The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-13

diversion for the general pub
lie. The sports are looked
upon, even by some of the
otherwise discerning, as
gaudy and empty things and
the intellectual classes regard the
sports writer as tinsel figure. Miss
Ethel Barrymore, once tossed off
critique by Haywood Broun on her
dramatic ability with the remark
that Mr.. Broun was only a former
sports writer. Miss Barrymore deals
with Thespis and Thespis, after all,
sits on Olympus.
Only the revolutionary press has
pointed out the class significance
of sports. On one side or the
other, they are a means of sup
port-either for carrying on the
fight of the workers against their
cppressors Tin the capitalist
countries) or building healthy
Socialist citizenry lin the Soviet
Union or in militarizing the
masses las is happening in every
capitalist country.
HOW much the fascists fear sports
ii in the hands Of the workers is
evidenced among the first acts Of
the murderers when they get into
power. They Immediately dissolve
all workers sports clubs and try to
get the membership into organiza-
lions of their own. We have recent
examples of this in Germany, Aus
tria and Latvia.
IN THE United States, still
bourgeois democratic country,
the capitalist uses of sports are
camoufiaged by the innocence and
triviality which is pretended for
them in the sports sections. Thus,
as far as the concerns of the
masters go, are the masses be-
unused.
In the United States, however,
their whole triviality and innocence
explodes when we consider that no
sports writer has yet mentioned the
international Sports Rally Against
War and Fascism, which is sched-
uled for Paris, Aug. Ills. But we
have had columns ON columns of
publicity for the OlympicS, which
are scheduled to be held in Nazi
Germany. Nobody but fool would
imagine that any Jew has a chance
to get on the German Olympic
team, but in the United States we
have had columns on columns de-
voted to the declarations of people
verifying the pretense of the Hitler
ties that Jews are being searched
for to enter the competitions. Is it
not strange too that no denuncia-
ton of the fascists is made by our
sports writer's for outlawing work
ers' sports clubs, although they be-
come very wroth when the boxing
commission prohibits smoking in
Madison Square Garden?
We did get one statement on
the German situation. When the
American Olympic delegation put
up the bluff of Withdrawing from
the Olympic Games II they were
held in Berlin and Jews were not
permitted on the team, Mr.. Paul
Calico, the defender of the peo-
pie, announced that what was
happening in Germany was none
of Americas business.
THE A. A. U. is controlled by army
L officers and millionaires and
pretends to pure arnateurism, and
the Labor Sports Union is an or
ganization of workers, and is purely
amateur, but the meets of which
organization are reported in the
newspapers? You'll go blind trying
to find something on the L.S.U.
events. The Labor Sports Union
fights for the unity of the Negro
and white worker, and the A.A.U.
exercises the most deadly discrimi-
nation against Negroes, but in what
paper have you read, Alphonso, of
the A-A.U.'s discrimination? Only
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