Racial Stereotypes In Sports Essay

While 70% of the NFL players having African-American descent, there’s a difference between journalist and sports reporters, with 80% of the radio and TV broadcasters being White and 9% being Black. These articles, The Experience of Media and Race in the National Football League – An Existential Phenomenological Study (Fisher 2008), Depicting the Quarterback in Black and White: A Content Analysis of College and Professional Football Broadcast Commentary (Billings 2004), and Race and ethnicity in U.S. sports media (Davis & Harris 1998) examined the connections between Black NFL players and experienced media reporters. The data was recorded and studied, and main themes were acknowledged. The athletes report themes of: (1) the players’ view of how media coverage affects the NFL players, (2) the players’ perceptions of media personnel, and (3) the athletes’ perception of black quarterbacks. The study of the experienced media reporters’ meetings uncovers three major themes: (1) perceptions of how the media cover the NFL, (2) interrelationships with NFL players, and (3) playing quarterback in the NFL.

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

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.

Like female athletes, African Americans have had a difficult time getting equal treatment and representation for their successes by the media. African Americans were thought to have a feeling of hate towards others, as displayed in the classic feature, Remember the Titans, “Look at them, they hate us, they’ll always hate us.” In today’s sports arena, African American athletes are represented in their sports’ categories in a much larger group than in the past. However, they are still struggling to have the same equalization as their teammates in the media’s representation of their talents and skills. A typical stereotype of the African American by the media is their depiction of them having more brawn than brain. For example, Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers, for example, is a white male whom commentators often commend for his high basketball IQ when he makes plays, but often fault for his insufficient physical ability when he doesn’t. African American teammates of Walton’s, in contrast, find their “skills” praised when they execute well and their “mental errors” blamed for failures to execute. Sports-related socialization of this discriminatory type can perpetuate stereotypes generation after generation.

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

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

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

This article talked about the daunting unequal media coverage in sports of male sports teams in comparison to females.They researched the true differentiations of coverage between men and women sports. The actual percentage difference of coverage of male vs female sports discovered in their research truly is unfathomable. Men’s sports receive 96.3% of the airtime, women’s sports 1.6% and gender neutral topics were 2.1%. When you think back about twenty years ago and the coverage of media people tend to think that America is generally trending positively forward, however that is not the case for the coverage of women's athletics. It has actually gone down since then. Although on the scarce occasion that they are feature in the news, more often than not they are conveyed in the stereotypical way: as wives, girlfriends, or mothers. When media is highlighting these aspects instead of their talent, hard work or success it takes away from their image as an athlete and it demonstrating that it is acceptable to do so in society. However if male athlete achieved equal success and he was a father, that

A well studied and common example of racial bias in media would be sports and their coverage. Many of the mainstream sports have disproportionate amounts of minorities as athletes, making it significant and unique. Some people doubt that racial bias is present in the media, but countless studies prove otherwise. Andrew C. Billings, a professor of sports communication at Alabama University, and Susan Tyler Eastman, an author that has published multiple books about media, performed a study on the racial bias present in college basketball games during the 1994 season. The study states that “three quarters of the 416 men’s

What is a stereotype? In my definition it can be a term used to classify an object or thing, maybe even a person. A stereotype can be a person who has little knowledge of something or none at all. There are a lot of different stereotypes out there. For example, “White men can’t jump” is one used in sports such as basketball. This can be a stereotype to people who have never witnessed a white man dunk a basketball. Larry Bird was arguably one of the best basketball players in the history of the NBA with many awards and achievements to prove it. He was indeed a white man therefore, counterpointing the stereotypical phrase, “white men can't jump.” Just like this one, there are many stereotypes out there with a broad range of phrases or

In the start of the 1960s basketball had entered the world of professionalism since there was a decrease in amateurism in sports. More teams have come to a conclusion and have become a part of a professional league called the NBA (National Basketball Association). In regards to a book American Decades 1960s “In the 1960-1961 season of the NBA there were eight teams in the league, which included the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia Warriors, Syracuse Nationals, New York Knicks, St. Louis Hawks, Detroit Pistons, and the Cincinnati Royals”. All these teams had at least two or more African American athletes. As African American athletes become more famous, players such as Bill Russel from the Boston Celtics or Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors have people who will become jealous and try to make them look bad. “Unfortunately more and more African Americans have become extremely valuable in professional sports leading to people/ fans to get used to different skin colors. Thus leading to less racism in sports” (Encyclopedia of Race and Racism). Racism was a huge benefactor during that time and became less public due to the fact that there will be African American players in professional sports no matter what.

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.

Professional sports in the United States of America, most notably basketball and football, was one of the earliest job markets that Black males were able to succeed in on their own merit by using their bodies to obtain a profitable career. However, the relationship between White team owners, the White public, the predominantly White media and Black player continues to have a long complex existence with its genesis in racial exploitation. Black men were able to break into the sports industry because of the historical focus on Black male hypermasculinity - the exaggeration of male behavior that places an emphasis on physical strength and prowess. These stereotypes are deeply rooted in the history of slavery and the systems of oppression

Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports And Why We’re Afraid To Talk About It teaches us that minority representation in sports media and television is becoming more and more diverse. However, the more diverse it is becoming the more prominent misrepresentation and racial slurring has become in the media. After thinking about the title of this paper, it seems somewhat ironic that with the emergence of so many Black and International athletes throughout sports in the United States, Caucasians have become the minority. One of the key