The topic of race in sport, particularly African Americans in sport, has long been a controversial yet, widely discussed matter. Human and social issues are never easy subjects to discuss or debate, and racial differences tend to provoke very strong reactions. To begin, we will explore those whom claim that black athletes excel in sports as a result of their biological make up. Of all players in the NBA, more than 75% of them are black; of all players in the WNBA, more than 70% of them are black; of all players in the NFL, more than 65% of them are black (Hoenig, 2014). Evidently, black athletes make up a vast majority of these sports in the United States. Athletes must be of elite caliber to have the ability to play at this level, so this …show more content…
Their findings contribute to those who believe that black athletes are born with the ability to compete in sports. In his book, Jon Entine attempts to explain why black athletes are so unbelievably successful. He presented and explained some researchers’ findings. Apparently, people that are of the Eurasian descent, tend to have a great deal of natural upper body strength. They are muscular and very big, and they have thick torsos. As a result, and obviously, they are able to be successful in events like weightlifting and wrestling. These researchers then found that those of East Asian descent, are pretty polar opposite. Instead, they tend to be smaller, and have short extremities, long torsos, and thicker layers of fat. As a result, they, then, are slower and not as strong. Their long extremities and long torsos allow them to be much more flexible than the next person. Finally, researchers realized and presented the following about black with a West African ancestry. They generally …show more content…
I like hard data and numbers. While I certainly enjoy theories and the beauty of being able to have different opinions, I also tend to lean towards the side of what seems to make the most sense. This topic we just discussed is not over with. Nothing is proven. Solid answers are not given and much more research still needs to be conducted. In my opinion, though, I don’t see how anyone could argue with the facts given and proven thus far. As Gideon Ariel, biochemist and former Israeli Olympic athlete said “I know that the American system is very sensitive to statements of black and white. But you cannot defy science. You cannot just say that day is night and night is day. These are facts. And I think it's to the advantage of the black athletes to be proud that God was on their side” (Entine, 2000). I don’t think that there is anything ethically wrong with believing this way. The color of one’s skin does not come into play here. I cannot help but to recognize the biological differences between black and white athletes. The problem is, too many people view these differences as a bad thing. There is beauty in being different. There is beauty in being innately gifted. God has given these people gifts. The gift of athleticism is not something to be ashamed of. Just because one is given these gifts, doesn’t make them lazy. Just because a person believes that one is born with the biological makeup to be athletic, that doesn’t mean that the
In the book titled Race, Sports, and the American Dream, it discussed how sports helped change the place of African-American in society. “Sports was well segregated deep into the 20th century” (Smith 9). How college football looked in America in the 1950s was exactly how American society looked in the 1950s, segregated and racist. African-American athletes in college football helped fight and negate stereotypes because it showed that they are equally as good
The question, “Are Blacks better at basketball than Whites?” is a stereotypical question and does not prove Mr. Bodeker’s claims in the least. Similarly, Mr. Bodeker claimed society cannot give credit to the White race for its successes. Mr. Bodeker points out an area where Whites excel (standardized testing). He further makes a point of saying the interviewees stated it had to be due to cultural bias, as they could not give credit to Whites. It is a proven fact standardized testing is written in a cultural bias manner. Therefore, the results of Whites scoring better is due to cultural bias not their ability to test well. Again, this question does not support Mr. Bodeker’s claims. In fact, Mr. Bodeker’s questions and the manner in which he framed them only serve to show how one-sided his film is.
If states are the laboratories of democracy, then sports are the arena in which it is tested. This book serves as a review of racial integration and the changing dynamics in sports from 1890 - 1980. Charles Martin aims for the reader to understand why it was common place for white southerners to compete against “non-black” ethnic minorities (E.G. Native Americans, Chinese), but an issue when even a single African American was on an opposing team. Benching Jim Crow explains to the reader that the persistence of segregation lay with overarching cultural mentalities left over from the Civil War, but shifts in position came from external (financial), and internal (students and players). Though offering little insight into the legal and political impacts of Jim Crow itself, Martin paints a detailed, but redundant, narrative of the rise and fall of Jim Crow in athletics.
pioneers, and Rhoden acknowledges the good events and also describes the impact of the bad events. The highs and the lows, the strengths and weaknesses, the good points and the shortcomings are all crucial in understanding integration and where the athletes stand as history
In recent history it has been evident that some of the most popularize sports in America have been dominated and overran by African American and other minority athletes. In turn when the coaching and management positions in sports are analyzed and broken down, the number of minority coaches and managers in sport are almost non-existent and have been since those sports organization became established.
