 It wasn't just Robeson to me that I gravitated toward when tracing this heritage. It was also the fact that the African-American athletes' political roots did not start with black issues. It started with Jewish issues. It started with World War II. It started with American athletes being asked to defend America against Nazism and Jewish athletes asking for solidarity against the Berlin Olympics in 1936. And also, of course, asking Jackie Robinson to denounce Paul Robeson in 1949