Sports heros that broke the colour barrier

Ok, i'm doing an essay in history about sports heros who helped to break the colour barrier in the Canada/United States. I was wondering if anyone could give me some input into who i could do. I'm thinking of basing it one 3-4 people. Thanks!

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Off the top of my head, we have:

Billy Mills - Sioux Indian guy who is the only American to ever win the Olympic 10k.

Jackie Robinson - African American guy who hit a bunch of home runs back in the day.

Yao Ming - Chinese guy who has the most lethal hookshot in the NBA today.

Moved to Temple of Knowledge

Originally Posted by Crimson Hector

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Jackie Robinson - African American guy who hit a bunch of home runs back in the day.

Jackie Robinson was more significant in that he was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Not the first to play professional baseball, but the first to play MLB.

I really don't think Yao Ming broke any kind of colour barrier. There might have been a perception by franchises that Chinese citizens don't know enough about basketball, but I don't think anyone in the US thought that Chinese shouldn't play basketball.

You could talk about Ernie Davis who was the first African American winner of the Heisman trophy or Marlin Briscoe the first African American quarterback.

Or Larry Bird and how he came to be the best nba player of all time. He overcame harsh adversity and racial discrimination. To show how he was better than all black people at basketball.

Originally Posted by Dr_Doak

Or Larry Bird and how he came to be the best nba player of all time. He overcame harsh adversity and racial discrimination. To show how he was better than all black people at basketball.

This.

Larry Bird was a God amongst his peers.

Good to see i'm not alone.

Perhaps not so relavent but if you have time you could do some research into Makhaya Ntini, who plays cricket for South Africa - he was the first black African to represent South Africa at any major sport.