Sport, Politics and the Olympics

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In 1931, Berlin, Germany won the bid to host the 1936 Olympics. Although the Nazis hadn't yet come to power in '31 and they had no influence on the decision when it was made, they saw the '36 Olympics as a platform to show the rest of the world the power and efficiency of the Nazi Regime. They also used it to further subjugate jews and blacks, who, until the public outcry was too much, were not allowed to participate in the games.

After they decided it best not to exclude jews and blacks from participation, they shifted to appear to the other Olympic countries as a tolerant and peaceful Germany. There was a proposed boycott of the Games from several countries, but ultimately the US and other western countries did not boycott it. Many saw this as a mistake that may have allowed Germany's and Hitler's acceleration and culmination of persecution of minorities through WWII and the Holocaust.

One of the five political uses of sport which were evident in the "Nazi Olympics" was the use of sport as a vehicle for propaganda. Germany used the Games to instill in the German people a nationalistic sense of pride and solidarity with the Nazis and their ideals. It helped to define "Nazi" as both the self and as intrinsically good, while trying to show the the other was everybody not Aryan and "pure". They also carried out a huge festival trying to show the world that Nazi ideals were favorable and not to be feared. The fact that Germans won 23 more medals than Americans and 4 times as many as everybody else was proof, for the propagandists, that Germans were superior.

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We like to think that sport should be devoid of any political interference but that is simply not true. As the reading points out, policies have been passed to exempt athletes from antitrust laws, there are special tax laws for owners of pro teams, home game blackouts have been televised despite owners, Congress decides who selects and trains Olympians, and Congress also exempts college sports from taxes. Another way sports is politicized is how the President often has sports champions at the White House. Every year the Superbowl and Stanley Cup champs visit the white house because the President wants to be seen as a normal and average guy. These teams are used as a political gambit to boost approval. Obama alone has held 35 receptions for champions.