Sports in Society:
Issues & Controversies
Chapter 9
Race and Ethnicity:
Are They Important in Sports?
Defining Race & Ethnicity
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Race refers to a category of people regarded as
socially distinct because they share genetic traits
believed to be important by people with power
and influence in society
An ethnic group is a category of people
regarded as socially distinct because they share
a way of life and a commitment to the ideas,
norms, and material things that constitute that
way of life
Minority Group
Refers to a socially identified
collection of people who
Experience discrimination
Suffer social disadvantages because of
discrimination
Possess a strong self-consciousness
based on their shared experiences of
discriminatory treatment
The Concept of Race
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Racial categories are social creations based
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Race is not a valid biological concept
on meanings given to selected physical traits
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Verified by data from Human Genome Project
Racial classifications are fuzzy because they
are based on continuous traits with arbitrary
lines drawn to create categories
 Racial classifications vary from culture to
culture
Racial Categories:
Drawing Color Lines in Society
Snow white
Skin color continuum
Midnight black
Continuous Traits = skin color, height, brain size, nose width, leg
length, leg length ratio, # of fast twitch muscle fibers, etc.
Discrete Traits = blood type, sickle cell trait, etc.
Racial category lines can be drawn anywhere and everywhere
on this continuum! We could draw 2 or 2000 lines; our decisions
are a social decisions, not decisions based on biology. Some
people draw many; others draw few; some reject lines.
“Race” in the United States
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“Race” is a primitive but powerful classification
system that has been used around the world
“Race” is based on a two-category classification
system premised on the rule of hypo-descent or
the “one-drop rule”
The “one-drop rule” was developed by white
men to insure the “purity” of the “white race”
and property control by white men
Mixed-race people challenge the validity of this
socially influential way of defining race
Tiger Woods:
Disrupting Dominant Race Logic
CABLINASIAN
CA = Caucasian
BL = Black
IN = Indian
ASIAN = Asian
Racial Ideology in History
Racial classification systems were developed
as white Europeans explored and colonized
the globe and found that there were
physical differences between people
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These systems were used to justify colonization,
conversion, and even slavery and genocide
According to these systems, white skin was the
standard, and dark skin was associated with
intellectual inferiority and slowed development
Racial Ideology in Sports Today
Racial ideology encourages people to
 “See” sport performances in “racialized”
terms, i.e., in terms of skin color
 Use whiteness as the taken-for-granted
standard
 Explain the success or failure of people
with dark skin in racial terms
 Do research designed to “discover”
racial difference
Figure 9.2
Racial ideologies
often influence
how athletes are
assessed in
society and in
science.
Traditional Racial Ideology
Used in Sports
Achievements of
White Athletes
are due to:
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Character
Culture
Organization
Achievements of
Black Athletes
are due to:
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Biology
Natural physical
abilities
A Sociological Hypothesis
Racial ideology + discrimination + sport opportunities
Beliefs about biological & cultural destiny
+
Motivation to develop skills
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN SPORTS
Searching For ”Jumping
Genes” in Black Bodies
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Why is the search misleading?
It is based on oversimplified ideas about
genes and how they work
It mistakenly assumes that jumping is a
simple physical activity related to a single
gene or interrelated set of genes
It often begins with ideas about skin color
and with social definitions of race
The Power of Racial Ideology
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Black male students often have a difficult time
shaking “athlete” labels based on racial ideology
Young people from all racial backgrounds may
make choices influenced by racial ideology
In everyday life, racial ideology is integrally linked
to ideas about gender and social class
Figure 9.4
Athletes often bring cultural traditions to the playing field
Sport Participation among
African Americans
The facts show that
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Prior to the 1950s, African Americans
faced a segregated sport system
African Americans participate in a very
limited range of sports
African American men and women are
underrepresented in most sports
Sport Participation among
Native Americans
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Native Americans comprise dozens of diverse
cultural groups
Traditional Native American sports combine
physical activities with ritual and ceremony
Native Americans often fear losing their culture
when they play Euro-American sports
Stereotypes used in sports discourage Native
American participation
Images of
Native Americans in Sports
Using stereotypes of Native Americans as
a basis for team names, logos, and
mascots is a form of bigotry, regardless of
the intentions of those who do it
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Are there conditions under which a group or
organizations could use the cultural and religious
images of others for their own purposes?
What would happen if a school named their teams the
Olympians and used the Olympic logo (5-Rings) as
their logo?
