At the end of his remarks, Early observed that the inherent inequality of athletic competition further complicates racial tensions on the playing field.

“You win in high level sports competition, in most sports competition, by taking every advantage you can of your opponent,” he said.

Early has been a faculty member in the departments of English and African and Afro-American Studies at Washington University since 1982. He has also authored five books on blacks in America, one of which won the 1994 National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Criticism.

And he was honored twice with Grammy Award nominations for Best Album Liner Notes in 2001 for “Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words of the Harlem Renaissance,” and in 2000 for “Yes I Can: The Sammy Davis, Jr. Story.”

Early closed his lecture by telling the audience that he hopes his writing will serve as a springboard for the discussion of broader racial and cultural issues.

“One of my reasons for constructing this essay about sports is that it brings together issues much larger than athletics, highlighting in particular racial insults in America and the way people react to them,” Early said.

He will give two more lectures today and tomorrow in the Thompson Parlor, focusing on the significance of Jackie Robinson and Curt Flood.

The Alain LeRoy Locke Lecture Series, named for the godfather of the Harlem Renaissance, seeks to honor African American culture and history. The lectures are co-sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American research, the Department of African and African-American Studies and Basic Civitas Books.

—Staff writer Kimberly A. Kicenuik can be reached at kicenuik@fas.harvard.edu.