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Sports impact on american culture
The importance of sport in America
The importance of sport in America
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Sports is a huge factor in the American culture. Not only is it a way of entertainment for people but it is a social institution. From television commercials to billboards to people priding themselves in sports gear. Sports is a way for people to express their culture and represent their racial backgrounds. Sports has been an avenue for people to freely be themselves in their own skin color. They are not judged by their race but how well they can perform or are physically gifted. But unfortunately sports has been racialized in a unsaid manner. Especially in thet National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA is a racialized institution due to the history, position, and management of this organization. Research clearly shows how racial structures have impacted the NBA.
Since the time of slavery
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These stereotypes were especially faced when Black men were involved in sports. Often Black men were forced to partake in sports to entertain White people (Rhoden, 2006). The way they succeeded athletically was very natural and were seen as violent. Although it was unfortunate that they were forced to do such things this led them to pride their humanity and strengths in projecting their athletic talents (Rhoden, 2006). Even though there was a potential to sports being a way for Blacks to liberate themselves from slavery it was also an opportunity for Whites to segregate the Black players and have control over the sports industry. In 1950 the NBA was racially integrated, where it began with the different types of players (Ashe, 1988). Integration was stated to be improving among the Blacks and Whites equally but in reality has been a way for Whites to have supremacy over the NBA (Griffin, 2012). During the integration time NBA was having a difficult time with social popularity but the solution they found to revive the game was by playing African American players. Since African American basketball players were characterized by their speed,
The film “A League of Their Own,” depicts a fictionalized tale of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This league was started during World War II when many of the Major Leagues Biggest stars were drafted to the war. MLB owners decided to start this league with hopes of making money while the men were overseas fighting. Traditional stereotypes of women in sports were already in force before the league even begins. One of the scouts letts Dottie, one of the films main characters she is the perfect combination of looks as well as talent. The scout even rejects one potential player because she is not as pretty as the league is looking for even though she is a great baseball player. The player, Marla’s father said if she was a boy she would be playing for the Yankee’s. Eventually Mara’s father is able to convince the scout to take Marla to try outs because he raised her on his own after her mother died. Her father says it is his fault his daughter is a tomboy. In this case the film reinforces the traditional stereotype that mothers are in charge of raising their daughters and teaching them to be a lady, where fathers are incapable of raising girls to be anything other than a tomboy. The focus on beauty also reinforces the traditional stereotype that men will only be interested in women’s sports when the females participating in
From the United States to Hispanic countries like Spain, the countries share their love for the same sports even though they are oceans apart. While they have their similar interests, sports interests differ in each of the countries as well. Without sports in the world, our cultures we know and love would be completely different and dull. They help shape our cultures and the people within them. Sports like soccer, football, and baseball are sports that we know and love in Hispanic and American countries. We all know what they are, but the way they are played, their histories, and our passions for these sports differ and correspond.
Hoberman, John M. 1997. Darwin's athletes: how sport has damaged Black America and preserved the myth of race. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin Co
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.
You see sports everywhere, on your TV and even your local park. The value of sports in the average American is astronomical, sports is a major priority in people’s life. Sports teaches young kids how to be successful (and not successful) at life. There is so much that goes into sports that people who never have played will never understand. With each sport there is specific skill that one must master to be good, and with that takes hours and hours of hard work. You can talk about a certain individual’s skill and capabilities that make him great, but the real value of sports lies within a person. Sports creates determination and a competiveness that can be used in other areas of life, not just sports. There are millions of kids who attempt to become professional athletes but as the level of competition increases the number of athletes decreases, very few of them ever becoming a professional athlete but they are able to take what they have learned from sports into different professions in life. When a kid spends hours in the backyard perfecting his swing it can translate to the kid spending hours of hard work in his job. Companies and business like to hire ex-athletes because they already know what kind of person they are, hardworking and
Like Robinson, these men paved the way for today’s players and are the reason that the best athletes in the world now play in the NBA.” (Dave Howell, NBA.com, Six Who Paved The Way, Page 1). African-Americans in basketball, more specifically the first 5 players, began to make people realize that African Americans were not foreign creatures, they were actual people. People also began to realize that African Americans make equally as significant contributions to the society and community as anyone else
“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.
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.
American society has been affected over the years due to many people and laws. Athletes and sports have had their share of effect on society as well. Almost three fourths of society has played or watched some kind of sporting event. Where would society be today without sports? No one will ever know, but sports and athletes have affected society in many aspects all over the nation. Sports have brought people in the American society closer together. Some states in America rely on sports to help out with their economy, but sports have also created problems for society. Sports like golf, basketball, baseball, football and boxing all have effected American Society in their ow...
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.
Sport media scholars have argued that the television sports coverage has increased the global scale of ethnicity with the most coverage of the sports activities being those dominated by males hence making them popular rather than from across the entire gender. Other people argue that sports media show the ethnic and racial continuance in stereotypical ways while they are reporting about the activities. The commentator also is not left out in the growth of this problem in sports because of the nature of their jobs which is full of pressure and are not given enough time to reflect on what they should say hence drawing ideologies which have different interpretations in the line of racial and ethnic basis (Sterkenburg, Knoppers & Leeuw, 2010 pg. 827).Historically, there are relatively many whites than blacks representing in popular games played in the world today. In the recent past, blacks used to play on their own teams and when they were seen to outsmart the whites, one was ignored and given other characteristics that do not recognize the talent of the black people Blacks were seen to be better players than the whites in the games that require the use of physical skills which raised alarm and later considered more physical than skillful.
Suvash Acharya Mrs. Rambin ENGL 1002-60501 22 February, 2016 Athletes - Truth Yet To Be Explored For every subculture observed on campus, there are particular unique traits associated with every single one of them. These characteristics showcased by them define them and their behaviour. Athletes, a profound and proactive subculture has to be the top of the shelf choice when it’s range of diversity and popularity is taken into consideration.
Sports may have impacted our culture much more then we thought it would, and keeps impacting. Sports have affected some of the most important aspects of life, such as jobs and money. It has also affected things as little as who we look up to and how we dress. Culture means “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” The definition of sports is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So when we put two and two together we get a a nation or world that has changed due to sports. Back in the mid and late 1900’s sports were used to see whose way of life was better. As time went on and keeps going on, we
Sports, a very popular past time today, have been around since ancient times. Greek Olympic Games featured events from chariot races, javelin throws, to wrestling. In addition, a game similar to soccer was played in China by the second century BC. In England, a violent rugby type game was even played to settle feuds between villages. With the development of the industrial revolution and the creation of the first public schools, sports decreased in violence and were played more recreationally and constructively. Basketball was invented to help the youth in New England spend their energy in the winter months. Since the early 1900’s sports have been a key experience in the United States (“History of Sports”). I have played sports for many years, and the experience has helped me grow significantly as an individual.