In his article, “The Myth of Equality” written in August 2010 in his official blog, Patrick Buchanan, an American conservative political commentator, suggests that equality will never be achievable here in America when it comes to personal skills and abilities (par. 8). He points out the inequality that is evident in the American professional sports where only those who are considered “good” are thriving (par. 6-7). Buchanan reveals that the standardize test that is given to students proves that there is a disparity in education among racial groups (par. 16). He infers that here in America, because we vary in our capabilities to perform at something, inequalities among racial groups are almost the standard and it is demonstrated in several institutions. One organization where inequality among racial groups is established is in the American professional sports system; where only those who demonstrate excellence in the sport flourish. Buchanan interprets statistics reported by columnist Walter Williams to conclude that black male athletes dominate majority of the popular sports such as the NFL and the NBA (par. 5). Furthermore, Buchanan reveals that no one complains when Hispanics and Asians who make up a good percentage of the population are not visible nor pursued after in this organization (par. 2). The enactment of standardizes testing given to students to measure their academic abilities and supposedly will close achievement gap only prove that the battle to the end achievement gap between racial groups is a failure. Buchanon elucidate statistics of the results from the national test under the “No Child Left Behind” program to infer that there is a huge gap between white students and black students (par. 19). On the same note, New Yorks state test scores reveals a large imbalance in academics between different racial groups (par. 16) For Buchanon, here in America, the notion of equality among racial group will never be attained. This is because we as an individual, whether it is academic or athletic, are all different in a great deal of way. We respond to situation differently. There is always some sort of competition that is constantly occurring and it is certainly true that only those who exhibit excellence will be superior over the rest of the population. Although Patrick Buchanan’s essay proves the notion that equality among races when it comes to academic is in fact a myth, he failed to illustrate other influences that drive America in to racial inequality.
Home. Entertainment, 1996.. Walker, Sam. A. “How Blacks View Sports in Post-Robinson Era.” (cover story). Christian Science Monitor 1997: 1.
The issue of race in sport is somewhat baffling in that many people would rather not address at all even though sport has been intricately intertwined with racial issues throughout the Twentieth century. Those who would have us omit the topic altogether argue that analyses typically single out the black athlete, and then attempt to explain his/her inordinate success in ways different than we do with other groups. Critics contend that this is racist, since it perpetuates the idea that blacks are different, and often inferior. Edwards (1972) asserts that a typical theme resulting from such analysis is that blacks are physically superior, but intellectually inferior, to whites. Hoberman (1997) has further made the case that physical prowess, especially in such sports as basketball, has become a defining characteristic of the African-American community, and that beliefs about physical superiority are closely related to an anti-intellectualism that permeates black male culture. Essentially, Hoberman’s argument is that inordinate attention and idolization of prominent black athletes such as Michael Jordan has focused attention away from more realistic and important role models, and this, in turn has stunted intellectual, and social economic development in black communities.
This article proposes the idea of what would happen if Black people really embraced the sports world and made that their priority instead of education, “He provides the example of percentages of Black males competing in the NBA (77%), NFL (65%), MLB (15%), and MLS (16%) in comparison to the fact that fewer than 2% of doctors, lawyers, architects, college professors, or business executives are Black males,”. Dr. Robinson brings up the sta…..
Historical and sociological research has shown, through much evidence collection and analysis of primary documents that the American sporting industry can give an accurate reflection, to a certain extent, of racial struggles and discrimination into the larger context of American society. To understand this stance, a deep look into aspects of sport beyond simply playing the game must be a primary focus. Since the integration of baseball, followed shortly after by American football, why are the numbers of African American owners, coaches and managers so very low? What accounts for the absence of African American candidates from seeking front office and managerial roles? Is a conscious decision made by established members of each organization or is this matter a deeper reflection on society? Why does a certain image and persona exist amongst many African American athletes? Sports historians often take a look at sports and make a comparison to society. Beginning in the early 1980’s, historians began looking at the integration of baseball and how it preceded the civil rights movement. The common conclusion was that integration in baseball and other sports was indeed a reflection on American society. As African Americans began to play in sports, a short time later, Jim Crow laws and segregation formally came to an end in the south. Does racism and discrimination end with the elimination of Jim Crow and the onset of the civil rights movement and other instances of race awareness and equality? According to many modern sports historians and sociologists, they do not. This paper will focus on the writings of selected historians and sociologists who examine th...
