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

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete is a work of journalistic nonfiction by former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden. The paperback edition used here, published in 2006 by Three Rivers Press, follows the hardback version, by Crown Publishers, of the same year. In 2007, Forty Million Dollar Slaves was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction.

In this book, Rhoden, an African American sports journalist—and himself a former athlete—explores the position of black athletes in contemporary society. While they share in the wealth, fame, and admiration to which world-class athletes have become accustomed, they still, according to Rhoden, lack real power within the industry that they helped create. He presents a history of black athletes in the United States that compares the treatment of black athletes to that of their forbearers on early plantations, arguing that their power within the sports industry is no greater than the power black people had under slavery.

With examples ranging from such varied sports as boxing and horseracing, Rhoden introduces the reader to legends of the past who fought against unfair hiring practices and outright racism. He also calls out such megastars as Michael Jordan for neglecting, even betraying, the black struggle for equality to secure their own personal wealth. While offering a history of the black athlete, Rhoden laments the current situation of black athletes, whom he insists are lost due to their lack of awareness of this history.

Despite Rhoden’s seeming despondency over the current state of the sports industry as it concerns African American athletes, he closes by offering not only hope but specific plans by which black athletes can work collectively for the common, African American good. Throughout, he cites historical documents, interviews influential figures, offers commentary on music, economics, and business practices, and reflects on his own enlightenment.