Althea Gibson’s Story
As Alice Coachman was retiring from track and field competition, sports journalists
were just beginning to get interested in another African American female athlete.
Even though a decade separated their
careers, the ways in which the black and white press wrote about Alice Coachman
and Althea Gibson were remarkably similar. This does not mean that their press
stories are the same. Coachman received much more coverage from a black press
that celebrated her accomplishments as an African American despite the fact
that she participated in a masculine sport.
As we shall see, Althea Gibson fared much better in a white press that focused more on gender in a society that accepted both men and women into the world of tennis. Interestingly, Gibson struggled with a black press that longed for her to represent the African American race in a decade of civil rights breakthroughs. This section examines Althea Gibsons press story in the light of an American society that was undergoing significant changes in civil rights for African Americans.
The White Press
As with Alice Coachman, the white press covered Althea Gibson’s tennis
career primarily through the lens of gender. Because she played in a sport
more accepting of women, this meant that Gibson’s coverage in the white
press was more extensive than Coachman’s. Another difference, however, was that
tennis players of the 1950s, both male and
female, were usually described in quite gendered, physical
terms. Descriptions such as “the
lithe and muscular Miss Gibson,” that “lanky
jumping jack of a girl,” and the “tall and leggy Miss Gibson” were
routine for the white press. Whereas Coachman had been known as “the
Tuskegee flash,” Gibson became “the slender Harlem stroker.”
But women tennis players had to endure a certain kind of attention from the white press that men did not. Women who chose to play aggressive tennis were labeled “masculine” by the white press. While some women shied away from displays of power on the court, Gibson was regularly noticed for the "masculine" way in which she played the game. When Gibson and partner Maria Bueno won the women’s doubles title at the 1958 Wimbledon tournament, the Atlanta Constitution noticed how the team “crushed" their opponents, “hitting the ball with manlike power.”
As we saw with Coachman, race played an important secondary role with the white press. Gibson’s coverage, however, was generally anything but racialized. In part, this difference may have stemmed from the different regions of the country in which these two athletes were raised. Coachman hailed from the Jim Crow South, whereas Gibson spent her formative years in New York. Yet, the New York Times was one of the key offenders in ignoring Alice Coachman’s achievements in favor of her white rival, Stella Walsh. While their different backgrounds may have played some role, we must look for the central explanation elsewhere.
This difference
in the white press is reflective of the changes that occurred in American
society during the 1940s and 1950s. Although only a decade separated their
achievements, the racial dynamics of the country had changed considerably.
Inroads were made in the arena of sports during the later part of the 1940s
as Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball in 1947.
By the 1950s, changes were also being felt thoughout society. In 1954, the
Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the long standing practice of “separate
but equal” facilities for African Americans in the now
landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education.
The post-WWII years and the onset of the cold war also contributed to advances in African American civil rights. The Soviet Union’s scrutiny of America’s race relations created internal sensitivity. We begin to see such influence even toward the end of Coachman’s career. The Chicago Tribune, in writing about Coachman’s Olympic victory, used some of the language that became all too familiar with Olympic contests during the Cold War: “Thus the track meet ended as begun eight days ago, with victory for an American and the Star Spangled Banner of the United States providing the closing music.”
By
Gibson’s career, the Cold War was in full tilt, and she truly benefitted
from the cold war influences on American society. In December 1955, the State
Department invited her to join three other tennis players on a goodwill tour
of Southeast Asian countries, playing exhibition matches and international
tournaments along the way. By including a successful African American, the
United States hoped to improve the image of America’s race relations.
The inclusion of Gibson on the tour not only served the State Department's desire to boost America’s international image but also helped jumpstart Gibson’s foundering career. Her relationship with a black press that also wanted Gibson to be a racial symbol would not be so successful.