Laugh At Lochte And Vilify Douglas: Article Analysis

This protest by the two athletes has been interpreted as an “act of disloyalty.” Smith describes this act, not out of disloyalty but as a “need to bring attention to the inequality in our country.  I don’t like the idea of people looking at it as negative.  There was nothing but a raised fist in the air and a bowed head, acknowledging the American flag – not symbolizing a hatred for it."

Michael was laying on the ground because he was tackled but after the referee blew the whistle, a member from the other team kicked Michael in the head. Michael did nothing to react in a threatening way, he just continued laying on the ground. His couch asked the referee why the other team did not get a penalty for kicking Michael. The referee then waved his yellow rag and called “un-sportsman like conduct” for Michael team, despite the fact that they did not do anything wrong. Another example of discrimination towards Michael on the field was when he was blocking a player on the other team. Michael did not execute any foul plays, yet the referee’s called out his team. The coach asked the referee what they did wrong and they responded by saying, “I don’t know… excessive blocking.” The referee’s obviously did not have a significant reason for blowing their whistles and they likely would not have mentioned it if Michael was white.

Ever since September of last year, the NFL National Anthem Protest has been one of the most controversial topics across social-media, alongside with other protests against police brutality. Many have criticized for such an action for being disrespectful to the National Anthem and Flag. Those, who have supported it, claim to protest against the nationwide police brutalities against the Black people. Looking back to the history of the United States, such sports protests are not a unique incident. During 1968 Olympic game, which are hold in Mexico City, African American Athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists to speak for black civil rights. Yet, back then both the U.S. government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not show support for such an action, though today the IOC claimed that the black American athletes has made names for themselves for doing such protests.

One interesting view by Douglas Hartmann in his journal article entitled “Rethinking The Relationships Between Sports And Race In American Culture: Golden Ghettos And Contested Terrain” said that racial issues in sport is; borrowing Stuart Hall (1981) words- “a contested racial terrain” (qtd. in Hartmann 241). The “contested racial terrain” is defined as “a social site where racial images, ideologies, and inequalities are constructed, transformed, and constantly struggled over” (Hartmann 230). In other words, sports have become a medium where the definition and limitation of racism created. This also means that the definition of racial issues will constantly change over time. Hartmann view is interesting seeing that he believes that the context of racism in sports are actually broader than we actually think. He did not agree with the simple view of because racial discrimination happens in our society, thus racial discrimination also happens in sports (Hartmann 242). He further delves into two interesting problems in stereotyping and biasing.

In today’s society, there are many ways race shapes perceptions. There is a social significance attached to skin color and race, and among this, they vary greatly. Furthermore, individuals nowadays do not shape their perceptions of athletes by athletic merit alone; instead, fans perception is often racially coded. The Atlantic article by Adam Felder and Seth Amitin presented the hidden bias of broadcaster. In this study, they focused on announcers for televised baseball games in order to detect the terminology used to describe players. They discovered that “while there is no difference between race or nationality when it comes to performance-based descriptions, effort-based and character-based descriptions make a big difference”(1) This instance demonstrates the existence of a subconscious racial bias among individuals. The race of the athlete shapes the viewer’s perception by guaranteeing the success of performance in the eye of the fan. Additionally, white athletes are credited for their training, work ethic, and dedication, whereas blacks are simply credited for their genes and skin color. This study shows how eliminating racial prejudice in sports consumption is difficult, since it is an underlying idea many have. Instead of simply focusing on their race, fans and viewers should instead take into account the effort and talent of the athlete. Media portrayals of races affect how viewers react to them, and therefore it also needs to start with the reporting of black

Without a doubt, we look at athletes today and from the past as if they are larger than life individuals. They show their personality through talent no matter what they play; some are better than others, for example some can kick or throw. However, at the end of the day they all have a different voice and a different story. People expect them to turn a blind eye to everyday events because of their status. People think of athletes as celebrities, they say they do not go through the same struggles as everyday people. That statement is far from the truth when it pertains to the issue of racism. Racism has been an unresolved problem for years whether it is in sports or athletes speaking for what they believe. Racism has had a big impact on sports such as Germany hosting the olympics and cheating, N.B.A. owners thinking they rule over their players, and the hidden discrimination that happens in locker rooms. Many times athletes have stood up for what they believed just to be shot down. Nowhere in their contracts does it state that because they are professionals that they must compromise their freedom of speech. Whether it be refusing to meet with the president, speaking out on racial injustices, or not standing for the national anthem, athletes have a strong voice in the fight against discrimination and other traumatic events. The fight for equality in sports and throughout America is a process that includes multiple organizations, the reaction of authority figures, and

