SPORTS
SPORTSIN
INSOCIETY:
SOCIETY:
SOCIOLOGICAL
ISSUES ANDIN
ISSUES
& CONTROVERSIES
CONTROVERSIES
AUSTRALIA
AND NEW ZEALAND
CHAPTER 9
RACE AND ETHNICITY:
Are They Important in Sports?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-1
Defining Race and Ethnicity
• 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.
• Ethnicity refers to ethnic groups: categories 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-2
The Concept of Race
• Racial categories are social creations based on meanings
given to selected physical traits.
• Race is not a valid biological concept
– 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-3
Racial Categories:
Drawing Colour Lines in Society
Snow white
Midnight black
Skin colour continuum
• Continuous traits = skin colour, height, brain size, nose width,
leg length, leg length ratio, # of fast twitch muscle fibres, 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 social decisions, not decisions based
on biology. Some people draw many; others draw few; some
reject lines.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-4
Racial Ideology in History
Racial classification systems were developed as white
Europeans explored and colonised the globe and found that
there were physical differences between people.
• These systems were used to justify colonisation,
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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-5
Racial Ideology in Sports Today
•
•
•
•
Racial ideology encourages people to:
‘see’ sport performances in ‘racialised’ terms, i.e., in
terms of skin colour
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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-6
Traditional Racial Ideology Used in
Sports
Achievements of White
Competitors are
attributed to:
– character
– culture
– organisation.
Achievements of Black
Competitors are
attributed to:
– biology
– natural physical
abilities.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-7
A Sociological Hypothesis
Racial ideology + discrimination + sport opportunities
Beliefs about biological and cultural destiny
+
Motivation to develop skills
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN SPORTS
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-8
Searching for ‘Jumping Genes’ in
Black Bodies
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 colour and with
social definitions of race.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-9
The Power of Racial Ideology
• Black participants often have a difficult time shaking
‘natural 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-10
The Dynamics of Racial and Ethnic
Relations in Sports
• 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 within multicultural society.
• The challenge of dealing with inter-group relations
never disappears – it changes in terms of the issues
that must be confronted.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-11
Eliminating Racial and Ethnic
Exclusion in Sports
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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-12
Eliminating Racial and Ethnic
Exclusion in Sports (cont.)
4.
5.
6.
Changes are most likely when:
Superior performances do not lead to automatic
promotions on teams.
Team success does not depend on off-the-field
socialising and friendships.
Athletes have little power or authority in the
organisational structure of a sport organisation or
team.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-13
After Inclusion: Managing Racial and
Ethnic Diversity
Racial and ethnic diversity create 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-14
The Biggest Challenge: Integrating
Positions of Power
• Even when sports 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-15
Needed Changes
• 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-16
Other Topics
The following slides are for
those who deal with ‘race and
performance’ issues in depth.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-17
Using Critical Theory to Ask Questions
About Racial Classification Systems
• 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 minimised?
• Can the systems be challenged?
• What occurs when systems change?
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-18
The Racially
‘Natural Athlete’?
There is no evidence showing that skin
colour is related to physical traits that are
essential for athletic excellence across
sports or in any particular sport.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-19
Socially Constructing the Black Male
Body: Racial Ideology in Action
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
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-20
Research Summary
(Genetic Factors and Athletic Performance)
• 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 colour genes and physical performance
genes be connected? NO EVIDENCE
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-21
Research Summary (cont.)
• Are physical development and the expression of skills
in sports related to cultural definitions of skin colour
and race? DEFINITELY YES
• Do cultural ideas about skin colour and race influence
the interpretation of and meaning given to the
movement and achievements of athletes?
DEFINITELY YES
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-22
Social Origins of
Athletic Excellence
• 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.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-23
Consequences of
Racial Ideology in Sports
•
•
•
•
•
Desegregation of revenue-producing sports.
Continued racial exclusion in ‘social’ sports.
Position stacking in team sports.
Racialised interpretations of achievements.
Management barriers for blacks.
PPTs to accompany Sports in Society 2e by Coakley, Hallinan and MacDonald
© 2011 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
9-24