NBA (National Basketball Association) is not all about competition. The racial ideology has been present in the NBA. In NBA games, African American people are on display to entertain mainly white Americans. It reminds people of an inappropriate example, in the Colosseum, slaves bloodily fought among themselves or with animals until one’s death while the audiences viewed it as a kind of entertainment. Today, however, American society does not tolerate any downright prejudice, and the NBA helps to build this racial ideology in a more modern and subtle way. Both commercials and commentators are contributing factors to the construction of this racial ideology which has culturally shaped the values of sports. By looking into the historical events and social changes, people can get a greater understanding on this racial ideology in the NBA. After the NBA was founded in 1946, there was, “the shift from rigid to fluid competitive group relation, changing distributions of power, declining level of overt prejudice and new ideas about assimilation and pluralism” resulting from a civil right movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the urban riots and Black Power movement of the 1960s, briefly, “the changes in black-white relations in the 20th century” (Healey, 115-116). “Agricultural work became less labor intensive, and the need to maintain a large, powerless workforce declined”, hence the black laborers came out to urban areas, seeking opportunities (qtd. in Healey, 116). Meanwhile sports as one of several unlimited fields that were opened for African Americans, earned more attention around the countries, especially from the black laborers. Sage noticed, “in the early 1960s only about 20% NBA players were black, but in 1989 black athletes compr... ... middle of paper ... ...9). Some African Americans compromise to white people who are economically dominating and this phenomenon also depicts supreme white culture, setting African Americans’ status under the white culture. Under the commercial system and influence of the commentary, the racial ideology in the NBA is covert. No one constructed it on purpose, but several inevitable reasons made it happen. Both the historical reasons and traditional stereotypes make African Americans constantly suffer from a racial hierarchy. Practically, what is the best answer to this racial problem? There couldn’t be a short-term and effective way. Nevertheless, with the increasing awareness of the racial problems and the tide of humanities, this racial ideology can be ultimately erased. Just like what happened before, the slavery which was deeply rooted in people’s minds, has been abolished forever.
Walter LeFeber's book serves as a cornerstone of reference for its content as it relates to race, black business and the expansion of global capitalism since the late 20th century. With regard to race, it shows how race effected middle-class Michael Jordan at a young age and how he grew in the star he became, yet still could not es...
.... Players are also factors in fighting against dystopian way because it inhibits them to freely be themselves while they are playing and working in a association they worked on their whole life to get into. In other words, its bizarre to see players who are the main value in sports such as basketball, however are still able to be confined due to the authoritative power of the basketball association. Overall, since people depend heavily on social media and television, associations use their power such as imposing dress codes to present their players on television so that viewers can be aware and interested in why the NBA is trying to sell such as tickets to stadiums, clothing, and certain messages. IN result, this has lead society to fall under a dystopia, where everything is controlled by higher authority restricting thus the rights us people were first entitled too.
Go out to an urban neighborhood and find a game of pickup basketball. Listen if you can hear any of the kids yell “Iso!” What does it mean? It literally means isolation, but on the court it means “Give me the ball and let me do it myself.” In Forty Million Dollar Slaves, author William C. Rhoden argues white journalists perpetuated the stereotype that black athletes are selfish with a “one-on-one” mentality. However, Rhoden fails to acknowledge that this “one-on-one” mindset on and off the field is a very real dynamic, with legitimate cause.
Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. 2003. The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
Bill Russell grew up in an extremely racist time in America in an extremely racist state. Born in Louisiana and raised both there and in Oakland, California; Russell and his family battled the every day hardships that most black people faced at that time. But Russell always had a set of morals and guidelines that he led his life by, many of which he learned from his father, who he says was his hero and biggest role model. These morals revolved around independence and a very classic “ I will not allow anyone to impose their will on me.” (Page 56, paragraph 1) These morals followed and shaped him in his playing and coaching career.
Several foreign basketball players have individually left their marks on NBA courts, in NBA record books, and in their fans’ hearts. Different ethnic groups, races, and sports fans in general have united, cheering on heroic efforts from players from overseas. These international players amped up the level of competition in basketball and found themselves at home in the NBA. Four international players have been honored with the most prestigious award a player can receive in professional basketball, NBA MVP. These same four players are undoubtedly future Hall of Famers and were listed in the top 30 international players of all time in a 2013 “Dime Magazine” article (Daruaku). These four players, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan,...
I chose to explore the Negro Baseball League to form an understanding of how the league was formed, the league's economic and social impact on the African American communities, and on the United States of America. In this paper, I will explore this tremendous impact that has forever changed the American culture, views and attitudes. This exploration will consist of reviewing different documented sources from players, fans and historians. Through these documented resources, I will also research was caused the gradual decline and eventual fall of the Negro Baseball League.
