Moments of Impact: Injury, Racialized Memory, and Reconciliation in College Football

by Jaime Schultz

In the first half of the twentieth century, Jack Trice, Ozzie Simmons, and Johnny Bright played college football for three Iowa Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and Drake University, respectively. At a time when the overwhelming majority of their opponents and teammates were white, the three men, all Black, sustained serious injuries on the gridiron due to foul play, either because of their talents, their race, or, most likely, an ugly combination of the two. Moments of Impact tells their stories and examines how the local communities of which they were once a part have forgotten and remembered those assaults over time. Of particular interest are the ways those memories have been expressed in a number of commemorations, including a stadium name, a trophy, and the dedication of a football field.

Jaime Schultz focuses on the historical and racial circumstances of the careers of Trice, Simmons, and Bright as well as the processes and politics of cultural memory. Schultz develops the concept of “racialized memory”—a communal form of remembering imbued with racial significance—to suggest that the racial politics of contemporary America have generated a need to redress historical wrongs, congratulate Americans on the ostensible racial progress they have made, and divert attention from the unrelenting persistence of structural and ideological racism.
 

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Salisa Hauber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid nonfiction read. Tons of details about Jack Trice’s story that I hadn’t know about before. It was interesting to learn about Ozzie Simmons and Johnny Bright and their respective stories as black men in athletics. It is eye opening to hear how each university reacted to each man’s situation. Can be a slow read at times but that might be biased because I don’t read many non-fiction books. Definitely focuses primarily on Jack Trice completed to Bright and Simmons.

[Jami · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing smacks of being a dissertation, which almost didn't get me past the Introduction. Assumptions & judgments were made about the naming of Jack Trice Stadium, yet the Floyd of Rosedale trophy was condemned for forgetting about Ozzie Simmons (rightfully so) & of course indignation about how the Johnny Bright incident was treated. Definitely like The Idealist book about Jack Trice better.

[Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of Moments of Impact in Sport in History is available here