Introduction Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination. Racism ?A definition of race might rely on an outward manifestation such as color or some other physiological sign. Race and ethnicity (and to some degree nationality) also imply a shared socio-cultural heritage and belief system. Finally, race and ethnicity harbor a physiological self-identification. Indeed, this factor is perhaps the most important in defining the identity of an ?ethnic? or ?racial? individual. It implies a conscious desire on the part of a person to belong to an aggregate of people, which possesses unique cultural characteristics, rituals and manners and a unique value system. North America is, and always has been, an ethnically diverse society. Yet this cultural diversity along religious, ethnic and national lines had been tolerated only in a limited degree, end even only on the dominant Anglo-Saxon elite?s terms.? (Eisen and Wiggins, 1994, p. xii). History books repeatedly show this in their pages. A person can not pick up a history book and read through the pages with out finding something on how a particular athlete or group of athletes were persecuted because of their race. Part of the American dream that is taught to our youth of is freedom, equality and the ability to move ahead in life if a person is motivated to do so. It is unfortunate that this isn?t the case; that is unless the person fits into the right sociological group. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...ng treated equal. Conclusion The concept of a perfect world where race, color, religion, political stance, and gender are all equal is a good goal to strive for. Singling out individuals or groups based on any of those characteristics is wrong. We all have room to grow, and can make a better effort to be open-minded. Sports would be a perfect place to let down the barriers. There is bias in sport today. There is racism and discrimination. Only by a conscious effort can anything be done to help move past our present state. Racism and discrimination should not be in sports, because all humans are of the same species regardless of color or origin. We all bleed and we can all die, therefore, we should all be equal. References Eisen, George, and Wiggins, David K. (1994). Ethnicity and Sport in North American History and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Du Bois, W.E.B, (1961). The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Fawcett. MacClancy, Jeremy, (1996). Sports, Identity and Ethnicity. United Kingdom: Oxford International Publishers. Hoffman, Frank W., PHD, and Bailey, William G., MA, (1991). Sports & Recreation Fads. New York: The Haworth Press.
Many Americans have seen or at least heard of the movie “Remember the Titans.” The classic film focuses on a school that is blending black and whites and taking on an African American head coach. The coach knows the importance of winning, but also knows the team must work together to get those wins and have respect for every single person in the locker room. Although coach Boone was still put in a tough situation with the school board and the community, he was able to lead his team, with the help of a white assistant coach, to an undefeated season. The team coming together is exactly what America does with sports. Most everybody can come together and enjoy sporting events. By saying “everybody”, that includes all races: white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and so on. Sports are America’s past, present, and
In an Article about sports and society, Bridget Lockyer discusses the 1950’s onwards, as being a pivotal moment for black Americans. As they were increasingly active in speaking out about the injustice of American society; the segregation of black and white; the discrimination black Americans faced in employment and housing; the disenfranchisement of black people on electoral registers and the widespread violence and prejudice they were forced to endure, (Lockyer, 2009). Before marchers, bus riding freedom riders, boycotters and other protesters began their crusade for freedom, the Jim Crow laws prevented blacks and whites from integrati...
In the meantime that Edwards and other researcher activists were composing in popular sources and freely debating issues related with race and sports, researchers in various disciplines started research that factually reported examples of racial isolation and separation in sports a...
Specifically during the Gilded Age, African Americans, women and the lower-class were all discriminated against in sporting arenas just as they have been in every aspect of American society. Unfortunately early on in the Gilded Age, sports clearly showed the "significant under-representation among key equality and diversity groups in society"(http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=9). However, as sports became more popular, Americans came to the realization that there were barriers that needed to be broken between minorities, women and different social-classes. Changing the face of America, the history of sports started off from being games played primarily for entertainment and leisure, to creating equality amongst everyone. The history of sports has been marked by division and discrimination but also has affected modern popular culture and changing social attitudes and standards towards gender equality, social-class and race.