... because of his skin color. He overcame these obstacles which eventually led him to become the first African-American professional basketball player. Other examples include the sport legends of Muhammad Ali, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson. All of which endured physical and emotional hardships like racial taunts from fans and being unable to stay in certain hotels or eat in many restaurants on the road. Racial equality slowly began to emerge in the mid nineteen hundreds. Legislation passed various acts: Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Fair Housing Act of 1968, which helped ease racial integration of minority groups into white society and provided an equal environment . Stories soon arose of the struggles that minority athletes faced and how they rose to the top, becoming some of the greatest sport legends the United States has to offer.
Miller, Patrick B. Wiggins, David K. Sport and the color line: Black athletes and Race relations in Twentieth-century America. 2004. The Journal of Southern History 70 (4) (Nov 2004): 990.
The National Basketball Association is the most popular professional basketball league in North America; it is also the most popular professional basketball league in the world. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most diverse businesses in the world, which was the deliberate plan of former NBA commissioner David Stern. The NBA was once an all white and male dominated league, now through years of an aggressive effort to diversify the organization the NBA is now one of the shining beacons for diversity, tolerance and acceptance in the workplace. Former NBA commissioner David Stern spearheaded and put into action on the best examples of creating and cultivation opportunities for success based on merit. “When David Stern steps down as NBA Commissioner in 2014, among the legacies he will have created is an era in professional sport when leagues and teams hired the best people possible. He embraced the moral imperative for diversity while helping to show the other leagues that diversity is also a business imperative. The evidence for the NBA’s continued commitment to racial equality is seen in the strong grades in the League Office and in many key areas on the team level.”(Lapchick, R.) To fully understand the transformation of the league we will cover the history of the association, team diversity, league diversity, the NBA diversity initiative, and current diversity issues.
In a society filled with people that strongly believe that sports is an industry that is removed and immune from the ills of the world—racism. Many fans and spectators of sports, such as baseball, basketball, football, and many other sports that include players of different races and ethnicities considers that racism is a thing of the past because of the inclusion and acceptance of all races in different sports. However, the misconception of living in a post-racial (colorblind) world is prevalent. Even though racial discrimination in sports and society in general, are not overt as in the past, racism continues to plague the industry. Regardless of fans and spectators wanting to ignore the racial biases and discrimination in the sports industry,
The NBA should develop a differentiation leadership strategy. Events that the NBA has organized are becoming irrelevant when compared to its rivals’. For example, the MLB’s All-Star Game has an impact on post-season results. The MLS’s All-Star game features the league’s best against top European soccer clubs. The NHL’s All-Star Game features a ton of scoring in a sport that typically has low scores. There is no novelty factor for the NBA during its All-Star Weekend. Only the NFL’s Pro Bowl is worse than the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in terms of entertainment value.
“We are more visible, but not more valuable”. This famous quote was said by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most famous black basketball players, symbolized what many black athletes were pursuing when they first got into sports. In today’s world not only are black athletes a part of our sports venue, they are dominating the landscape of some sports such as the NBA which consists of a whopping 80% black athletes. Black athletes continue to revitalize sports in America as some athletes became the face of their sports such as Muhammad Ali in boxing, Jackie Robinson in baseball and Michael Jordan in basketball. Sports came as a form of entertainment for many Americans, but for black athletes it came as a pathway to express who they were and what they believed in. The more they became involved in sports, the more media they were able to attract which enabled them to talk about topics other than sports such as racism, their religions and equality through the civil rights movement. These views and statements made in their interviews and press conferences were the ones that became publicized and more popular amongst the typical white men in America and it played a huge role in changing the way blacks were viewed in American society.
Jackie Robinson was a prominent figure in American history as he broke the color line, and was the first black athlete to play in a white league. Americans believed this would stop racism in the future and integrate all sports, but racism has planted its roots in sports ever since 1947. The NBA is a professional basketball league and has been very popular in the United States since its creation. The sport is enjoyed by all races although most of the players are of African American race. During recent events, L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling was caught making racist remarks in an audio recording. He was frustrated that his girlfriend was hanging with other African Americans, even the great NBA legend Magic Johnson. He wanted her not to bring African Americans to his games and not to broadcast it on Instagram. He stated, " Yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to promo-broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to (Sterling)?" He also complained, " But why publicize it on the Instagram and why bring it to my games (Sterling)?" After the release of the recordings, the NBA community was in an uproar. In protest, the player of the Clippers wore their training jerseys inside out (Moore). As a result, Adam Silver , commissioner of the NBA, banned Donald Sterling for life. Sterling could not attend nor part...
For instance, ?The American Dream of unlimited possibilities was shattered for black athletes. By 1900 most of them had successfully been excluded from American sport and were forced to establish their own separate sporting organizations. The most famous of these were the black baseball leagues, a loose aggregate of teams that did not achieve much organizational structure until Rube Foster founded the National Negro Baseball League in 1920. Late nineteenth-century black athletes were often disturbed by their inability to be classified by an...