Within my multicultural identities class we have been assigned projects that have to do with certain themes . As I was quick to choose the sports theme I decided to come up with the research question of multi-racial America and sports athletes being stereotyped by their race. Now in the class that I am in dealing with inequality in gender I thought it was really cool to think about inequality and race.
Inequality within Sports has been going around for years not only with gender but really big and race. Stereotypes with athletes are the main reason people are biased about sports. Serena and Venus Williams who played professional tennis do not seem to look the part for the average white tennis player. Tiger Woods a professional golfer is also black and Asian gets identified as a black man because he plays a white Sport. And Stephan Curry a professional basketball player that is half white and half black but since he plays basketball he’s considered more black than white. These are examples of stereotypes within Sports.
81% of quarter backs are white.
90% of running backs, defensive backs, and wide receivers are black.
Another thing that had came across my mind is stacking professional athletes. Stacking can be defined as placing athletes in certain position based on racial stereotypes. For example blacks can are not known for their athleticism so they will play more positions dealing with running compared to a white man known for intelligence open position with more thought and strategy. This can affect their success it can lead to coaches acknowledging the stereotype and could lead to inequality. This can prevent any success leadership wise position wise coaching or management within further jobs.
To look at how media uses stereotypes they tend to use a strategy called convergence. Convergence is used with cultural expectations with the group to get the point across to audiences. So commentating quotes like “Springs off the floor” compared to things “quick on his feet”. To use commentating strategies to describe a race using words like “he is much taller than”Or “he is one of the hardest workers”can be a part of how the media uses stereotypes.
Being an athlete is overcoming adversity in any sport you play. Multi culture identities can affect athletes and their performances multi racial athletes with in sports cannot fight the stereotypes made by Society just out beat the stereotype. All of the examples of multiracial athletes they all have one thing in common. They be out the stereotype and many of these athletes do not go unnoticed.