The presence of activity and sport is found within cultures and societies all over the world, and throughout history. Activity in the form of sport can often be the purest form of expression for a society or individual. The sporting world is often thought to be a microcosm of the actual world with the problems and issues of society still being ever present in the sporting community. Since sport can be used as an expression of self, it is no wonder that sport is often a reflection of the society that it occupies. One such society that was deeply impacted by the role of sport is that of Native American boarding school students in the 1800’s and 1900’s. These students lived tough lives but just like how it had helped other cultural societies, sport was able to provide these students with basic needs of autonomy and pride.
It goes without saying that a person's gender, racial and social origins influence their participation in sports. Particular races and genders often dominate certain sports. African Americans, for example, tend to dominate football and basketball, while Caucasians tend to dominate ice hockey. The same holds true for gender as well. Football is an entirely male dominated sport, while horseback riding, gymnastics and figure skating are much more female oriented. How and why did these divisions come about? Determining the origin of gender goes beyond the scope of this paper, however one can speculate about how gender classifications and stereotypes affect one's role in the sports arena.
On September twenty-second in the year 1862, President Abraham Lincoln executively ordered the Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War. This command declared the freedom of all slaves in the ten Confederate States of America. Slavery was completely abolished in all states with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment on December sixth in the year 1865. Since then African Americans have been free to live their lives without being owned, claimed, bought, or sold. Although this was a start, it definitely was not enough for African Americans to be considered equal. With all of the progression African Americans and other minorities have made, there are still obstacles the modern day ethnic-American faces. Some of these obstacles lay within a shared interest amongst Americans, sports. It has been hypothesized in the journal article “Race and Pathways to Power in the National Football League” by author Jomills Henry Braddock II, that a retired African American athlete would face struggles when trying to move into the coaching field or front office positions (Braddock 2012, 712). In the journal article, “Weighing in on the Coaching Decision: Discussing Sports and Race Online,” author Jimmy Sanderson explains to readers that the realm of the sports world has been heavily linked to white ideology (Sanderson 2010, 302). One cannot fully live the American Dream without sustaining successful and promising career goals. It is possible that people of color can get their foot on the first rung of the corporate ladder but actually climbing their way towards the top has proven to be a difficult and almost impossible task. It is evident that affirmative action has not been able to protect minorities from stereotypes and discrimination...
The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the The African American quest for equity in sports. American sports: From the age of folk games to the age of televised sports (5th ed.). (pp. 62-63). The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid afores Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Spalding, Albert G. (n.d.).
Have you ever heard about racial discrimination and what is it? Racial discrimination is defined as the action of a persons who treat differently or who excludes another person just for his or her racial or ethnic origin. Racial discrimination continues to exist in the world and may never end with it. For example, in the documentary "Linsanity" Lin mentions that he was a victim of racial discrimination and that despite everything that happened, he was able to reach the American dream. Finally, from watching this documentary, I can strongly be argued that Discrimination is also present in sports, and that depends on what privileges you enjoy will be easier the way to reach what you want.
"Black Athletes in 20th Century United States." Black Athletes in 20th Century United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
In his controversial book, Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race, "The whole problem here," writes author John Hoberman, "is that the black middle class is rendered essentially invisible by the parade of black athletes and criminals on television." That in turn fuels the perception that African-Americans excel in physical pursuits and Caucasians in i...
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,
...From physical acts like throwing a banana towards a black man, to a white man publicly degrading the race of his own team members, and even generalizing professional sports to be dominantly one race or another; all of it needs to come to an end if we even dream of ending racism on a larger scale. America is a country that thrives both economically and socially from its popularity of major league sports. Since this is a fact that cannot be argued, we have to imagine that sports in this country should have the power to make a positive impact on society rather than negative. If we could manage to eradicate racism in something so big as professional sports, we could maybe hope to end racism in America period. Though that is a stretch to imagine even in a hypothetical situation, the fact that we can imagine it means it must be even the slightest bit possible to achieve.
Since the beginning of time, people have been unjustly treated with prejudice. This is discrimination, and it has been a major issue in our world. Not only does discrimination occur in the workplace, schools, and religion, it also has been an issue in professional sports. Although there are still many examples of discrimination in sports, there have been improvements in the areas of racial, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination.
Throughout history, it is easy to recognize how African Americans have triumphed in sports. It is also enlightening and empowering to see and recognize the challenges that women faced in the past with achieving recognition in sports as compared to that of men.