Forty Million Dollar Slaves
The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete

I really enjoyed this book about Black athletes and the systems of oppression that disempower them even as society continues to “progress.” William Rhoden starts Forty Million Dollar Slaves by describing the history of Black athletes, such as how they were used as capital during slavery and the Jim......more

This is not the book I thought it would be when I picked it out. I was expecting a book about contracts, money, recruiting, and trading. Rhodes touches on all those things, but this book is primarily a history book, drawing distant and not-explicitly-stated parallels between the slave markets at the......more

Very eye opening. Though the first two chapters lagged a bit, it immediately became interesting when the book delved into the Jockey Syndrome, and how the decimation of the Negro baseball leagues became a symbol of the negative effects of integration. "The Conveyor Belt" chapter (driving wedges betw......more

Well written and easy to follow. Speaks about the plight and how to improve it for black athletes.......more

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to write a review befitting this book and came up with nothing. For me, the best way for this book to be reviewed is quotes taken directly from the book. Forty Million Dollar Slaves is an important read if we want to understand the black athlete. “In the......more