Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"What makes this book a priceless contribution to the field of sport history is Ariail's argument that the athletic victories of Black women in track and field surpassed the sports stage and directly impacted political relationships with the Unites States and forged America's image. . . . I highly recommend this book as it intermingles foreign politics, American values, and challenges experienced by Black women in track and field seeking to reach the epitome of athleticism." --
Journal of Sport History"Ariail's intersectional analysis of race and gender is detailed in explication of white and Black press representations of--as well as coaches', track-and-field officials', and politicians' public statements about--Black women track and field athletes. . . .
Passing the Baton is an important reconsideration of Black women athletes' physical and representational performances as ideological work equivalent to other cultural workers and civil rights leaders." --
Journal of American History"
Passing the Baton is engaging, optimistic, and unsentimental--it elucidates a rarely discussed period of American athletic history and thus offers much value to any demographic." --
Journal of African American Studies"Cat Ariail's
Passing the Baton is a thoughtful and engaged study that brings a focus on the personal to the scholarship focused on the importance of track stars to the development of a Cold War sporting culture in the United States. . . . Ariail's attention to uncovering and illuminating the voices of these young track stars invigorates her study and provides a detailed understanding of how Black women moved in spaces that were defined by whiteness and masculinity." --
Journal of African American History"A worthwhile addition to public-library collections on Black American sports, Olympic history, and gender studies." --
Booklist"Ariail pinpoints how important the women of track and field were to changing opinions in both white and black communities about the accomplishments of women of color. But she also powerfully argues that this story does not end with victory. Rather, she reminds us how much work gender did (and does) to undergird racism."--Katherine C. Mooney, author of
Race Horse Men: How Slavery and Freedom Were Made at the RacetrackTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Raising the Bar: Alice Coachman and the Boundaries of Postwar American Identity, 1946-1948
Chapter 2. Sprints of Citizenship: Identity Politics and Black Women’s Athleticism, 1951-1952
Chapter 3. Passing the Baton Toward Belonging: Mae Faggs and the Making of the Americanness of Black American Track Women, 1954-1956
Chapter 4. Winning as American Women: The Heteronormativity of Black Women Athletic Heroines, 1958-1960
Chapter 5. “Olympian Quintessence”: Wilma Rudolph, Athletic Femininity, and American Iconicity, 1960-1962
Conclusion. The Precarity of the Baton Pass: Race, Gender, and the Enduring Barriers to American Belonging
Notes
Bibliography
Index
