The Essay on “Champion of the World”

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Requirement

Write the essay on “Champion of the world”.
The essay on “Champion of the world”.

Solution

This paper is dedescribesory of a black boy who is known as “Joe Louis.” He becomes champion of the world after fighting with the thinking and current perspective of different individuals. The essay is written by the Maya Angelou in a very attractive manner. The essay ends with a contradictory line “It wouldn’t be fit for a Black man and his family to be caught on a lonely country road on a night when Joe Louis had proved that we were the strongest people in the world. This line indicates the plight of the black people in the state of Arkansas where Maya Angelou as a child grew up with her family. The words are contradictory because even though a black man has won the world championships yet still the black people living in the place is afraid to celebrate their moment of happiness. The essay tells much more than just a boxing match and the black people celebrating the victory.

"Champion of the world. A Black boy. Some Black mother's son." These words highlights the struggle of being a coloured person, the boxing match was not just a simple victory it had bigger implications (Kennedy et al.). The victory of Joe Louis emphasizes on the fact that the black have the capability of defeating the whites and the system made by them, they do have that much power. The win gave the African Americans a feeling of empowerment for the first time. This was a legitimate win against the white people, which could not have any repercussions against them as a community. "If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help." "My race groaned. It was our people falling", these lines portray the years of pain and struggle that the black people had endured (Kennedy et al.). They had experienced violence first hand and they knew the feeling. They experienced all these it was not a myth or story to them, if Louis was defeated then it would be a defeat for the entire Black community. The author said that if he lost the match all hopes would be gone for their community they will be again taunted and tortured and for the white people it will be an accomplishment.

This defeat was a beacon for the black people achieving a great milestone in the history as mentioned before although this did not change the scenario for the existence of racism. Even though the White Contender was defeated by Louis and received the title "Heavy Weight Champion of the World”, the black community faced danger due to the presence of racism. The whites could never believe that the blacks could defeat them; they believed that they had the right to win anything just because of the colour of their skin, and at times if the blacks offended the whites they could take necessary actions against them (Kennedy et al.). Over the years, sports became a common form of entertainment among the people and a source of pride, sports can make a person or society better or bring out the worse in them a person can either focus on the competitiveness of the sports or see it in a positive light or in a negative approach. In other words, a person can look at competitiveness at a positive or negative approach. 

On the matter of positive competitiveness, sports can be looked upon a game of spirits and a fair way of winning or losing, some people can also tarnish the purpose of games by using foul words, there has been several instances where people have dragged the issues related to sports to a huge extent. Many people have even lost their lives in fights of proving their own form of game better or in silly quarrels regarding the various sports (Kennedy et al.). The games or sports always has influenced the society to a great extent, it has influenced the culture and communities.  As an example the victory of Joe Louis was more than a simple winning of a game it was representative to the African American culture and society, it gave them pride, and for some, who have never experienced anything like this, it was a first. This is just a single case of the impact sports have on culture. The 16th and the 17th paragraphs were inspirational in nature the lines conveyed a lot without saying much. Both the paragraphs focuses on the trials and tribulations of the black people and contains most powerful forms of emotions related with the domination of black people in the hands of the whites. The moment felt like the earth had stood still for the entire community no one dared to blink or breathe and everyone was in suspense. The black people felt that everything was over for them; the tension of the game was such that no one could say for sure whether they will win or lose. 

The final paragraph portrayed joy, the pride of victory and the black people gaining confidence in their own race, they never thought that they will be feel such, as they never had any occasion where they achieved something. The black boxer and the champion Joe Louise helped the black people in gaining confidence. Although they knew that they would never be able to win a respectable position in the society, yet the white men will never be able to take away their title. 

After studying all this, it can be concluded that the African Americans all over the world have become the "Champions of the World". It happens due to their active initiatives and growing participation in sports and other curricular activities. The way Angelou utilized portrayal all through the paper helped the readers to get an idea of the condition of the black people at that time, if she did not portray the condition in that manner then the readers would never have understood or would have related to the feelings of the black people. All through the entire essay Angelou's depiction of the Black community painted a clear picture and depicted all the feelings that were ready to be passed on o the readers.  

Reference List:

• Angelou’s. “ Champion of the World.” Kennedy, X. J et al. The Bedford Reader. 13 the ed. Boston, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 2016. P-94-96 Print.