Race in Sports

During the November 13^th and 15^thlectures in my American Sport in the 21^stCentury class we focused heavily on race in sports. As we have previously discussed how sports are a direct reflection of American Societal values, if race plays an important role in society then it most definitely plays a prominent role in sports. To make sure that everyone in the class had a proper understanding of the concept, we broke off into pairs and defined some vocabulary words such as: bigot, prejudice, judging, stereotypes, discrimination, race, ethnic group, and minority group. For the purpose of this blog I am solely focusing in on race, but all of these words mesh together towards the topic of race or ethnicity. When the class discussion resumed, the definition of race was stated as a social category constructed and accepted by society to describe members with genetic similarity. Race was developed in the 1500’s and was socially constructed as a result of slavery. Race is also based on physical attributes and divides all of us.

An interesting point of focus is the statement that I highlighted in purple, “race is based on physical attributes.” Research suggests that many young African-American men grow up believing that the black body is superior when it comes to physical abilities in certain sports (Coakley, 2010; p.286). This is the case when racial ideology influences African-Americans to have this mindset. Some of the things that contribute to racial ideologies are stereotypes, restricted opportunities in mainstream occupations, and certain sports that have a more appealing chance of success. In class we took at some of the stats and research as to why young African-American men have a perceived sense of biological cultural destiny (Coakley, 2012; p.286).

Traditional Race Logic used in Sports	Physiological Dominance of African-Americans
Achievements of black athletes are due to:	· Blacks have a slight genetic advantage over whites in some areas
· Biology	· African-Americans’ are more physically suited for activities that require speed and power
· Natural physical abilities	· Longer arms and legs, slimmer pelvis, and less fat on the muscles
	· More fast-twitch muscles = a better reaction time
	· More advanced motor skills at an early age

The above data clearly shows the area that gives young black men an instilled sense of biological destiny. It is important to note that both pieces of data are due to racial ideologies and neither tells the whole story because there is no-where near any significant amount of data or research to justify these claims. The question as to why there is such a high number of African-American participation in football, basketball, and track & field compared to low numbers in a lot of other sports has yet to be answered.

Let’s take a quick moment to think while I give you a couple pieces of numerical statistics and then construct an answer to this question:

Why is African-American participation in football, basketball, and track & field so significantly greater than the participation rates in other sports such as baseball, hockey, tennis, and etc.?

1. 55% of blacks live in inner-city areas

2. Inner-city areas are filled with basketball courts instead of golf or tennis clubs

3. Basketball, football, and track & field all require little or no money to play; making it easier for black children to pick up these three sports at a young age and perfect them throughout their athletic careers

With this in mind, here comes the answer! The inner-cities are filled with poverty and people who do not make tons of money; and 55% of the population is African-American. If you had no/little money as a kid living in one of these areas, how would it be possible to play a sport like baseball or hockey that requires a lot of resources (bases, gloves, bats for baseball and sticks, gloves, nets, skates for hockey) when the money is not there? It’s simple, you don’t. Instead you would go get a group of your friends or go alone to your local basketball court, grab a ball and play for free. Inner-city children gravitate towards basketball, football, and track & field because of the lack of cost and the easiness to play each of the sports with as little equipment as possible. With everything that we’ve already discussed, it’s easy to now understand the reason that the NBA and NFL have such high number of African-Americans; and why the number of African-Americans in the MLB and NHL are scarce and decreasing.  To see the information from page 287 of Jay Coakley's book Sports in Society -->   Click here

The data and Coakley's diagram are perfect resources to provide the reason that African-Americans tend to gravitate and for some, master sports such as basketball, football, and track & field. But how much can we invest in this? A 2011 article published by ESPN offers a different take that puts some old stereotypes and racial ideologies to rest. http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/6777581/importance-athlete-background-making-nba

This article starts off supporting the theme shown by Coakley and our class discussion, but as the article goes in-depth the opposing argument is stated. In a study of NBA players from 1994 to 2004, “it was found that among African-Americans, a child from a low-income family has 37 percent lower odds of making the NBA than a child from a middle- or upper-income family. Further, a black athlete from a family without two parents is 18 percent less likely to play in the NBA than a black athlete raised by two parents, while a white athlete from a non-two-parent family has 33 percent lower odds of making the pros.” Ultimately, the article supports the theory that the intersection of race, class, family structure, and background presents unequal pathways into the league.

The argument from ESPN and the data from our class discussion and Coakley’s material both are valid. In my opinion I feel that we will never find an exact answer, but instead we should focus less on an athlete’s race and put more attention towards an athlete’s accolades.