Joe Louis in World War II: Home Front
Joe Louis (1914–1981), an African-American boxer also known as the "Brown Bomber," defeated German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938, defending his world heavyweight title and, for many Black and white Americans, earning a major victory for the United States in a clash of civilizations. During the war, Louis joined the army where he served in an all-Black Jim Crow regiment.
In June 1938, German boxer Max Schmeling traveled to New York to face his rival, African-American boxer Joe Louis. In their pre-fight coverage, American reporters cast Schmeling as a Nazi villain (despite the fact that Schmeling had never officially pledged his support for the Nazi regime). Louis knocked Schmeling out before a crowd of 70,000, signaling for many Americans the first great blow to the Hitler regime.