In class this past Wednesday we discussed the issue of race and ethnicity in sports and we learned that this issue is one of the most talked about and most researched issues in sports today. Chapter 10 of Mediasport discusses race and ethnicity in relation to the United States media and Laurel R. Davis and Othello Harris discuss the many stereotypes in sports. Various stereotypes have been established in sports. In magazines, white athletes are often seen posing for photographs without a jersey on. White athletes are also normally photographed standing with no action going on in the picture. African American athletes are known for looking tough in photographs and normally wearing a jersey in an advertisement. African American athletes are also known for action shots.
African Americans are stereotyped for having greater athleticism than whites. In relation to sports, Laurel R. Davis and Othello Harris state, “Media often reinforce the stereotype that African-Americans are natural athletes” (Mediasport 158). While African Americans are stereotyped for being more athletic, whites are stereotyped for having greater intelligence, “Related to the stereotype about intelligence is the notion that African-Americans do not make good team leaders, coaches or administrators because they lack requisite knowledge possessed by European-Americans” (Mediasport 159). I found this quote to be extremely interesting because I think African Americans and whites are equally capable of being good team leaders, coaches or administrators.
I found a very interesting article that relates to the athleticism and intelligence level of athletes. The article, http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/for_wm u_basketball_players_rac.html, is about Western Michigan State University Basketball player David Kool. Kool is a white basketball player and he explains how he has been faced with the stereotype of being more intelligent and less athletic than African American basketball players. He goes into detail about the stereotype of coaches thinking they are safe recruiting an African American athlete in terms of skill level but he also discusses the fact that many coaches often wonder if African American athletes can handle the workload in school. Kool says that people would not be able to tell the difference in the academic grades between African Americans or whites on his basketball team. During class we also discussed racial labeling and Kool explains how there have been times when he has felt uncomfortable when it comes to labeling because his teammates are both African American and white. He explains how he often replaces the phrase "white people" with words such as "we" or "us" in fear of offending his African American teammates. Kool also explains how he has always been intimidated by African American athletes due to the stereotype of their superior athleticism, Kool gave the example of his African American teammate's ability to jump extremely high and he says that he can not even dunk the basketball.
How do you feel about the stereotype of African American athletes being less intelligent than white athletes? In relation to the article, do you think Western Michigan University should balance the races on their basketball team to help reduce stereotyping? Do you think white athletes are more recognizable in advertisements than African American athletes without a jersey on, why or why not? Do you think white athletes have a disadvantage compared to African-American athletes in terms of athletic ability? What do you think our society can do to change the stereotypes placed on athletes? Will racial stereotyping change for better or for worse in the future?
4 comments:
In response to Megan’s post, I do not feel that calling Blacks less intelligent than Whites is a fair stereotype. I think there are still a lot of traditionalist beliefs in the world that Blacks are less educated than Whites because of slavery and segregation, but things have changed over the past few decades. Blacks are now being admitted into Ivy League colleges and playing sports at those institutions. Unfortunately, this stereotype may stay with people for some years to come.
No, I do not think that White athletes are more recognizable without a jersey on than Black athletes because there are plenty of people that don’t recognize White players with their jerseys on. I think that if you looked in a predominantly Black audience magazine or television network you will see advertisements with Black players out of their jersey. In this day and age, more and more athletes are reaching celebrity status and are seen in street clothes in the media more often than in their jerseys. I guess if you consider the majority of our population as White males and females there may be a connection with White athletes; hence why they are easily recognizable. I’m sure if you surveyed a Black population and asked them to identify both a Black and White athlete out of uniform, they may recognize the Black athlete first.
Physically, I do not think White athletes are at a disadvantage in comparison to Black athletes. I believe that Blacks tend to be more athletic than Whites because of family and friends support. In the past, most Black children did not grow up into educated or wealthy homes. They knew there was a slim chance of higher education based on smarts alone so they resorted to sports. Black children also play more pick-up games when they are younger, therefore, they develop their skills earlier than most children. I only feel Blacks have an advantage because they tend to start training at early ages. In contradiction to my beliefs Mediasport states, “the ‘natural athletes’ stereotype is often supported by media labeling of European-American athletes as more hard working than African-American athletes”. (158) White athletes may seem to work harder at an early age because they didn’t have the exposure early on in life.
