Student Name: Viran Malaka Palihena
Date: August 14, 2023.
There is a 400-year history to black people in Canada. While showing their true colours
in sports and other important fields for generations, a black Canadian hockey player
named Josh Crooks shows the latest example of black excellence in Canada. From an
early age, Josh showed his talents in the sport of hockey and is on his way to the
national team. Although he is very talented, his coaches fear that he might not get the
chance to show his talents as much as white players given the history of Canadian
hockey, not because of the lack of black people in the sport back then, but because of
how little the black participation the history make it look like there was.
Looking at this issue in a sociological mind, sociological imagination can help resolve
this situation in a way. “Sociological imagination provides a way of understanding
ourselves on a small scale, as a private individual with individual concerns, and on a
large scale, as a public member of social groups with shared concerns” (cited from
chapter 1, sociological perspective). According to this analogy, Josh Crooks must first
look at himself and his talent, then consider himself as a player of the team he wishes to
play for. Who are the other black players? Who are the white players? Who are the
most talented? Am I in a position where I can go head-to-head and be selected for the
team? Given he does get selected, was the selection purely depended on skills? Or was
it influenced by the player’s race? Asking these questions himself and using creative
thinking to answer those questions is what is explained in sociological imagination.
Reference
Chapter 1, An Introduction to the Foundation of Sociology:
sociological perspective