The History of Sports and African Americans Essay

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

The central idea of “Why sports history is American history,” by Mark Naison, is that sports are an important part of American history. I know that it is the central idea because Mark Naison writes that, “following sports was a way to become more fully American.” Many people followed sports because they felt “more American” that way. Lots of people who followed sports were immigrants. The author also writes in the section, “Professional Athletes Provided Inspiration,” that, “black baseball superstars like Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella…” Black baseball superstars set an idea in the world that everyone can play sports. They don’t have to be fully American. Also, Naison writes, “Women and girls were given few opportunities to develop their

The result of these low expectations can be seen in a quote by Thabiti. “Graduation rates of Black football athletes are consistently among the lowest in the nation” (Lewis). As Thabiti Lewis explains, graduation rates for athletes are drastically subsiding every year. As said by Herbert I. London, and American commentator and author, there are many factors that may go into this problem with one being that the NCAA does not allow high school students to come into their program with having at least a 2.0 grade point average (London). A 2.0 GPA is a C average (75%). For colleges altogether, anything under a 2.0 is a failing grade. If athletes are expected to have a grade right above failing to live their dreams, why would they strive to get anything

Throughout time stereotypes have been placed on almost everyone. With in the piece “Playing for Keeps” the author Robin Kelley breaks some of these stereotypes down and shows that the hobbies and lifestyles of certain race and class groups have a lot more meaning than what most people believe. Robin Kelley shows that black youths, living in the boroughs of New York, lives aren’t exactly how they are portrayed by capitalist companies like Nike. Not everyone has the “rags to riches” mindset like seen in the Nike commercial where the streetball players head to the big leagues and get rich. In fact, it is way less common than this commercial promotes.

Rebecca Lobo once said“Athletes who take to the classroom naturally or are encouraged to focus on grades should be able to do well in the classroom. I believe the reason you go to college is to get your degree. It's not a minor league or an audition for the pros.” many athletes should read these and apply it to their life because college isn't about trying to play in the pros if you're an athlete sure you can have a dream, but you need to also get a degree that should be the main focus not getting a tryout or an audition for the pros. Every year around one hundred seventy-seven thousand athletic scholarships is given out to those that stood out in their sport, whether it was basketball, football, or even baseball. The kids receiving these scholarships are given a free

isn 't real necessary. Considering they no longer have to pay tuition and continue to pursue their childhood dream as a professional athlete. Some athletes do not even have a dream to be a professional athlete. Some student athletes have other aspirations; like being a Lawyer, Police Officer, Doctor, Nurse, Veterinarian, or even a fire fighter. So they use there god given talent as a entrance and walk way through

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

Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports.  These sports often govern society's way of life.  People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends.   Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends."  Parents  use sports as a teaching tool for their children.  Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and  sports have also helped many students with their grades.  Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games.  Adults have

“I grew up during the 1950s in Brooklyn, New York. That was 70 years ago. In my neighborhood, almost everyone was Jewish or Italian. Our parents spoke little or no English. Sports were very important for boys like me. Following sports made us feel more American.” This explains that many African Americans, Jewish, and Italians want to play pro sports more than anyone else and if they worked hard enough, nothing could stop them.

Black student-athletes are taught to value sports over academics at a young age because it is seen as the “only way out”. Black student-athletes are heralded for their athletic prowess from middle school up, so they begin to focus less on their education and more on their sport. Unfortunately, so do the teachers. Black student-athletes are more often than not just given passes, as schools value what their athletic abilities could do for them over the academic success of the athlete. Even normal black students can be seen the same way just because of the perception that they might be an athlete. The sad truth is that the athletes that don’t make it to the professional level are left without the education needed to be successful.

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

To fully understand where these struggles stem from you need to be fully aware of the cultural influences that African American students face. As African American males grow older they face the unfortunate reality of being the only group in the United States experiencing a decline in life expectancy (Noguera 2003). With a fact like this looming over the head of African American student athletes it becomes easy for one to see why African American male student athletes place such and emphases on playing professional sports (Zeiser 2009). They see the gain from professional sports being immediate and the gains from academia being a longer process. “There is considerable evidence that the ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds of students have bearing on how students are perceived

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

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on others' lives." This quote was said by Jackie Robinson who was important in paving the way for other black athletes in professional sports. He was the first black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball.What would professional sports be without all the greatest black athletes such as Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali or Jackie Robinson? Today the NBA is filled with a large majority of African American players. The NBA would be nothing without those players. Muhammad Ali was a boxer, businessman and social activist for equal rights for all races. He wanted equal opportunities for all men, regardless of color, to be successful. Michael Jordan was considered the best basketball

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.