Race as a factor in inequity. Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) posit that race continues to be a significant factor in determining inequity in the United States. Race matters in society. If we look at high school drop out, suspension, and incarceration rates of men of color in America we see a disproportionate amount of men of color marginalized and profiled by society. This is further compounded by the perception that male faculty of color cannot be educators or at least are not often conceptually visualized in that capacity (Bryan and Browder, 2013).
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)....
In just about every age group and in every subject, the test-score gap between white and African-American students has grown since 1986, reversing a trend in which the discrepancies decreased from the time the exams were first given in 1969, 1971, and 1973. Since the mid-1980s, gaps in several subjects and age groups have grown by statistically significant amounts.
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 achievement gap is defined as the disparity between the performance groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, ability and socio-economic status. The achievement gap can be observed through a variety of measures including standardized test scores, grade point averages, drop out rates, college enrollment and completion rates. The Black-White achievement gap is a critical issue in modern society’s education system. Although data surrounding the issue clearly indicates that the racial performance gap exists in areas of standardized tests, graduation rates, dropout rates, and enrollment in continuing education, the causative reasons for the gap are ambiguous—therefore presenting a significant challenge in regard to the most effective way to close the gap. The gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood (Jencks 1998). Since 1970, the gap has decreased about 40 percent, but has steadily grown since. Theories suggest the Black-White achievement gap is created by a multitude of social, cultural, and economic factors as well as educational opportunities and/or learning experiences. Factors such as biased testing, discrimination by teachers, test anxiety among black students, disparities between blacks and whites in income or family structure, and genetic and cultural differences between blacks and whites have all been evaluated as explanations for the Black-White achievement gap (Farkas 2004). The research that follows will elaborate on these factors as they affect the decline in academic performance of black males—particularly the literacy achievement of black males.
Mickelson, Roslyn A and Smith Stephen S. 1984. Can Education Eliminate Race, Class, and Gender Inequalities? Pp 411-417.
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.
Sport brings different people together and leads to racial diversification. Nevertheless, this article explains and analyses the situations where sport management has ignored the idea of racial diversity. The research revolves around men who are African American. These men have been contributing effectively to the financial stability of sport. However, they were under-represented though they were successful players. The study uses theories such as race relation theory. Arguments suggest for implementation of systematic processes over race-related practices. This hiring practice will adhere to the clear and concise individuals needed for the jobs throughout sport management. The research states that adaptation and dominant groups may still bring about different outcomes to the ethnicity involvement in sport management. This article focuses mainly on how racism in sports industry can be resolved. It describes some solutions, which includes policies and programs for sports organizations. These will help in promoting racial diversity in sport management. This research concluded with the notion of implicating such policies for minimizing racism in the management of sport
Mickelson, R. A. & Smith, S.S. (2004). Can education eliminate race, class, and gender inequality? In M.L Andersen & P.H. Collins (Eds.), Race, class, and gender: An Anthology (pp. 407-415). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
In society, education can be seen as a foundation for success. Education prepares people for their careers and allows them to contribute to society efficiently. However, there is an achievement gap in education, especially between Hispanics and Blacks. In other words, there is education inequality between these minorities and white students. This achievement gap is a social problem in the education system since this is affecting many schools in the United States. As a response to this social problem, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed to assist in closing this achievement gap by holding schools more accountable for the students’ progress. Unsuccessful, the No Child Left Behind Act was ineffective as a social response since schools were pushed to produce high test scores in order to show a student’s academic progress which in turn, pressured teachers and students even more to do well on these tests.
Equality is a concept mankind never is able to grasp correctly. Of course humans will always search for different solutions to create fairness, but factors such as human greed, ignorance of mass populations, and even biological aspects stagnates the process of equality. The oldest and most relevant discussion on equality lies with the difference of sex; man versus woman. Initially, men, because of their physical superiority, were given the prospects many women never even dreamt to have. Conversely, as time has progressed, women have fought this unfair treatment with demands of suffrage and similar rights to those of their male equivalents. Greatly enough, this generation has done an exceptional job in the challenge of overcoming sexism and inequality. However, will this search for equality ever end? When can we say we have created an equal race of men and women? The fact of the matter is that it is truly impossible to have equality between the sexes because of predisposed circumstances that are not easily controllable in the slightest bit.