Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is a feature-length documentary set in the strained and turbulent atmosphere of a racially divided 1930s America, torn between boycotting Hitler's Olympics or participating in the Third Reich's grandest affair. The film follows 16 men and 2 women through their heroic turn at the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, 1936. the atheletes represented a country that considered them second-class citizens and competed in a country thta rolled out the red carpet in spite of an undercurrent of Aryan superiority and Anti-Semitism. 18 athletes carried the weight of a race on their shoulders and stood tall in the middle of a political firestorm. They made the team, travelled to Berlin and did the unexpected with grace and dignity. Their presence on the world stage is a seminal precursor to the Civil Rights Movement. History forgot all except one. This is the story of the other 17.
Starring
Blair Underwood, Isiah Thomas, Carl Lewis
Director
Deborah Riley Draper