The Benching of Willis Ward

About the Book

On October 20, 1934, University of Michigan officials benched Wolverines star Willis Ward to accommodate Georgia Tech’s refusal to share the field with a Black player. Tyran Kai Steward illuminates how Ward’s experience as a student-athlete highlighted the distinct forms of racism practiced in the North and influenced Ward’s beliefs for the rest of his life.

Michigan’s policy of dubious inclusion showed how white institutions admitted Black individuals and then forced them to face discrimination and isolation. Steward connects Ward’s college experience to his subsequent career, where his work as a personnel executive at Ford Motor Company and the Public Services Commission reflected his ambivalence to civil rights and conservative views on race reform. As time passed, Ward advocated for Black Americans to pursue personal success over collective action, a belief that—along with his staunch Republican Party politics—made Ward an example of the Black conservative approach to racial progress.

In-depth and sobering, The Benching of Willis Ward uses one man’s career to shine a light on the workings and legacy of the North’s systems of discrimination.