Race and Resistance in Boston : A Contested Sports History - Douglas Stark

Race and Resistance in Boston

A Contested Sports History

By: Douglas Stark (Editor), Robert Cvornyek (Editor)

Paperback | 1 February 2025

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Boston is a city known for its sports as well as its troubled racial conflict. But generations of Black athletes, teams, sportswriters, and front-office executives have exercised historic influence in Boston over the years as they advocated for racial integration and transformed their sports into modes of racial pride, resistance, and cultural expression. Race and Resistance in Boston goes beyond the familiar topics associated with the city's premiere professional teams, the Red Sox and the Celtics, to recount the long history of Black sporting culture in the city.

This collection of essays takes a close look at Black Bostonians' involvement in sports as varied as soccer, cricket, boxing, baseball, golf, tennis, basketball, and hockey--and illuminates the effect of Boston's desegregation and busing crisis on scholastic athletics in the 1970s and 1980s. With personal reminiscences from former New England Patriot Devin McCourty and journalist Bijan Bayne, as well as research from scholars of sport, Race and Resistance in Boston captures the intersection of Black history and sporting culture in America's City on a Hill.

Robert Cvornyek is professor emeritus of history at Rhode Island College. He is the author of Black Grays and Colored Giants: A Comprehensive Guide to Black Baseball in Rhode Island, 1870-1949. Douglas Stark is a museum consultant and sports historian. He is the author of The James Naismith Reader: Basketball in His Own Words (Nebraska, 2021). Devin McCourty played his entire thirteen-year NFL career with the New England Patriots, winning three Super Bowls.

Industry Reviews
"A must-read for anyone who wants to go deep into the issue of race and sport and how they intersect with society. Focusing on Boston is a powerful and meaningful approach, as it is a perfect microcosm of these issues. . . . Cvornyek and Stark go deep into the subject of how racism affects sport but also show how sport can be used to bring people together across racial and economic divides."-Richard E. Lapchick, president of the Institute for Sport and Social Justice

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