sports in society: issues & controversies race and ethnicity: are they important in sports?
TRANSCRIPT
Sports in Society:Issues &
Controversies
Race and Ethnicity:Are They Important in Sports?
Defining Race & Ethnicity
Race refers to a category of people regarded as socially distinct because they share genetic traits believed to be important by people with power and influence in society
An ethnic group is a category of people regarded as socially distinct because they share a way of life and a commitment to the ideas, norms, and material things that constitute that way of life
Minority Group
Refers to a socially identified collection of people who
Experience discrimination Suffer social disadvantages
because of discrimination Possess a strong self-consciousness
based on their shared experiences of discriminatory treatment
The Concept of Race
Racial categories are social creations based on meanings given to selected physical traits
Race is not a valid biological concept Verified by data from Human Genome
Project
Racial classifications are fuzzy because they are based on continuous traits with arbitrary lines drawn to create categories Racial classifications vary from culture to
culture
Snow white Midnight black
Continuous Traits = skin color, height, brain size, nose width, leg length, leg length ratio, # of fast twitch muscle fibers, etc.
Discrete Traits = blood type, sickle cell trait, etc.
Racial category lines can be drawn anywhere and everywhere on this continuum! We could draw 2 or 2000 lines; our decisions are social decisions, not decisions based on biology. Some people draw many; others draw few; some reject lines.
Racial Categories: Drawing Color Lines in Society
Skin color continuum
“Race” in the United States
“Race” is a primitive but powerful classification system that has been used around the world
“Race” is based on a two-category classification system premised on the rule of hypo-descent or the “one-drop rule”
The “one-drop rule” was developed by white men to insure the “purity” of the “white race” and property control by white men
Mixed-race people challenge the validity of this socially influential way of defining race
Tiger Woods: Disrupting Dominant Race
Logic
CABLINASIAN
CA = CaucasianBL = BlackIN = Indian
ASIAN = Asian
Racial Ideology in History
Racial classification systems were developed as white Europeans explored and colonized
the globe and found that there were physical differences between people
These systems were used to justify colonization, conversion, and even slavery and genocide
According to these systems, white skin was the standard, and dark skin was associated with intellectual inferiority and slowed development
Racial Ideology in Sports Today
Racial ideology encourages people to “See” sport performances in
“racialized” terms, i.e., in terms of skin color
Use whiteness as the taken-for-granted standard
Explain the success or failure of people with dark skin in racial terms
Do research designed to “discover” racial difference
Figure 9.2
Racial ideologies often influence how athletes are assessed in society and in science.
Traditional Racial Ideology Used in Sports
Achievements of White Athletes are due to: Character Culture Organization
Achievements of Black Athletes are due to: Biology Natural
physical abilities
A Sociological Hypothesis
Racial ideology + discrimination + sport opportunities
Beliefs about biological & cultural destiny+
Motivation to develop skills
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN SPORTS
Searching For ”Jumping Genes” in Black Bodies
Why is the search misleading? It is based on oversimplified ideas
about genes and how they work It mistakenly assumes that jumping is a
simple physical activity related to a single gene or interrelated set of genes
It often begins with ideas about skin color and with social definitions of race
The Power of Racial Ideology
Black male students often have a difficult time shaking “athlete” labels based on racial ideology
Young people from all racial backgrounds may make choices influenced by racial ideology
In everyday life, racial ideology is integrally linked to ideas about gender and social class
Figure 9.4
Athletes often bring cultural traditions to the playing field
Sport Participation amongAfrican Americans
The facts show that
Prior to the 1950s, African Americans faced a segregated sport system
African Americans participate in a very limited range of sports
African American men and women are underrepresented in most sports
Sport Participation amongNative Americans
Native Americans comprise dozens of diverse cultural groups
Traditional Native American sports combine physical activities with ritual and ceremony
Native Americans often fear losing their culture when they play Euro-American sports
Stereotypes used in sports discourage Native American participation
Images of Native Americans in Sports
Using stereotypes of Native Americans as a basis for team names, logos, and mascots is a form of bigotry, regardless of the intentions of those who do it
Are there conditions under which a group or organizations could use the cultural and religious images of others for their own purposes?
What would happen if a school named their teams the Olympians and used the Olympic logo (5-Rings) as their logo?
