Racism in Sports: An American and British Perspective (Essay Sample)

Racism in Sports: An American and British Perspective
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Abstract
Sport is an integral part of society as it provides cultural, economic and social value to the communities that revolve around a particular sporting entity. Generations of families grow up supporting hometown clubs, providing a sense of belonging and creating closely knit communities. On the other hand, racism is a social vice that has managed to seep into most aspects of life where different cultures and ethnicities interact. This vice has managed to invade the sanctity of sports with few racist elements within a society promoting its continued manifestation. The United States and Britain are home to some of the world’s largest sporting entities, and the two countries exhibit cultural and racial diversity. This makes them prime candidates to study the impact and extent of racism in sports.
Introduction
A spate of recent high-profile events has recently drawn attention to the issue of racism in sports, which otherwise seeks to present itself as a bastion of fair play. Most blatant manifestations of institutional racism have subsided, and contemporary expressions of the vice are most likely brushed away as individual failings, not as a depiction of society’s failure to eliminate the depravity. Britain and America enjoy a rich historical tradition of collective action and popular protest. Because of their public and publicized nature, sporting events have become increasingly popular venues where political and cultural meanings are enacted and debated. Presently, sport operates as a form of employment and entertainment and as a focal point for local, regional, national and even global communities, by offering a sense of solidarity and belonging. For instance, Manchester United, a popular football club in Britain complete with a rich history, currently commands a social media following of over sixty million people from all over the world. This results in sports becoming a key constructor of identities, resulting in complex, multicultural communities that revolve around sporting franchises.
In this regard, one might expect that sport becomes a ‘social glue’, an aspect that binds people together and offers a sense of social stability and continuity at local, national and international levels. Similarly, one might expect that the only negative that might arise from sports is the occasional rivalry between supporters of franchises of similar stature. Such rivalries are especially prevalent in English football, with rivalries such as the Manchester derby that involves Manchester United and Manchester City football club, the North London derby that involves Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs, and the Merseyside derby that involves Liverpool and Everton football clubs. However, this is not the case. The increasing diversity of people involved in sports has is threatening a pre-existing hegemony. This has resulted in sporadic demonstration of racist behaviour by people who feel that these new entrants do not deserve to represent their teams, or in instances, as a manifestation of prevailing societal beliefs or pure individual ignorance.
Racism is a historical phenomenon whose appearance in sports began long ago. Sport itself does not induce the racism; the people who participate in sports through organizing, playing and supporting are the parties responsible for introducing racism into sports. This presents a conundrum in the quest to eliminate racism as there can be no sports without the input of these various people. In America, the issue of racism has manifested itself in sports since the abolishment of slavery. An example of this is the formation of the Negro leagues in the early 1900s. Baseball is one of the most popular sports in America, yet African-Americans could not participate in the National Association of Baseball Players through unofficial colour bans. This resulted in the African-Americans banding together to come up with their league, in what is one of the most resilient displays against racism. Golf is a sport that to date, is still dominated by whites, and minority groups, bar talents such as tiger woods, have consistently failed to make into the top.
The national football league has witnessed its fair share of racism controversies, but one hopes that the recently implemented ‘Rooney Rule’, which aims to create opportunities for minority coaches, will improve the situation. College sports are also increasingly gaining large followings in America, and this has served to shed light on the prevalence of racism in universities. Most outfield positions are still dominated by whites, despite the success of minority players in sports such as basketball and American Football. The National Basketball Association has also taken action against a number of franchise owners who have made racist remarks, despite the success of minority players in the sport. In Britain, the national rugby league and the football association are the bodies that have had to deal with the most cases of racism. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was poor reception of British born black football players such as Garth Crooks, Viv Anderson, Laurie Cunningam, John Barnes and Cyrille Regis by the predominantly white supporter base, even by some supporters of the teams they played for. Before them, players such as Arthur Wharton in the late nineteenth century and Walter Tull in the early twentieth century had to endure racial slurs as they became the first black players to represent English teams.To date, opportunities for minority players and coaches remain at a premium.
In Britain, a thesis on genetic superiority was put forward by Connor (1995) proposing that whites are genetically superior and as such are more likely to succeed in sports, with black players being accused of being harbouring psychological inhibition when playing for the cricket’s national team (Henderson 1995). All these aspects reveal the fact that racism has been part of the fabric of sports for a long time, with slavery in America, and Britain’s colonialist tendencies as the main contributors to this vice, which has permeated into various societal aspects. Currently, implementation of measures to reduce and eventually eliminate the vice is on-going in both countries. Success of these measures will deal a big blow to racism, as these countries are global opinion leaders, home to global sporting franchises and international sporting powerhouses.
Racism in American Sports
One of the greatest identifiers of race in American sport is the experience of Gayle Sayers, who, in the 1960s, was a black running back in the national football league, and his talents eventually earned him a spot in the hall of fame. Upon the end of his career, he returned to university and eventually acquired a Master’s Degree. He spent six years as the University of Southern Illinois’ Athletics director and did not succeed when he offered his services to the National Football League teams despite his legendary status in the sport (Cornwell, 1993). From as recently as 1947, one could practice total segregation in major league baseball in the United States, but the most prominent, and seemingly, most American way of demonstrating racism is through ostracizing, as revealed by the Gayle Sayers’ case. An American, who has earned veneration in the national scene thanks to his exploits in sports, cannot grow into management or ownership, the glass-celling phenomenon manifests itself for many an athlete from minority groups.
In America, people tend to look at sports as being immune to the reach of racism, but that masks the fact that the United States is still a racist country. From a passive glance, this assumption seems to bear truth, as, on the playing field, professional sports is one of the most integrated workplaces in the United States. There are numerous African-American athletes who make a lot of money from the National Basketball Association and the National Football League but once their careers are over, their usefulness to sports becomes ‘zero’. For proof, one could contemplate the state of events in the three most prominent sports in the United States: Basketball, American football and baseball. In the National Basketball Association, where black players like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan attained global superstardom, 75% of players are currently of African-American descent. However, only 11% of the executive and managerial staff is black (Cornwell, 1993).
On the field, the rules are clear; a touchdown is six points, a basket is two points and home run occurs when you hit the ball out of the park. Off the field, none of these rules applies. For one to get a managerial or executive position, a recommendation is necessary, but who will recommend an individual from the minority groups if every individual, from the general manager downwards, is white. Briefly, stereotypes back the prevalence of racism in American sports. Players of African-American descent especially, carry the tag of natural athletes, players who are muscular and instinctive. On the other hand, white players are smart, the players with the brains, the players who make things happen on the field of play. For instance, American football has two positions that are ‘thinking positions'; centre and quarterback, positions that are mostly monopolized by white players.
The pervasiveness of racism in professional sports results in college sports promoted to the position of 'saviour' of sport from the scourge of racism. College sport is the nursery of talent for the professional leagues, and one can only hope that the new breed of players emerging from the various universities will be players who promote and embrace cultural diversity. This move wi...