40. Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete - William C. Rhoden

Rhoden presents a very persuasive argument that although integration was a major step forward in the history of the black athlete, it brought with it a lot of problems: "a destructive power dynamic between black talent and white ownership; a chronic psychological burden for black athletes who constantly had to prove their worth; disconnection of the athlete from his or her community; and the emergence of the apolitical black athlete, who had to be careful about what he or she said or stood for, so as not to offend white paymasters."
Rhoden clearly knows his stuff, and gives a lot of really interesting background and anecdotes. A lot of things I knew (i.e. the disproportionate number of black athletes and white coaches/owners); but some things I maybe should have known and hadn't realized (i.e. how Michael Jordan was incredibly apolitical and almost refused to talk about any race issues in public).
To be honest, I thought that first half of this book, the historical context, was a bit dry - some was important to know, but still a bit dry. It was interesting, though, to learn that three of the greatest landmarks of African American sports history took place outside of the U.S. - Tom Molineaux fought for the boxing championship in England; Jack Johnson won the championship in Australia; and Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in Canada. I also really liked learning more about Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays - according to Rhoden, Robinson had to be apolitical, non-controversial, and had to hold down his temper since he was the first (hmmm .. Obama?); but Willie Mays had much more of a swagger and a style that became typical of a lot of black athletes.
Also, I thought this was cute - a young girl at an elementary school in NY asked Rhoden, "Who was the first white player to integrate the NBA?" Ha!
This is a great book for anyone to read - I especially think all black athletes should read it.