hitler
orchestrated to showcase his ideas of Aryan supremacism.
"Almost singlehandedly, Owens obliterated Hitler's plans," SCP
Auctions partner Dan Imler said. "You've got an African American,
son of a sharecropper, grandson of slaves who overcame these
incredible circumstances and delivered a performance for the ages."
Owens won gold in the 100- and 200-meters, the 400 relay and the
long jump. But when he returned from the Berlin Games, he struggled
to provide for his family.
His job options were limited by segregation and because he decided
to return home instead of going on tour with the U.S. Olympic Team,
he was stripped of his amateur athletic status.
"When they came back, the U.S. was just as it was when he left —
segregated. Even though he came back an Olympic hero, he wasn't
offered opportunities that Olympic heroes of today are offered,"
said his daughter, Marlene Owens Rankin, 74, of Chicago. "We lived
well, a middle class life. We didn't want for much. But like many
black men of that era, he struggled to provide for his family."
Owens gave one of his four Olympic gold medals to dancer and movie
star Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, another supremely talented
African-American whose career was hemmed in by limited roles for
black men, Imler said. Robinson befriended Owens after the athlete
return from the Olympics.
"They formed a friendship and also a professional relationship.
Bojangles helped Owens get work in the entertainment field," Imler
said. "Owens gave him this medal out of gratitude and as a token of
their friendship."
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Owens worked for a short time as a band leader but eventually
returned to his hometown of Cleveland where he worked for the parks
department and eventually found his way into public speaking, his
daughter said.
"The black community revered him for what he had accomplished," she
said. "Had it been an even playing field, my father and Bojangles
would have been super-stars."
The medal comes from the estate of Robinson's widow. The Robinson
family declined to comment but Imler said they plan to use the
proceeds to pay college tuition and contribute to charity.
SCP Auctions confirmed that the medal is genuine. The whereabouts of
the other three original gold medals is unknown.
"We just hope that it's purchased by an institution where the public
could have access to it, a museum or something like that," his
daughter said.
The auction closes on Dec. 7.
[Associated
Press; RAQUEL MARIA DILLON]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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