Editing Jim Thorpe (section)

==Victim of racism==
Thorpe, whose parents were both mixed-race, was raised as a Native American. He accomplished his athletic feats despite the severe racial inequality of the United States. It has often been suggested that his Olympic medals were stripped by the athletic officials because of his ethnicity.<ref>Watterson. p. 151.<br />* Elfers. p. 18.</ref> While it is difficult to prove this, the public comment at the time largely reflected this view.{{Sfn|Schaffer|Smith|2000|p=50}} At the time Thorpe won his gold medals, not all Native Americans were recognized as U.S.&nbsp;citizens (the U.S.&nbsp;government had frequently demanded that they make concessions to adopt European-American ways to receive such recognition). Citizenship was not granted to all American Indians until 1924.{{Sfn|Lincoln|Slagle|1997|p=282}}

When Thorpe attended Carlisle, the students' ethnicity was used for marketing purposes.<ref name="Bloom" /> The football team was called the Indians. To create headlines, the school and journalists often portrayed sporting competitions as conflicts of Indians against whites.<ref name="Bloom">Bloom quoted in Bird. p. 97.</ref> The first notice of Thorpe in ''The New York Times'' was headlined "Indian Thorpe in Olympiad; Redskin from Carlisle Will Strive for Place on American Team."<ref name="Redskin" /> Throughout his life, Thorpe's accomplishments were described in a similar racial context by other newspapers and sportswriters, which reflected the era.<ref>Demaree, Al. "Thorpe, the Indian, Best All-American", ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', November 24, 1926. p. C4.<br />* "Jim Thorpe Dies of Heart Attack at 64", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', Associated Press, March 29, 1953. p. A1.<br />* Roetman, Sheena L. [https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-thanksgiving-reminder-jim-thorpe-is-a-native-american-hero/ "America's Greatest Athlete Ever, Jim Thorpe, Was Indigenous"], Vice Media, November 27, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2018.</ref>