This in turn increases the readers’ believability in Freedman’s rhetoric on this topic. To show validation, the end of the article has a side note saying, “Samuel G Freedman is the author of eight books, including Breaking the Line, about black college football players and civil rights(4).” A very common technique authors use to show they are unbiased is by including a counterclaim. In this case, Freedman quotes Douglas Hartmann, a sociologist at the University of of Minnesota. “There are multiple reasons for the backlash, but one of the most common ones is that sports is ‘not the right place.’ You’ve had this pattern since the late 1960’s. People try to protect the sacred space of sport. What doesn’t happen is engaging the protesters’ actual ideas about race and racism(2-3).” Freedman briefly mentions that Hartmann has relevance to this topic because he wrote the books Race, Culture, and The Revolt of the Black Athlete. By validating himself and using a counterclaim, Freedman successfully appeals to the ethos aspect of the

Like many Americans we watch sports on any day of the week football,basketball,tennis,soccer,hockey and golf and we root and shout for our favorite team. But what really stands out to me in sports is there are a dominate number of minorities playing professional football and basketball which is not a problem what people have to understand that most minorities in professional sports come from a long childhood of violence drugs,bad neighborhoods and tough living situations and as an African American living in poverty growing up its our goal is to play a professional sport and earn a huge salary playing the game we always wanted for a living.

During the 2016 Olympics, athletes have received plenty of spotlight in the media. But was every media coverage the same for every athlete? In Valkenburg “Dear Fellow White People” op-ed article, the author employs juxtaposition, ethos, and rhetorical questions claiming that the idea of “white privilege” is existent and people should no longer fail to acknowledge this.

Professional athletes making political statements and sharing thoughts on their viewed social issues has been around since games were first being broadcasted and gave these athletes a stage to make a stand. Along with those actions entered debate for sports fans who are stuck between whether athletes should or should not share their views on things “bigger than sports”.This has been missing from professional sports in recent decades but is now slowly once again becoming relevant. The presidency of Donald Trump along with Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee to protest the national anthem are the two main reasons for the

Throughout the semester I can personally say that I have improved as a writer. I always knew that I was not a good as a writer that I should have been, but because I took this class, it definitely helped me with my writing skills. The first essay we were assigned, was in my opinion, the best essay I wrote for the class. In the article, “Disability and the Justification of inequality in American History”, author Douglas C. Baynton, justifies the correlation between the different types of language that are used to convey a firm attribute towards a social group, and as a result, cause stereotypes. Thus, these languages can cripple an oppressed group and form intense inequality. In Baynton’s article, he concluded that disability plays a role into the lives of women and minority groups. The reason why I believed that this was my best essay was because I believe I had very strong evidence that supported Douglas C. Baynton’s claims. I provided evidence for all the minority groups that Baynton mentions in his article. Overall, my essay, met all the requirements.

Like the 1968 Olympic Games, millions of Americans are ostracizing these athletes for disrespecting the flag and the overall country (Brown, 2017).

I think what he did was totally wrong and unprofessional. There is an old saying most of our parents love using in Africa “if you don’t have nothing nice to say, just shut up” in this case Lochte did not have anything nice to say about the host nation. Look we all far from perfect but when the whole world is watching you and you have people looking up to you as their role model and inspiration have some respect. What he did was very selfish and self-center because that showed all he did care about in that moment was himself not respecting the country he is representing, his teammates, and the whole term of the Olympic games. The Olympic Games is all about having respect and unity for all. As a business student we talk about being ethical

Our nation was so upset about their actions because as a nation, our country expects high profile athletes to love our country and respect it. Despite their beliefs, ideals or statement, we still, as a united nation, judge them for their actions. The main reason Americans thought this was absurd, was because it was “un-American” to not stand for the National Anthem. Colin Kaepernick was standing up for his race, trying to say that our country still discriminated against blacks, we were oblivious to what he was trying to do and only paid attention to him not standing up. As regards to Douglas, people aren’t as upset to her action, she was absorbed in the moment, she must have forgotten to put her hand over her heart. Douglas did not make a statement,

A person from the IOC said it was "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit"(BBC On this Day 1968: Black athletes make silent protest). This was a social and political