Can White's Jump? Can Blacks Manage? – Race and Sports

In today’s politically correct culture, the fact that professional and amateur sports are fully integrated would make it appear that racism is no longer a factor for the players, the fans or the administrators of the sports organizations.  As Bonilla-Silva points out in Racism without Racism, the illusion that racism no longer exists, especially in the sports arena, is false.  True, the days of Jackie Robinson’s entry into baseball, and the horrific racism he had to endure has passed.  But the problem of racism and sports lurks just below the surface, needing only a minor difficulty to trigger everything from racial taunts to accusations that black athletes are much more likely to engage in domestic violence. Why did it take so long for Blacks to be named as head coaches, long after black players were an essential part of all American sports? Even children’s books about Black football players do not mention the cultural and racial experiences they endured and the authors do not include anything of African American traditions or the struggles the athletes had to go through because they are Black.(Winograd, Ken.  (2011, p. 339.)

In 1987, Al Campanis was interviewed on Night Line and said that Blacks did not have the basic capacity to be able to manage or coach professional sports.  The assumption that Blacks are genetically inferior to whites shows that the way Blacks are seen still reflects the long held attitudes held over from slavery. In 1988, Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder commented that there were so many Blacks in sports because they were naturally physically large with big thighs, and that there were so many successful Black that whites had to keep the coaching and management positions for themselves.  It would appear that Snyder was saying positive things about Black athletic abilities, but in reality, his comments are racist through and through.

Athletes are called thugs, and everyone knows that the people referred to are not white!  Fans talk about an athlete’s playing intelligence, and they are speaking about white players.  The media accuses Black players of being greedy, but make no mention of white players demands or that the owners’ high ticket prices and other costs built in to attending a sports event are never talked about. Too often, even the players do not realize what is going on with colorblind racism.  They think their abilities have taken them beyond race and the fact that they are rich means that no one sees their color.  As long as they behave and keep their mouths shut, they are accepted.  But if there is trouble, they are judged as Black and have to face the reality of invisible racism.

External Websites:

Anderson, Paul.  (1996, Vol.6, Issue 2). Racism in Sports: A Question of Ethics.  Marquette Sports Law Review, pp. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol6/iss2/9

Pinto, Pedro.  (2012, February 8).  Is Racism a Widespread Problem in Sports? CNN.com.   Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/08/sport/laureus-panel-sport-racism/index.html

Shelton, Gary. (2013, August 12).  Sadly, Racism in Sports Won’t Go Away. Tampa Bay Times.  Retrieved from http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/ml/sadly-racism-in-sports-won’t-go-away.

Winograd, Ken.  (2011, Vol.13, no. 3).  Sports Biographies of African American Football Players:  The Racism of Colorblindness in Children’s Literature.  Race, Ethnicity and Education, p. 331-349.