When Kindness Leapt Further Than Gold - How Kindness Bridges the Divide of Prejudice

Randall McNeely
Sep 12
2 min read

Kindness delivers the love that creates unbreakable bonds of friendship.

Key Takeaways Up Front:

Kindness Opens Doors – A simple, selfless act can change someone’s trajectory and create life-long bonds.
Love Bridges Divides – Genuine friendship and respect can transcend prejudice, politics, and cultural barriers.
Kindness Ripples Forward – One act can inspire generosity and connection across generations.

Two men were striving to qualify for the long jump in the Olympics. The first man qualified on his first jump. The second man fouled on his first two jumps. It was then that the first man extended kindness by coming to the second man and suggesting to him to make a mark about a foot in front of the jumping spot and jump from there. The second man followed the suggestion and qualified on the third jump.(1)

The second man then went on to win the gold in the long jump along with three other gold medals.

Who were these men?

The first was Carl "Luz" Long of Germany. The second was Jesse Owens. The year was 1936 at the Berlin Olympics.

After the medal ceremony, Luz walked arm-in-arm with Jesse, a Black man, in front of Hitler and 100,000 spectators. Jesse later said,

“You can melt down all the medals and cups I have, and they wouldn’t be a plating for the twenty-four-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long that moment.”

The two stayed in touch until Luz was killed in WWII. In his last letter, Luz asked Jesse to find his son and tell him “how things can be between men on this earth.” Jesse did—and remained friends with Carl Jr. for decades.

What can you and I learn from this powerful example?

Kindness, rooted in love, bridges divides, transcends prejudice, and creates ripples that last generations

My friends, you and I can put on kindness lenses. We can see, if we will, through the eyes of love just as Carl and Jesse did. We can determine every day to be kindness givers, to actively, intentionally look for opportunities to give kindness away. In doing so, we can scale up kindness in the world, creating long lasting and continuously flowing ripples of kindness.

CALL TO ACTION

I invite to look for simple ways to scale up kindness in your life and in the world around you, just as Carl and Jesse did for each other

Here are five easy, actionable suggestions.

Daily Kindness Intentions – Each morning, choose one small kind act to do that day—hold a door, compliment someone, or send an encouraging message.
Gratitude Notes – Write one short thank-you text, email, or card each day to acknowledge someone’s impact.
Kindness Reminders – Set phone reminders with prompts like “Smile at a stranger” or “Check in on a friend.”
Pay-It-Forward Habit – Whenever you receive kindness, pass it along to someone else within 24 hours.
Kindness Journal – Record acts of kindness you gave or received; reflecting on them helps you notice more opportunities.