Posted on 03/16/2008 6:20:03 AM PDT by LS
All: the Independent Film Channel (or whatever it's called) ran a documentary called "Joe Louis: An American Hero---Betrayed" ("Betrayed" in red, for effect). Much of it is well done, although it's quite clear from the interviews with a writer for one of the main communist papers (not "New York Times" but something like the "Daily Worker") that it is a primarily liberal slant.
For those who don't know, Joe Louis was an amazing boxer, beating Max Schmeling (Hitler's darling) and ending the comeback of Jim ("Cinderella Man") Braddock, who has his own touching and inspirational story.
Louis, tagged as the "Brown Bomber," or other labels that identified him as a black man, was the first African-American to fight for the world championship against Schmeling---a situation brought on by the need to win a symbolic victory against Hitler and the Nazis.
In so doing, Louis truly transformed from a "black" hero to an "American" hero. Comedian Jerry Lewis and others recalled that he was the first black man they every remembered rooting for. The crowd in NY was overwhelmingly pro-Louis, again, the first time many whites had ever cheered a black man.
When war broke out, Louis went into the Army, where he was used to entertain troops with exhibition matches. He refused to fight unless black troops were allowed to watch, too. The segregated Army relented.
Louis's problems, however, came because a) he spent money even while in the Army, on friends, high living, and mistresses, and b) because he never paid taxes. When he mustered out, he owed an incredible $1 million (1945 money!) in back taxes. His management had cheated him, but Louis is also to blame for not realizing he had to pay taxes.
For the rest of his life (after losing a final title fight) he fought "bums" to try to satisfy the IRS, eventually becoming a "greeter" in Las Vegas where Frank Sinatra befriended him and basically took care of him the rest of his life. (Say what you want about Sinatra, but he moved up a few notches in my book for this).
HERE IS THE KEY: this liberal movie, while noting that at one point that Louis was being taxed at a rate of 90%!!! never 'gets' the injustice of that, nor of FDR's hateful tax system that punished ALL successful people the same way; and while the movie blasts "America" for "betraying" Louis, it was the liberal Dems who "betrayed" him with their oppressive taxes. Had he been taxed even at a reasonable 25% rate, he would have paid off his back taxes (yes, he never should have gotten to that point), in a few years.
Finally, when Louis died, they wanted to bury him in Arlington, but there were restrictions that kept him out (I don't think it was race by that time---1980s). It was none other than RONALD REAGAN who waived the restrictions and ordered him buried there, and---a point the movie totally missed---when he was given military honors, it was an integrated military unit that performed the honors!
Nice post.
Old news, but he also refused to play some club in Vegas in the 50's unless they accepted Sammy Davis Jr. as his opening act. Sinatra was right about race relations in a quiet, unassuming way.
Schmeling took a huge "career risk" fighting Louis when he did. The Nazis dismissed American Blacks as subhuman apes. Their dominance in atheletics was, therefore, illegitimate, it was like a human competing against a horse in foot race. Schmeling, the European champion was acclaimed by the Nazis as the world's best boxer, Louis was portraited as little more than a trained ape.
Louis was a much better physical boxer than Schmeling, but Schmeling noticed certain weakness in his technique that he felt he could exploit. For Schmeling it was a matter of professional pride. The Nazis opposed the bout on the grounds that it was a lose/lose proposition. They did not want to "legitimize" Louis, nor risk the embarassment of a loss. Schmeling's gamble paid off and he was trumpeted as a an Aryan Ubermensch, an appellation he did little to discourage, nor much to encourage.
Louis learned from his defeat and beat Schmeling in rematch. Schmeling and Louis both served as enlisted men in their respective armies during the War, although Schmeling in an actual line unit. The Nazis had no further use for him as a propaganda tool. After the War they became friends and Schmeling paid Louis' medical bills in the 1950's.
Yeah. This is quite an era of colorful tales (no pun intended) for boxing, with the careers of Max Baer (”Jethro’s” dad), Schmeling, Louis, Braddock, then, later, Graciano overlapping.
I watched the film when it aired on HBO. They did, in fact, credit Reagan with waiving the Arlington requirements for Louis.
Yes, I thought I said that but maybe not. What they didn’t do was to properly note the outrageous nature of the taxes that Louis owed. It was FDR’s “government” that had created the 90% bracket (FDR actually recommended 100% during the war on incomes over $100,000), and it was the high nature of taxes period that made it impossible for Louis to ever escape his tax problem.
“...was the first African-American to fight for the world championship against Schmeling-—a situation brought on by the need to win a symbolic victory against Hitler and the Nazis....”
This sentence in poorly worded and factually inaccurate. His two fights against Schmeling were non-title fights. Schmeling was an ex-champion at the time. Jack Johnson had been an unpopular champion yet he was still recognized as the champion.
I saw an idiotic documentary about Louis that stated “he was not free” based upon his being denied home ownership in a New Jersey suburb he wanted to live in. Isn’t it amazing that in America a man can make millions, have mistresses of all races, travel all over the country, be cheered by all races, and still not be “free” according to political correctness.
Schmeling is still the only man who can claim to have beaten Joe Louis in his prime. Marciano and others beat an over-the-hill Louis.
Oops...That Johnson statement should be in a different paragraph as he was champ many years earlier. Braddock was champion at the time Louis fought Schmeling.
I understand your point, but I don't agree. Wealth provides one type of liberty, but certainly not the only type. There were "wealthy" blacks in the postbellum south who couldn't walk down a street without being called "boy" and who were constantly in fear of lynching. The fact is that Louis's America was not entirely free, or equal. He did a lot to change that. And yes, Johnson was a champion, but partly because he had been a champion, there was an unwritten agreement never to allow a black to compete for the title again . . . until Louis.
From what the documentary said, he was the best heavyweight of all time, even better than Ali.
He may well have been, but don’t let the Ali fans hear you say that. :)
I’m not a big boxing fan. Couldn’t tell you who was great and who wasn’t. But I’m sure it’s like football, namely that at any given TIME for any given TEAM you can make the argument that they were the “best ever,” ie. the ‘86 Bears or the Patsies or perhaps even the Aikman/Irvin/Smith Cowboy teams. The measure, of course, is over time. Ali and Louis certainly withstood that test.
This is actually the statement that’s inaccurate. The rematch was in fact a championship fight. Louis was the champ at this time. And if I remember right, he was champ exactly one year to the day of the Schmeling fight.
Your memory does indeed serve. Thanks for the correction. Only the 1st fight was a non-title fight and it was supposed to be a title elimination bout.
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