Remembering the American Dream, Ignoring American Racism: The Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum

• In Event: Racism in U.S. America: Contemporary and Historical Manifestations

Abstract

This essay considers how the official public memory of U.S. Olympic track star Jesse Owens is communicated through the Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum. The museum reinforces the popular conception of Jesse Owens as an American hero who triumphed over Hitler and the Nazi ideology through his athletic accomplishments. The memorial site rhetorically induces a nationalistic argument that Owens’ achievements in the 1936 Olympics served to advance American ideals and racial equality.

Author

• Bonnie Sierlecki, Penn State University