Unfortunately, there is nothing our society can do to change these stereotypes except to stand up against them. There are always going to be people with traditionalist and old school mentalities and until the newer generations can accept everyone, regardless of their skin color, these stereotypes will stay. I think racial stereotyping can only change for the better because the further away from slavery and segregation we get, the more accepting people will be of other races.
Chapter eight discusses racism in sports through the media. It discuses stereotypes through the media such as being tough, intelligent, beautiful, and having loyalty to the team. Arguments can be made that African Americans are used in the media for recognition of a team, and toughness, whereas white athletes are portrayed through their beauty and intelligence. I do think white athletes are more recognizable in advertisements than African American athletes without a jersey on. I think it’s because the media normally portrays African Americans as being known for their athleticism. With white athletes, the media tends to focus on the face of the athlete not necessarily his talent.
I don’t think white athletes have a disadvantage compared to African-American athletes in terms of athletic ability. I think African Americans have a great gift of athleticism and they work very hard to maintain it. I also believe that if you work hard enough, that you can be just as good as anyone. I think the media is the major culprit of how we view athletes. If the media starts focusing on African Americans without their jersey and starts focusing on their faces, then the audience will learn to do the same. I believe that racial stereotyping will change for better in the future.
I think racism in general is getting better. You see a lot more interracial relationships and acceptance. I think although the media does portray certain athletes a certain way, but not in all cases. As discussed in class there is not a single picture of Tikki Barber acting touch in a picture. He proves the theory wrong, but if you compare the images in a magazine for example, the number of images with stereotypes could raise an argument.
In relation to the article, I don’t think that Western Michigan University should balance the races on their basketball team because it will just create racism. Stereotyping people is going to happen whether you have four African Americans or four Caucasian people on a team.
I think it is important to understand and compare the progress of the breaking down of stereotypes outside of sports and compare them to those within. This quote from chapter 27 of the Handbook I found very interesting:
"Black athletic success stories thus falsely suggest sport to be a viable space for African-American social and economic advancement and provide African-American--and African-American men in particular--a 'stereotypical representational politics that denies and even disavows the complexities of their cultural situation and the pluralistic nature of the subject positions they currently inhabit.'"
Many people feel that athletics may still be the only way for an African-American to "escape" their surroundings. In reality, there are career opportunities abound for African-Americans to climb the social and economic ladder. I doubt anyone feels that this method is the only way for a white guy to achieve economic success.
The media contributes to this myth by the way they represent African-Americans in mainstream media. "These racial stereotypes are further accentuated by the fact that African-Americans are overrepresented in some areas of media programming, such as comedy, music, and, of course, sport, while they are all but absent in others."
Basically, African-Americans are labeled correctly if you were to base it solely on media representation.
In terms of leadership, I think there are plenty of African-American figures that lead their teams, but just may not be represented in that light. One name that comes to mind is Chris Paul of the Hornets. He is an MVP candidate, but also is the leader of the team. In few cases, I've seen and heard him, despite being only in his first few years as a player, take control of his team in key moments. Guys like this need to be showcased to disprove the theory that African-Americans can't lead.
I completely disagree with the steryotype that black athletes are only athletic and lack the intelligence to elad a team. I think the more black athletes strive to be leaders on teams then we will see more black team leaders.
There was a time when black athletes did not play along side black atheletes. But then came the day wehn Jackie Robinson broke that barrier. Then there was the day when black athletes shied away from being team leaders. But we have been seeing a swith in this as well. WIth player like Donovan McNabb and David Garrard who are proving black athletes can be team leaders in a game such a football. Just as black athletes looked up to Jackie Robinson they will alos see the strides McNabb and Garrard have taken and will be more prominent leaders in the game.
Black athletes are just as intelligent but it is only recently they have started taking leadership roles. Also, I believe all athletes are inteligetn in having to know the game and how its played. Learning plays and how to read signs and executing them to perection game in and game out. This is a quality all athletes possess, but what seperates all athletes is their athleticism. It has nothing to do with the color of their skin
On the issue of recognition is in the eye of the beholder. If people seem to recognize white athletes more when not in uniform is that persons perception of white and black athletes. On more than one occasion i have recognized a black athlete with a jeresey on jsut as many times as i have for a white athlete.
Infortunately in society there are many thick headed people resisting to change their point of view of black and white atheltes, but I can see thought being changed over the years with performance. That is the one sole thing that will always change a point of view. When an athlete produces for their team and prove they can win under pressure is when people will begin to percieve black and white athletes as both atintelligent and athletic.
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