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Social discrimination in sports
Effects racism has on athletes in sport
Gender bias in sports
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Conclusion African American male athletes face stereotypes about their intelligence and their performance. They are characterized as “dumb jocks” or seen as a machine. The stereotypes given to them can truly impact their performance in the classroom compared to their counterparts. Outside of the classroom the African American athlete’s counterparts are compared to them because of their God given talents. Bimper, Harrison and Clark (2013) conducted a study to advance the understanding of the unique experiences of Black male student collegiate athletes in high-profile sport by examining a case of both academically and athletically successful Black male student athletes at PWIs. The athletes have said that it is automatically assumed that they
Van Rheenen, Derek. "Exploitation in College Sports: Race, Revenue, and Educational Reward." International Review for the Sociology of Sport 48.5 (2013): 550-71. Print.
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
Major collegiate athletics programs are able to generate millions of dollars for their institutions, but are not able to show any evidence of successfully graduating their black male athletes that contribute to their success in generating those millions of dollars. These universities in turn, are failing these student athletes whom were promised that they would nurture them intellectually as well as athletically. A four year report published by the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education presents statistics that shows that the six major sports conferences in the NCAA (ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, SEC, Pac 12) have weak graduation rates for male African American Student athletes. Jessica Anderson of the associated press wrote an article titled, Black Athletes' Graduation Rates Weak where she used evidence from the University of Pennsylvania’s study as well as information from The Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education to present findings that showed that only about, “50.2 percent of African-American male student-athletes graduated within six years and that 96.1 percent of the schools graduated African-American male student-athletes at rates lower than student-athletes overall” (Anderson). Yet, the evidence that African American male student athletes are struggling to graduate as compared to their white counterparts does not simply stop there. In fact, Shaun Harper the executive director of the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania reports that, “50.2 percent of black male athletes graduate within six years from colleges compared with 67 percent of athletes over all, 73 percent of undergraduates, and 56 percent of black undergraduate men” (Harper)....
“African Americans have just as amount of chance of becoming a professional athlete as he or she winning the lottery”. This so called goal of theirs is unrealistic and is highly impossible. There are so many sports athletes but majority of them are of a different c...
“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.
Race, gender, and socioeconomic status are enduring social characteristics that influence life outcomes and children and adolescents cannot control (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010). With the unequal distribution of society’s resources based on race and gender and the negative view of African American males, African American males’ ability to access and complete college is hampered. Although athletics is often viewed as a way to improve one’s life chances, African-American male athletes perform worse academically than any of their peers (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010), which threatens their college completion goals.
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.
In conclusion, comparing a similar event where a fan paid to see Barbra Streisand in concert who shouted, “shut up and sing,” after Streisand voiced her own political view during her concert. This event is similar to Tebow, Kaepernick, and Warner making their opinion known on the sports field in the same way some fans are saying shut up and play ball when these athletes state their belief on the field. One of these athletes state his belief, because that is who he is as a man. However, another athlete states their belief, because he believes the country is racist by not taking the pledge as everyone else on his team. Football has always been America’s favorite past times, and these sport athletes are thought of as idols on a pedestals.
... the difference in race but allows them to learn how to play with each other on the field for the same team. Many college players thrive to be the next icon or next millionaire thus ending racial disparity in sports. College athletics has also closed the racial gap as coaching is concerned. Texas known for its particular ways now has its first black coach in Charlie Strong as well as helping to push the NFL to hire minority coaches. Pittsburg known for its blue-collar mentality hired its first black head coach in Mike Tomlin who has guided the team to one Superbowl victory and 4 yds. Short of another, Performance is what’s looked at in our society today showing the tolerance that has been created through one sport.
As a professional in the field of education and athletics, I have embraced diversity and cultural awareness within athletics and recognize each as a priority and an ethical imperative. As a coach and educator, I value initiatives that promote diversity and cultural awareness because they can improve the quality of the team, department and university. Additionally, I value and actively promote diversity within athletic programs, student-athlete populations, and university staff because diverse participation can serve as a stimulus for enhanced decision making, increased productivity, and a competitive advantage. Further, I believe athletic professionals should work to foster an inclusive environment that recognizes the contributions and supports
The scholars expounds that Black athletes were commodities on the playing field to help win games and bring in revenue to their respected schools. However, the schools were just as eager and willing to leave their Black players behind and dishonoring the player as a part of the team. Therefore, not compromising the team’s winning and bring in profits for the school. Sadly, Black athletes at predominately White institutions (PWIs) who believed that they were bettering the live of themselves and their families members by going to college and playing collegiate sports to increase their post secondary careers. However, these athletes were only “show ponies” for their schools. Unfortunately, Black athletes had allegiance to their school; however, the school turned their backs on the athletes to protect the profit and notoriety of the school and the programs. Money and respect from White fans and spectators were more important to the PWIs than standing up for the respect of their Black players. Racial bigotry in sports was rampant and it was only going to get worse.
Especially basketball. The thought of basketball could make most people think ‘Every basketball player is black.” Either that or, “The best types of basketball players are black.” But this isn’t exactly true. Out of the eighteen basketball players on the Denver Nuggets, seven of the players are white. This matters because those seven guys are amazing basketball players. In order to keep playing for the Denver Nuggets, these guys have to be the best of the best, which they are. Just like the eleven black players on the team. However,the Denver Nuggets are only one of the thirty NBA teams out there, so imagine all of the people on those teams who are not black. We’re not just talking about white and black people though. There are many different people out of many different races who play basketball. Asians, Mexicans, Russians and all of the other races can play basketball as well. Some might be better than others. Don’t just think about black people when it comes to basketball. Keep in mind, basketball isn’t the only sport where people can be
White college men perceived athletics as a way to show their superiority and justify their presence in business as well as politics. They believed athletic sports were essential in their "vision of white manhood" (Grundy, 29).... ... middle of paper ... ...which encouraged participants to develop both verbal eloquence and cool self-control" (Grundy, 169). In addition, because African Americans face greater restrictions and job competition compared to Whites, scholarships were very much valued and high school coaches worked to help African American athletes gain these scholarships.
Frankl, Daniel, and Donald G Babbitt. “Gender Bias: A Study of High School Track & Field Athletes'