Black cowboys 'learn to overcome' at 8 Seconds Rodeo

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- More than 7000 people filled Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland Sunday for the Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo, a chance for the riders to showcase their talents in a sport that historically hasn't had many Black rodeo cowboys and cowgirls.

The Eight Seconds rodeo -- named for how long a bull rider has to last to get a score -- features the top Black rodeo athletes from around the country competing in bull riding, barrel racing, bulldogging, bareback riding and ladies steer undecorating with $60,000 in prizes across the five events.

The history of Black cowboys began during slavery and historians estimate 1-in-4 cowboys were Black. But when rodeo's popularity soared in the late 19th Century, Black cowboys were excluded.

Garfield Wilson III, a cowboy from Kansas, said he's "the last of a dying breed, try to teach the young ones, give them something to look up to."

Cowboys like Malachi Anderson from Central Texas said they still face challenges.

"Definitely when I go to places where they don't really see us a lot, I get a lot of weird looks. I don't get the same treatment. They might mark him a score higher even if I rode better," Anderson told KOIN 6 News. "Just little things you notice but you can't really speak on those challenges. You have to learn to overcome."

KOIN 6 News will have more information later in the night.