African American Stereotypes In Sports Essay

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Furthermore, African American males comprise of most of the major leagues. They have the most power but are unable to obtain that power because they don’t many dominating roles in major league sports. Comprising 70 percent of the National Basketball Association and 67 percent of the National Football League, African American male’s overrepresentation as professional athletes seem to illustrate opportunities for the group unfettered by any major barriers (Krystal and Messer) In mostly all major league sports, African Americans dominate. Krystal's position is supported by clear evidence, 67 percent of the National Football League is African American and 78 percent of the National Basketball Association is African American. African American (Tosi) Gainer tells how stereotypes in media have become reality throughout a long period of time. Tosi’s position is supported by clear evidence, the media represents cultures, people and races in a particular manner allowing stereotypes to flourish. Media dictates how viewers perceive themselves and people around them. By feeding audiences these images they could have a either a positive or negative impact on viewers. Constantly seeing these, will cause viewers to have automatic subconscious stereotypical thoughts about people around them. The media should display more positive African American figures, because the lack of them causes them to mimic the destructive behaviors seen on television. African Americans, along with other people of color have been patronized in the media because of negative stereotypes. Although sports players are very successful and thrive in their field, they are one in a million. The chance of a person becoming a major league sports player is slim to none. The media allows young African American males to believe the only way out of poverty is through sports. Through Television, radio and magazines, stereotypes are aired to people all around the world; these stereotypes overrepresent African American sports players in media and underrepresented positive African American figures in media. Modern Americans suffer from a fear of judging. Passing judgment on the behavior of fellow human beings is considered an act of medieval, undemocratic intolerance - Lewis B.

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