African American Golfers During the Jim Crow Era

by Marvin P. Dawkins, Graham Kinloch

Overview

Throughout the period of legally supported segregation in the United States, practices of racial discrimination, touching every sector of American life, prevented African Americans from participating formally in professional sports. Jim Crow policies remained in place in baseball, football, and basketball until a few years before the Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine in 1954. By the late 1950s, the African American presence was felt in major sports. But this was not the case in professional golf, which continued to maintain segregation policies perpetuating the stereotype that African Americans were suited only to caddie roles in support of white players. The Professional Golfers Association, unaffected by the 1954 Brown decision since it was a private organization, maintained a Caucasian only membership clause until 1961. All-white private clubs maintained racial exclusion until the PGA Championship Shoal Creek Country Club Affair in 1990.

Using black newspapers, archives, interviews with living professional golfers and other informants, and black club records, Dawkins and Kinloch reconstruct the world of segregated African American golf from the 1890s onward. In the process they show the pivotal role of Joe Louis, who claimed his hardest fight was the one against segregated golf. While others have documented the rise of an African American presence in other sports, no comparable efforts have traced their roles in golf. This is a pioneering work that will be a resource for other writers and researchers and all who are interested in Black life in American society and sports.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275959401
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/30/2000
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	969,299
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

MARVIN P. DAWKINS is Associate Professor of Sociology, Research Faculty in the Center for Research on Sport in Society and Director of the Caribbean, African and Afro-American Studies Program at the University of Miami./e Professor Dawkins has published extensively on aspects of Black life in books and articles.

GRAHAM C. KINLOCH has been engaged in teaching and carrying out research in the areas of sociological theory, race and minority relations, and comparative analysis for the past thirty-one years./e He has been at Florida State University since 1971 and has published a number of books and papers on these topics. Presently, he serves as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Social Sciences and as Professor of Sociology.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Sports and Discrimination
The Development of Black Golf
From Caddie to Professional: The Making of a Black Golf Pro
Golf and the Black Elite
The Organization of Black Golf: The United Golfers Association (UGA)
Joe Louis: Black Golf Ambassador
The Nature of Black Golf
Jim Crow Era Golfers in the Black Press
Jim Crow Era Golfers Speak in Their Own Words
Desegregation Battles
The Push to Desegregate Public Golf Courses
Barrier Breakers and White Resistance
Conclusions
Black Golf and White Racism
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Perhaps one of the reasons the success of Tiger Woods is so unusual is that professional golf was not desegregated even legally until 1961. Sociologists Dawkins (U. of Miami) and Kinlock (State U. of Florida) reconstruct the world of segregated African American golf from the 1890s forward. Along the way they show the pivotal role of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, who said the toughest fight of his life was against segregated golf. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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