King of Them All

By James Mills | Wednesday, February 18, 1998

With catch phrases like,'You white folks don't know how it is, you got to have the complexion to get protection,' Don King took Dartmouth Hall by storm, packing it past capacity 10 minutes before the speech began.

Don King, unquestionably one of the most powerful sports promoters in history, drew one of the largest and most boisterous crowds that I have seen at a Dartmouth lecture.

His entrance drew a round of applause and cheering that you would only expect from Dartmouth students for a national war hero or if some Dartmouth skier had gone to the Olympics and returned with a medal.

For many Don King is a symbol of American ingenuity and drive, but for others he is also a symbol of quick money earned off of the blood of real athletes.

King is unapologetic about his role in the American Society and considers himself the quintessential American, at one point declaring that he gives back $30 million in taxes a year.

King was introduced to the stage by Richard Farely '55, an African-American educator, widely considered a premier education reformer.

Farely and King are at the complete opposite ends of the personality spectrum. Farely is well-spoken, well-educated, and has spent his life in public service.

King, on the other hand, speaks loudly with many colloquialisms, has an air of egotism, and has spent his life in the promotion business.

Richard Farely began his introduction by recounting his first dealings with Don King.

Farely tells the audience how he came to the conclusion after years of educating and working for the U.S. Department of Education, that the poorest students often do poorly in school because they don't have the tools at home to get homework done.

Farely came up with the idea for a homework kit, a lunchbox filled with all the necessary homework materials. In his search for funding support, Farely eventually called Don King.

Within 10 minutes Don King had pledged $100,000 and has pledged an additional million since then.

In the Lecture itself, Don King chose to discuss his views of American history, focusing on race, power, and the position of African-Americans.

King's portrayal of American history was interesting and to a large degree historically accurate , but also rambling and incoherent. The random appearance of Hitler references during King's speech were particularly strange.

While discussing slavery or some other topic he would completely shift off topic while attempting to drive a point with a comparison, often losing the audience, but entertaining them with his digressions.

His humor was infectious, but many times I saw students looking around at others for confirmation. What was this guy talking about? Was he serious? Though more subdued then many of the boxing interviews I've seen him in, by the end of the evening he was losing some of his subtlety.

One of the first controversial things he mentioned was his belief that John Brown the radical abolitionist, and the leader of the attack on Harper's Ferry, an attack in which a number of innocent nonslaveholders were massacred along with slaveholders, was a true American hero.

Many believe that Brown's act was more harmful than good because it marginalized the Abolitionist movement at the time, much as the Pro-life movement has been marginalized by recent shootings at clinics.

King's description of Native Americans as 'Indians running around the plains, shooting bows and arrows and smoking the peace pipe' also drew stunned nervous laughter from the audience, but many realized that this type of descriptive alliteration typified King's speech.

I don't believe he meant anything by these statements. King is clearly not a politically correct person and never holds his tongue. This particular description was delivered in such a haphazard manner, that it seemed to indicate no forethought.

Much of the speech itself, which lasted over an hour, seemed completely off the top of his head. This is very impressive from a charismatic standpoint, but he didn't strike me as a particularly astute or articulate man in the traditional sense of the words.

He does, however, do what he does best: Create controversy and then exploit it.

Creating controversy, particularly saying things that he does not really mean, is a particular trait that he uses for his advantage in the promotion business, but it does not make him a particularly savvy speaker.

Although the controversy often involves his delivery instead of the real context of his speech, he does make enough odd statements to shock whoever is listening. He is the consummate politician, but he is too controversial to run for any political office (except perhaps mayor of D.C.).

As King closed his history lesson, spanning from the Revolutionary War to Nazi Germany, he called on the audience to integrate the idea that racism exists into our Ivy League education. In closing, he confirmed that he was a man of contradictions.

King first criticized conservatism and traditionalism of white society and espoused a belief that society should be based on constant change, later declaring '[Whites] are the best player[s] I ever met, you can't blame a winner for winning,' during the answer session.

King's speech was perhaps the most humorous and insightful speech that I have ever heard at Dartmouth, but not because I learned about racism and American history, but because I got a small glimpse of how the megapromoter Don King has become one of the greatest showmen in professional sports.

King of Them All

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