In his later years, Joe Louis became a fixture in the Las Vegas circuit. Broke and working as a greeter at Caesar’s Palace, Louis lived his last days in poverty. Longtime friend Frank Sinatra paid for a couple of operations that Louis needed, and even supported him financially.

In April of 1981, Louis succumbed to heart failure; buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, Max Schmeling funded Louis’ funeral. Schmeling and Louis developed a bond outside of the ring that lasted until Louis’ death.

The plight of Joe Louis’ life after boxing is infuriating to many of us. It illustrates how the United States used Louis and many other prominent blacks to their benefit. Once these individuals were no longer seen as assets, they were shown the door.

The true irony is that at the time the United States was no better than Hitler’s Germany; both practiced racial separation and used black athletes as major tools in their hypocrisy to give the world the impression that racial harmony was alive and well in the States.

Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947—America’s pastime represents a direct correlation between baseball and the black experience in America.

Segregation, degradation, and humiliation have followed the black athlete from day one, and Robinson endured all three as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In ballparks across America, Robinson was the object of taunts, slurs, and anything else derogatory that can be hurled at someone.

Rarely drawing a complaint, Robinson’s decision to go about his business in this manner spoke volumes about Jackie Robinson as a man.

Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and Jackie Robinson are examples of the segregation, degradation and humiliation that black athletes faced and ultimately overcame.

However, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a new generation of black athletes was born. They did not come to bow down; they came to conquer, even if it meant sacrificing their livelihoods for their beliefs. These men and women were conscious of the social climate they were living in, and were determined to make a change.

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