Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California HARRY EDWARDS Harry Edwards: An Oral History Interviews conducted by NADINE WILMOT in 2005 Copyright © 2010 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Harry Edwards, dated October 18, 2005. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Harry Edwards, “Harry Edwards: An Oral History” conducted by Nadine Wilmot in 2005, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2010. Harry Edwards Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley Table of Contents—Harry Edwards Interview History viii Interview 1, October 18, 2005......................................................................................... 1 Audio File 1 ............................................................................................................... 1 Family background and growing up in East St. Louis, Illinois--early influences—religion—his wife and children—reopening of the Emmett Till court case, the impact of learning about the murder of Emmett Till when an adolescent, a conversation with his father about it—coming to terms with racism and mortality—Hurricane Katrina, sport and the state of African America, the Superdome—the roots of his scholar activism, facing racism from teachers in the classroom as a young person. Audio File 2.............................................................................................................. 17 Racism and early education--love of learning at Fresno City College--commentary on intelligent design versus evolution debate--literature and music important to him during the early 1960's--intellectual community as a scholar athlete--perspectives on feminism, gender, and sexuality in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements--interracial marriage and dating--homosexuality and professional sport--Maya Angelou's introduction to his autobiography--on fear, when challenging the status quo; becoming more cautious as he married and made a family. Interview 2, November 1, 2005..................................................................................... 36 Audio File 3.............................................................................................................. 36 Monument at San Jose State University to commemorate the 1968 protest at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, reflections on public memory and student activism in the 1960s-- reflections on the current absence of activism among black athletes in connection with an absence of a movement--young black athletes today and political consciousness--his work as a consultant to major league football and basketball teams. Audio File 4............................................................................................................. 50 More on his work as a consultant to major league football and basketball teams--more on homosexuality and professional sports, Cheryl Swoopes--the risks and constraints faced by athletes in speaking out--more on homosexuality--the primacy of Christian ritual in professional sports--the documentary films Hoop Dreams and It's Only a Game, Ladies-- pre-global warming/pandemic politics versus post global warming/pandemic politics-- taking the post of Director of Oakland's Park and Recreation Department for three years-- reflection on the experience of being a large man. Interview 3, November 8, 2005..................................................................................... 65 Audio File 5.............................................................................................................. 65 More on the intersection of political activism and professional sports historically and in the present--the Black Panther Party--the role of women in the Black Power Movement-- the evolution of his own awareness of sexism--Shirley Chisholm. Audio File 6.............................................................................................................. 80 On Marxism, The God That Failed, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual--Third World Marxism--Hugo Chavez--his dissertation on race and sport, his dissertation committee, on race and gender and sport--publishing The Revolt of the Black Athlete--white liberal racism--looking for work after completing his PhD--coming to UC Berkeley as an assistant professor--meeting with Chancellor Heyns, the athletic director, and the football and basketball coaches. Interview 4, November 22, 2005 ................................................................................... 97 Audio File 7.............................................................................................................. 97 Happy Birthday--coming to Berkeley--Third World Movements on college campuses across the nation--outcomes of Third World movements on college campuses-- perspectives on the growth of the African American Studies department at UC Berkeley-- maintaining the terms of his contract at Berkeley--the department of Sociology when he joined in 1971, his position within it--his perspective on how decisions were made in the sociology department, diversity and access, tenure--more on sociology, the department and the discipline, at Berkeley, pursuing his work in that context. Audio File 8............................................................................................................ 113 His tenure case--teaching, learning from teaching--learning to teach gender, sexuality, and sport--the intersection of cultural studies with his work--religion--controversy around administering an exam on Yom Kippur--reflections on college athletes and academic performance sparked by a question about Alex Saragoza--American Cultures requirement. Interview 5, December 6, 2005 ................................................................................... 132 Audio File 9............................................................................................................ 132 Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, racism in sport--Proposition 209, SP 1 and SP 2--affirmative action--serving on the graduate admissions committee--more on Proposition 209--1998 Ethnic Studies FTE debate--mainstreaming area such African American Studies, the evolution of African American Studies into Africana Studies--American history--more on his position vis á vis institutional structures at Berkeley. Audio File 10.......................................................................................................... 147 UC Berkeley inquires about his consulting activities--his participation in the anti- apartheid movement--Viet Nam War--war in Iraq--summary remarks. viii Interview History—Harry Edwards Professor Harry Edwards joined UC Berkeley’s department of sociology in 1971. He conducted pioneering scholarship in the area of sociology of race and sport and is also renowned for his involvement in the famous Black Power salute on the victory podium at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Edwards has long been a controversial figure at UC Berkeley. In fact, several of the narrators interviewed in this series pointed to his 1974 tenure case when discussing curricular transformation and discrimination in hiring and promotion. I initially contacted Professor Edwards to explore the possibility of conducting an oral history in early 2003. After two years of scheduling conflicts and delays on both our parts, we sat down to conduct the interview October through December of 2005. Professor Edwards is very much a public figure who has documented himself in numerous interviews and books, including an autobiography, The Struggle