American Sport in the 21st Century: Race and Ethnicity

On April 7 in my American Sport in the 21st Century class, we discussed race and ethnicity and if it is a major issue in sport. Some facts we learned about sport is that it is considered to be a meritocratic institution as ESPN stated in 2003. Also, racial minorities in the United States continue to face systematic and pervasive discrimination. Sport is not an oasis free from racial problems and it reflects the same racial issues as in society. We also learned about important definitions such as: bigot, prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, race, ethnic groups and minority groups. Also, we learned about the sport participation associated with African Americans. Another thing we learned about was the history of African Americans.

(Collage of stereotypical words)

Definitions

Bigot- Someone who is stubbornly attached to an opinion/belief

Prejudice- Expression of bigots, judging without knowledge of facts

Stereotypes- Fixed ideas about a group, usually negative

Discrimination- Treating someone differently from others

Race- Social category constructed and accepted by society to describe members with genetic similarities

Ethnic Group- Socially distinct group that shares the way of life and is committed to ideas, norms and things that constitute that way of life, are not biological, shared culture

Minority Group- Members share common group characteristics and suffer from discrimination

Sport Participation and African Americans

Facts:

Prior to the 1950's, African Americans faced a segregated sports system

African Americans participate in a very limited range of sports *stacking*

African American men and women are under represented in most sports

History of African Americans

Slavery-1620
2 sports dominated- horse racing and boxing
1810- Molyneux
Civil War: 1861-1865 (reconstruction)
Plessy vs. Ferguson 1896: establishes segregation but some types of equality
1936- Jesse Owens
1947- Jackie Robinson
1954- Brown vs. Board of Education
1950's- Athena Gibson
1960's- Civil Right's, 1964-Civil Right's Act
1970's- Explosion of African Americans into sport
87% NBA, 70% NFL, 9.8% MLB consists of African Americans
Hold most titles in boxing
23-25 all time men's 100 meter sprinters
Dominate long jump

Examples of African American Athletes

When I had searched for African American athletes on the web, I found this website listing the 20 most influential African American athletes who have changed sports forever: Bleacher Report. To name a few athletes that are mentioned are Magic Johnson, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Hank Aaron, Wilma Randolph, Ernie Davis, Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Jackie Robinson. All of the African American athletes have achieved success to go above and beyond. Magic Johnson was a basketball player who helped save the NBA. He was 6'9", so of course fans wanted to come watch him play. Tommie Smith and John Carlos are best known for the Olympic Games and the "iron fist". When they had won gold medals and were standing on the podium, they held up their fists to show equality for African Americans. They were then stripped of their medals for doing this. Hank Aaron is a baseball player who broke the ultimate career run record held by Babe Ruth. Wilma Randolph was the fastest woman in the world for setting the 200 meter olympic record and also the 4 by 10. Ernie Davis was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1960 Cottonbowl Classic in football. Michael Jordan was an NBA star who had made the NBA internationally known. He was a member of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. Jim Brown was a football star who had a legendary career at Syracuse. He then went to the Cleveland Browns and had a great career with them as well. Jackie Robinson was the first professional African American baseball player. All of these athletes are connected in the way that they helped shape African Americans in the sport industry. This relates to what we learned in class because we had talked about Jackie Robinson within the notes. Also, we talked about how African Americans have gone from slavery to becoming more of a threat in sports. These athletes made a huge impact for African Americans in the sport industry and the world.