The role of the family value system in influencing Black male athletes appears to be less important than that of White male athletes. Although the Black community makes up 12% of the collegiate population, only 3% of those have a Ph.D. and only 6.7% have a Bachelors degree, (Hu, 2004:1). The value system in African American families appears to be focused more on immediate gratification, rather than education, which seems to be a bigger value in White families. Basketball players White vs. Black have some goals to meeting in order to become successful in the sport of basketball. There are some influences that make some of the White and Black
When looking at the topic of academic success of African American student athletes you need to look at all the factors involved. The problems that African American student athletes face are much the same that all African American students at higher education institutions face but the student athletes have other stressors that the normal students do not have. Such as In addition to the daily student routine (attending classes, going to the cafeteria, and participating in social events), student athletes also have their sport-related activities (practicing every day, visiting the athletic trainer for injury treatment, traveling for away games, studying team plays) (Watt, Moore 2001).
In a film of “Race the Power of an Illusion, Part I The Difference Between Us”, it talked about the differences of races such as skin, eye, hair color. However, in our genetic, the human is not very different than we think but we had a similar genetic code. In the 1950s, the athlete champions were all black, and they were much better than any other. Maybe because of that some people think there are different structure bodies than other races. In this case, I think it could make sense that black people have better body structure than white. However, it is the wrong stereotype about skin color. The skin tone is continuously changing, and the reason why a human has different physical appearances is that of different genes we have. Depends on the
The history of sports goes back since ancient times. It has been a useful way for people to explore nature and their environment. Sports include different activities and games such as football, soccer, basketball, and etc. to express their skills and talents. Also, sports are a way to relax and have fun; but are sports all our African Americans rely on? The dream to become future sports stars. The reason why Gates begins his essay with an anecdote is to show and compare how many african-american athletes were at work today and how little the chances of African-Americans becoming athletes are compared to being a lawyer, dentist, or even a doctor. African-Americans assume that they are born athletes and it’s because the school system doesn’t
The central idea of “Why sports history is American history” by Mark Naison, The Glider Lehrman Institute of American History is, how the influence of African Americans, Italians, and Jewish people to migrate them into sports.
Sports played and continue to play a pivotal role in American history and culture. Baseball provided an escape from the stress and frustration of WWII, a beacon of light during hard times and later helped influence integration. Athletes became symbols of what being a true American meant and many sports enhanced American culture. One of the most prolific changes sports brought to our society was the beginning of racial equality on the field. It encouraged and aided the fledgling equal rights movement that evolved in the 1960s. African American athletes were considered second-class citizen until sports provided the first taste of equality. Teams life the Indians, Dodgers and Giants led the way for all teams to accept black players on
I would like to discuss the issue of race and ethnicity in sports. We will also explore the bigger questions. How much does race and ethnicity matter in the sports world? Are certain races dominant in certain sports? Is there a difference in how we treat players based on race and ethnicity? Does it matter? I would like to answer some of these questions and gain a better understanding of how much of a part they play.
The stereotyped group that is a problem is African American and black athletes being portrayed as beast like, unintelligent, emotional, dominating, violent, and brutal. The specific sport of focus is the NBA. Black athletes are portrayed as beast and animal like in media images like poster, magazine covers, tee shirts, and game freeze frames. Black players have made many strides in the NBA, nearly 75% of NBA players are black, while only 23% of players are white (The 2015 Racial and Gender Report Card). Although there are many black players the media is still owned and operated by predominantly white gatekeepers. This negative stereotype is because it disregards the hours of hard work that black players complete to play professionally. African Americans feel this cover misrepresents them. Blacks could feel exploited, manipulated, or even subconsciously use it as justification for confirming the negative stereotypes the media feeds society. It is a racist notion that black players are unintelligent and rely on genetics “animal instincts” to be great players. If this stereotypes continues young blacks may see believe that they are unintelligent and slack off in school, believing that they can make it through like based on their athletic ability. It perpetuates a “super model minority”. An excellent example of this stereotype is the visual portrayals of NBA superstar LeBron James in the media. James has been prevalent in sports media dating back to his high school years when
Jeff Greenfield cites in his essay “The Black and White Truth about Basketball” theories from the book Foul by David Wolf. In today’s modern game of NBA basketball, over 2/3 of the players are black. Greenfield also cites that over the last two decades, no more than three white players have been among the ten starting players on the NBA
Racism in sports has been around of hundreds of years, but recently it has shown that it’s still a major concern that needs to be taken care of. Years ago, Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight boxing champion dealt with the hardships of racism. “America has come a long way since those times” said Johnson, describing how America has developed through the years dealing with racism in sports.