While at Indiana State University, he turned down an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament because the NAIB had a policy banning African American players.
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During the league's first season in 1946, the majority of the players earned between $4,000 to $5,000. However, star players earned much more compared to other players.
African-Americans played in the NFL from its inception until 1933, when they were officially banned. The first black NFL player after that was Kenny Washington, who signed with the L.A. Rams in 1946. Nat Clifton was the first African-American to sign with an NBA team, doing so before the 1950-1951 season. Willie O'Ree was the first person of African heritage to play in the NHL, doing so in January of the 1957-1958 season. Wendell Scott was the first African-American to officially join NASCAR -- which is most DEFINITELY a major sport in the US -- doing so in 1953.
.Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American win an Oscar. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and she won for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939).James Baskett was the first African-American man to receive an academy award. He was given an Honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South(1946)
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, born on August 5, 1946, is an American physicist and was the first African American woman to receive a doctorate from MIT. Her specialty was nuclear physics and she began researching in the 1970s. She did not invent anything, rather she furthered studied particles.
I don't know that history has recorded that as the Bengals began play in 1968, 20 years or so after Jackie Robinson (1947) began playing in MLB and Kenny Washington (1946) began playing in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams. Some of the African-American players on the 1968 Bengals were running backs Paul Robinson and Essex Johnson, wide receivers Andre White and Warren McVea, defensive backs Jess Phillips, Charlie King, and Lonnie Wright, offensive tackle Ernie Wright, linebackers Al Beauchamp and Frank Buncom, and defensive linemen Andy Rice and Harry Gunner.