Jesse Owens : “Hitler didn’t snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me.

From Quora : http://www.quora.com/Olympic-Games/What-is-the-most-phenomenal-moment-in-Olympics-history.

I definitely think at school I learned of the Hitler snub, but definitely also never learned of the FDR one.

  

Andy Lee Chaisiri, Writer. Artist. History fan.

1886 votes by Shirley Lu, Hongwan Liu, Viki Saigal, (more)

1936, Berlin.

'A Black American athlete defies Adolf Hitler's propaganda of the Aryan ideal'
Jesse crosses the finish line in first. Arch-racist Hitler is so infuriated that he storms out the stadium, refusing to greet him. A bold tale of personal heroism triumphing over hatred, Freedom overcoming Tyranny.

That is what the newspapers reported.
But... that is not the account Jesse gave:

"Hitler had a certain time to come to the stadium and a certain time to leave". "It happened he had to leave before the victory ceremony after the 100 meters. But before he left I was on my way to a broadcast and passed near his box. He waved at me and I waved back. I think it was 'bad taste' to criticize the man of the hour in another country".

"When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either."

“Hitler didn’t snub me – it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me a telegram.”

In recognition of his gold medal performance, Hitler sent Jesse Owens a commemorative photograph of ... himself (I guess narcissism comes with being a ruthless dictator)