What it means to be a Black Olympian representing the U.S. on the global stage

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Some Exhibits to Come – One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

Bibliography – One Hundred Years Of Jim Crow

Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

Freedom’s Heroes During Jim Crow: Flossie Bailey and the Deeters

Souvenir Portrait of the Lynching of Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp, August 7, 1930, by studio photographer Lawrence Beitler. Courtesy of the Indiana Hisorical Society.

An Iconic Lynching in the North

Claxton Dekle – Prosperous Farmer, Husband & Father of Two

Ancient manuscripts about mathematics and astronomy from Timbuktu, Mali

Some Exhibits to Come – African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles for Adults & Children from the Henrietta Marie

Some Exhibits to Come – The Middle Passage

What I Saw Aboard a Slave Ship in 1829

Life After Hate: A Former White Power Leader Redeems Himself

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July 24, 2024

By Isabel Yip, NBC News

From Crystal Dunn to Frederick Richard, Black American Olympians from a variety of sports talk about what it means to represent their country and serve as a role model for Black kids.

Crystal Dunn, who will play at her third Olympic Games, and and first-time Olympian Frederick Richard both said they know their presence on the world stage will encourage more Black athletes into their sports (TODAY/Getty Images).

At the Olympic Games this summer, Black athletes will take to the world stage in Paris outfitted in red, white and blue, representing the United States with stars and stripes stamped across their uniforms.

Black athletes will be some of the most high-profile Olympians at the Paris Summer Games. Simone Biles will be making her highly awaited return to the mat, LeBron James will carry the American flag at the opening ceremony Friday, and track star Noah Lyles will set his sights on overtaking Usain Bolt’s gold medal records.

On the road to the Paris Games, Black Olympians spoke with NBC News about the special obligations of Black athletes representing the United States and stepping up as role models.

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