Passing the Baton: Black Women Track Stars and American Identity

Abstract

Passing the Baton frames the intersectionality of femininity and athleticism through an examination of the challenges experienced by Black women who compete in track and field. Sport historians will appreciate Cat Ariail's use of a historical timeline of Black women's accomplishments in track and field to express the golden age of athletic competition. Another bonus to this book is the notes section at the end of the book. The notes could be used as a guide toward continuing research on Black women in track and field, as the author thoughtfully provided thorough details on each section of the book.Insightfully, the introduction grabs the attention of the reader through teasing topics like boundaries of belonging, Black women's athleticism, and the athletic agency of Black American track women. Then the book transitions to telling the story of Alice Coachman, who specialized in the high jump and was the first African American woman to win an Olympic medal. The chapter uncovers how Coachman's presence at the Olympic games contradicted the masculine identity of the American elite athlete. To verify this notion, the author creatively uses legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson to convey the destabilization of normative Americanness during the postwar period in sports. However, the portrayal of Jackie Robinson also discloses the challenges for Black women negotiating their athletic identity while seeking to achieve American acceptance.This is further explored through an introduction to the women's track and field club the Tuskegee Tigerettes. Known for their poise, femininity, and athleticism, the Tigerettes began competing in sports in the early twentieth century. The Tigerettes challenged negative labels affixed to female athletes participating in speed and strength sports by exemplifying normative American, southern values, which they coined the Tuskegee Model.Chapter 2 explores Black women tracksters as political actors. The author shows how Olympians competing on a global stage earned the honor and power of being representatives of their countries. Black women became the face of American culture and athleticism, making them a global symbol of America.What makes this book a priceless contribution to the field of sport history, however, 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 United States and forged America's image. The author critically examines this point in chapter 3, where she highlights the story of Aertwentha Mae Faggs. Faggs presented Tennessee State University's famed Tigerbelles to the sports world. The Tigerbelles became internationally known for their superior athleticism in women's sports, and in 1952 Faggs won an Olympic gold medal, making her one of the first Tigerbelles to earn one. Like the Tigerettes, the athletic success and representation of the Tigerbelles provided the United States an opportunity to cast a picture of gender and racial equality on a global scale.Chapter 4 focuses on the notion of heteronormativity and its influence on Black women becoming symbols of American democracy. As such, the author states, “Heteronormativity and predominant blackness of American women's track and field meant that the squad assembled for the inaugural US-Soviet Union dual aligned with the American social order” (120). Chapter 5 then unpacks the story of Wilma Rudolph, who first appears in the introduction of the book. Through these two sections, the author creatively untangles Rudolph's story by examining the influences of the Cold War and the civil rights movement on the identity of elite Black women athletes.A highlight of chapter 5 is when Ariail discusses how Rudolph's image complicated the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality. The author contends that Rudolph's beauty was aligned with America's obsession with light skin, straight hair, and femininity, which propelled her celebrity status and morphed American traditions into accepting Black women as fierce athletic competitors.The book ends by detailing how the enduring efforts of Black women competing in speed and strength sports opens doors for white female athletes. For example, through her image, Wilma Rudolph made elite athleticism obtainable for white female athletes who were shunned for participating in strength sports, which attacked the dominant white gender ideology.In conclusion, 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.