Figure 9.5
The racial and
ethnic attitudes
of team officials
are sometimes
hypocritical
What happens
when
stereotypes
are built into
sport culture?
Why have stereotypes about Native Americans persisted in U.S. sports?
Why have other ethnic stereotypes been rejected in U.S. sports?
Using Native
American team
names has
often led to
offensive media
coverage
Sport Participation among
Latinos & Hispanics
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The experiences of Latino and Latina athletes
have been ignored until recently
Stereotypes about physical abilities have
influenced perceptions of Latino athletes
Latinos now make up over 25% of Major
League Baseball players
Latinos often confront discrimination in school
sports
Latinas have been overlooked due to faulty
generalizations about gender and culture
Sport Participation among
Asian Americans
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The cultural heritage and histories of Asian
Americans are very diverse
The sport participation patterns of Asian
Americans vary with their immigration histories
Little is known about how the images of Asian
American athletes are represented in the media
and minds of people in the US
The Dynamics of Racial &
Ethnic Relations in Sports
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Race and ethnicity remain significant in
sports today
Today’s challenges are not the ones faced in
the past
It is a mistake to think that racial and ethnic
issues disappear when desegregation occurs
The challenge of dealing with inter-group
relations never disappears – it changes in
terms of the issues that must be confronted
Eliminating Racial & Ethnic
Exclusion in Sports (I)
Changes are most likely when
1. People with power and control benefit
from inclusion
2. Individual performances can be
measured precisely and objectively
3. Members of an entire team benefit from
the achievements of teammates
(continued)
Eliminating Racial & Ethnic
Exclusion in Sports (II)
Changes are most likely when
4. Superior performances do not lead to
automatic promotions on teams
5. Team success does not depend on offthe-field socializing and friendships
6. Athletes have little power or authority in
the organizational structure of a sport
organization or team
After Inclusion:
Managing Racial & Ethnic Diversity
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Racial and Ethnic Diversity creates
management challenges related to
The social dynamics on teams
The social dynamics among spectators
The marketing of athletes, teams, and
leagues
NOTE: The global recruitment of players insures
that diversity issues will always exist in sports
The Biggest Challenge:
Integrating Positions of Power
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Even when sport participation is racially
and ethnically mixed, power in sports is
not readily shared
The movement of minorities into coaching
and administrative positions has been very
slow
Social and legal pressures are still needed
before power is fully shared
Needed Changes:
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Regular and direct confrontation of
racial and ethnic issues by people in
positions of power
A new vocabulary for dealing with
new forms of racial and ethnic
diversity in our lives
Training sessions dealing with
practical problems and issues, not
just feelings
Using Critical Theory to Ask Questions
About Racial Classification Systems
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Which classification systems are used?
Who uses them?
Why are some people so dedicated to
using certain classification systems?
What are the consequences of usage?
Can negative consequences be minimized?
Can the systems be challenged?
What occurs when systems change?
The Racially
“Natural Athlete”?
There is no evidence showing
that skin color is related to
physical traits that are essential
for athletic excellence across
sports or in any particular sport.
Socially Constructing the Black Male
Body: Racial Ideology in Action
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In Euro-American history there has been
Strong fears of the physical power and
prowess of (oppressed) black men
Powerful anxieties about the sexual appetites
and capabilities of (angry) black men
Deep fascination with the movement of the
black body
THEREFORE, the black male body =
valuable entertainment commodity
Research Summary
(Genetic Factors & Athletic Performance)
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Are there genetic differences between
individuals? YES
Are genetic characteristics related to athletic
excellence? YES
Could one gene account for success across a
range of different sports? PROBABLY NOT
Might skin color genes & physical performance
genes be connected? NO EVIDENCE
Research Summary
(Continued)
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Are physical development & the expression
of skills in sports related to cultural
definitions of skin color and race?
DEFINITELY YES
Do cultural ideas about skin color & race
influence the interpretation of and meaning
given to the movement and achievements of
athletes? DEFINITELY YES
Social Origins of
Athletic Excellence
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A cultural emphasis on achievement in
activities that have special cultural meaning
Resources to support widespread
participation among young people
Opportunities to gain rewards through
success
Access to those who can teach tactics and
strategies
Consequences of
Racial Ideology in Sports
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Desegregation of revenue producing sports
Continued racial exclusion in “social” sports
Position stacking in team sports
Racialized interpretations of achievements
Management barriers for blacks
Skewed distribution of African Americans
in US colleges and universities