Look at the Previous post as well, they go together
The games that we play today are virtually the same games we played ninety years ago with a few exceptions. The first difference is the equipment we play with. The second difference is the skill level of the players. The third and possibly most important difference is integration of the games. If you take away the new equipment, and the players skill levels you still have the same game with the same basic principle. However, if you take away the integration of the game you would take away a whole other dimension that people of different race have brought to the game we play. Golfers would still be driven balls without tees. Players like Hank Aaron, Tiger Woods, and Muhammad Ali would never have rewritten the record books. Most importantly, however, these players of other races would still be playing in the dark never being recognized for the greatness of their athletic ability.
The games that we play today are virtually the same games we played ninety years ago with a few exceptions. The first difference is the equipment we play with. The second difference is the skill level of the players. The third and possibly most important difference is integration of the games. If you take away the new equipment, and the players skill levels you still have the same game with the same basic principle. However, if you take away the integration of the game you would take away a whole other dimension that people of different race have brought to the game we play. Golfers would still be driven balls without tees. Players like Hank Aaron, Tiger Woods, and Muhammad Ali would never have rewritten the record books. Most importantly, however, these players of other races would still be playing in the dark never being recognized for the greatness of their athletic ability.
In my opinion, racism in sports may not be quite as abundant as we think.
Nothing has become more bias and more "evil" than the American media. Since when did it become more important to report that Alex Rodriguez was spotted having dinner with a strange woman than it is to give us his stats and his performance in the very thing that made him famous?
Take a step back and think for one second. What made America care more about Britney's shaved head or Angelina's pregnant stomach? The media. Media coverage has become focused on negative and uncivil acts more now than it ever has. You can easily open your local sports page and find your daily dose of scores and stats, but somewhere else in there you will find a scandal or a report on something an athlete did wrong. It's the way our society has gone.
But where does racism fit in? Let's first touch on the NFL. No story stands out more when it comes to racism in the NFL than Donovan McNabb's comments regarding a black quarterback vs. a white quarterback.
McNabb expressed that a black quarterback is examined in more depth and under a less forgiving microscope. Not only black quaterbacks but also blacks around all the different leagues.
What do you guys think about racism in sports today?
What do you guys think about racism in sports today?
2 comments:
I think that racism in sports is a very peculiar topic. It has existed since the creation of high-caliber sports, however, it takes a completely different form today than it has in the past. I recently saw a clip regarding Donovan McNabb that both relates to the comment you posted and serves as an example of the uniqueness of racism in sports. The clip was from many years ago when McNabb was just becoming a success in the NFL. He was a token black quarterback and for that reason (says the clip) he gained an unusually large amount of supporters outside of the Eagles' fan base. In the clip, Fox's Sean Hannity said that it is racist that so many people support McNabb simply because he is black and for that reason he wished McNabb ill fortune in his NFL career. The clip was meant shown on comedic show to portray Hannity as a racist moron, but it actually got me thinking. I certainly don't want bad things for Donovan McNabb, but I think Hannity's outrageous statement stemmed from logical thought. People wanted McNabb to be successful because he is black, not because they admired him more than other quarterbacks.
This shows how modern sports can breed nontraditional (not whites oppressing minorities) racism.
On a different note, I recently noticed a very strange instance of racism in an NBA. The Hornets were battling the Grizzlies in OT. With two minutes left the Hornet's Peja Stojakovich (7ft western European white guy) drove to the hoop and missed what should have been an easy two points. Afterward the commentator made a remark implying that players like Peja (tall white western Europeans) were only useful from behind the 3-point arch. I was pretty shocked but it made me realize how drastically different racism in sports is today as opposed to as early as 30 years ago.
Great post, as an avid hockey fan I couldn't help but notice you had a picture of the NHL emblem. Black athletes make up an extremely small part of this league. I think there lack of participation in hockey has to do more with hockeys place in African American communities than with racism. Hockey is an expensive sport which makes it less accessible to certain families.
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