Figure 9.5
The racial and ethnic attitudes of team officials are sometimes hypocritical
What happens when stereotypes are built into sport culture?
Why have stereotypes about Native Americans persisted in U.S. sports?
Why have other ethnic stereotypes been rejected in U.S. sports?
Using Native American team names has often led to offensive media coverage
Sport Participation amongLatinos & Hispanics
The experiences of Latino and Latina athletes have been ignored until recently
Stereotypes about physical abilities have influenced perceptions of Latino athletes
Latinos now make up over 25% of Major League Baseball players
Latinos often confront discrimination in school sports
Latinas have been overlooked due to faulty generalizations about gender and culture
Sport Participation amongAsian Americans
The cultural heritage and histories of Asian Americans are very diverse
The sport participation patterns of Asian Americans vary with their immigration histories
Little is known about how the images of Asian American athletes are represented in the media and minds of people in the US
The Dynamics of Racial & Ethnic Relations in Sports
Race and ethnicity remain significant in sports today
Today’s challenges are not the ones faced in the past
It is a mistake to think that racial and ethnic issues disappear when desegregation occurs
The challenge of dealing with inter-group relations never disappears – it changes in terms of the issues that must be confronted
Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Exclusion in Sports (I)
Changes are most likely when
1. People with power and control benefit from inclusion
2. Individual performances can be measured precisely and objectively
3. Members of an entire team benefit from the achievements of teammates
(continued)
Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Exclusion in Sports (II)
Changes are most likely when
4. Superior performances do not lead to automatic promotions on teams
5. Team success does not depend on off-the-field socializing and friendships
6. Athletes have little power or authority in the organizational structure of a sport organization or team
After Inclusion: Managing Racial & Ethnic Diversity
Racial and Ethnic Diversity creates management challenges related to
The social dynamics on teams The social dynamics among
spectators The marketing of athletes, teams, and
leagues
NOTE: The global recruitment of players insures that diversity issues will always exist in sports
The Biggest Challenge: Integrating Positions of
Power
Even when sport participation is racially and ethnically mixed, power in sports is not readily shared
The movement of minorities into coaching and administrative positions has been very slow
Social and legal pressures are still needed before power is fully shared
Needed Changes:
Regular and direct confrontation of racial and ethnic issues by people in positions of power
A new vocabulary for dealing with new forms of racial and ethnic diversity in our lives
Training sessions dealing with practical problems and issues, not just feelings
Other Topics
The following slides are for those who deal with “race and performance” issues in depth
Using Critical Theory to Ask Questions About Racial Classification Systems
Which classification systems are used?
Who uses them? Why are some people so dedicated to
using certain classification systems? What are the consequences of usage? Can negative consequences be
minimized? Can the systems be challenged? What occurs when systems change?
The Racially “Natural Athlete”?
There is no evidence showing that skin color is related to physical traits that are essential for athletic excellence across sports or in any particular sport.
Socially Constructing the Black Male Body: Racial Ideology in
Action
In Euro-American history there has been Strong fears of the physical power and
prowess of (oppressed) black men Powerful anxieties about the sexual
appetites and capabilities of (angry) black men
Deep fascination with the movement of the black body
THEREFORE, the black male body = valuable entertainment commodity
Research Summary(Genetic Factors & Athletic
Performance)
Are there genetic differences between individuals? YESYES
Are genetic characteristics related to athletic excellence? YESYES
Could one gene account for success across a range of different sports? PROBABLY NOTPROBABLY NOT
Might skin color genes & physical performance genes be connected? NO EVIDENCENO EVIDENCE
Research Summary (Continued)
Are physical development & the expression of skills in sports related to cultural definitions of skin color and race? DEFINITELY YESDEFINITELY YES
Do cultural ideas about skin color & race influence the interpretation of and meaning given to the movement and achievements of athletes? DEFINITELY DEFINITELY YESYES
Social Origins of Athletic Excellence
A cultural emphasis on achievement in activities that have special cultural meaning
Resources to support widespread participation among young people
Opportunities to gain rewards through success
Access to those who can teach tactics and strategies
Consequences of Racial Ideology in
Sports
Desegregation of revenue producing sports Continued racial exclusion in “social” sports Position stacking in team sports Racialized interpretations of achievements Management barriers for blacks Skewed distribution of African Americans in
US colleges and universities