Browse Items (73 total)

Olsen continues to pursue the ‘cultural gulf’ between black college athletes and their white peers. Olsen is somewhat forgiving of coaches who recruit black youth who are dismally ill-equipped for college academics, noting that “coaches are paid to…

Olsen interviews Robert Buford, a “19-year-old very black boy” who aspires to be a pro-football player. Buford is exceptionally fast and adept at scoring touchdowns, but he grew up living in cars and often starving. Olsen interviews Buford, allowing…

Olsen resumes his overview of the experience and disadvantages of black collegiate athletes compared to their white counterparts, beginning with a discussion of education in many poorer black communities. Olsen challenges the stereotypes that white…

The ad depicts a black man in a tuxedo serving crystal tumblers of bourbon whiskey in a holiday-decorated room of what looks like a mansion. It is implicit that he is a server of the whiskey, and probably not the wealthy owner/consumer of it. The ad…

Olsen continues to cover the story of Elvin Hayes’, particularly his path to basketball stardom. Hayes’ recalls being less academically successful than his five older siblings, who all had college degrees and excelled in school. Hayes’ remembers…

This advertisement emphasizes the quality and variation of the whiskey. It mentions many times that it is from Kentucky. The two variations are “BLEND” and “STRAIGHT,” which vary in their intensity of flavor. The alcohol is presented on a glamorous…

: Advice on how to cure an alcoholic man centers on the wife, arguing that a nagging and over-ambitious wife could be the main cause. It says that she might want him to be an alcoholic so she can dominate him and appear indispensible. If the man…

After establishing the reverence that Hayes’ commanded at the University of Houston, Olsen documents the instant change in the attitude of white Houston residents when Elvin Hayes’ signed with a Sand Diego pro team, rather than the Houston Mavericks.…

Don Smith’s account of his youth finished with his recollection of being beaten by police officers, smoking marijuana, and spending time in jail. Olsen then switches back into his primary reporting on Smith’s tenure at Iowa State, but this page…

Olsen turns to the specific cases of Don Smith and Elvin Hayes to illustrate the troubling experiences that black athletes face which are unknown to the white fans they play for. Olsen calls this “a wall of ignorance and unfounded suppositions” which…