3
Section One: The Fundamentals
A) Keywords
Exercise 1:
Briefly (in 100 words or less) define one of the keywords in the padlet (including one that you. may have added yourself).
| Colourblindness:
Colourblindness is the belief that you can choose to ignore racism, racial differences and inequalities and instead treat everyone equally and without considering ethnic differences among people. Colourblindness, according to an article by Shropshire (2021), reinforces unconscious racism by denying people the right to experience unique, sometimes intersectional, racism. Additionally, it ignores the disparities in education, sports, healthcare, housing and other avenues of life that are oftentimes inferior compared to those of colonialist-descended individuals. Every marginalized individual deserves the right to their own unique experience and self-expression, and the need to acknowledge discrepancies cannot be ignored.
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B) Representing Race
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
In about 50-70 words, consider Joel Bervell’s question: why do we feel the need to extrapolate the athleticism of one Black athlete to all Black people when we do not do the same for white athletes?
Try to think of examples when this happens, making sure to reflect on your own positionality.
| The need to correlate black athleticism to biological physique comes from the reinforcement of colonialist ideas of utilizing sport to instigate control over marginalized populations. If we create a biological explanation as to why a coloured individual would beat a white person in a sport, focusing on their “biological advantage” frames them as an untrue winner or undeserving of victory. This is not only untrue but negates the extremely competitive nature of marginalized elite sports.
Examples:
The following are examples of metanarratives we derive from isolated encounters to all members of a population in a biased, unfair manner. This can lead to internalized racism/sexism or discrimination, which then influences one’s choices, day-to-day life, self-expectation and confidence. These beliefs also incorrectly create harmful assumptions about all members of a group which devalues their accomplishments as seen in sports. These beliefs have been reinforced when I, a woman, got in a car accident earlier this year and was relentlessly teased for it for my gender. |
C) Gender, Race & Sport
Exercise 3: Notebook Prompt
What are some strategies for resistance that Rajack and Joseph identify in their article as a means of pushing back against and resisting misogynoir?
The authors highlight numerous ways in which elite athletes and celebrities can dismantle and resist misogynoir in the reading:
Example
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Section Two: Making Connections
A) Athlete Activism
Exercise 3: Padlet Prompt
Do athletes have a responsibility to use their platform for social change? Why or why not? Please remember to record your response in both the padlet below and in your Notebook.
Professional athletes do not have an obligation to create social change using their platform. While I agree that their public persona and oftentimes large followings can be extremely influential among the general population, this does necessarily not pose a responsibility to create opinions and voice them. Though activism is welcomed and encouraged, the last thing I would use to describe this feat would be a “responsibility”. This would be equivalent to saying that every singer, social media influencer, actor, comedian, and other kinds of “famous” individuals would be forced to also use their power to formulate opinions on topics they may either not have an opinion on, or perhaps an opinion that differs from mainstream ideology due to unique experiences. Does this make them cancellable or any less “good” as an athlete or person if they refrain? In my opinion, it does not. I will contend, however, that athletes and other famous individuals do have an obligation to avoid support and use of hate speech, blatant racism/sexism, violence and other harmful phenomena more than the average person due to their broad and dynamic influence. This does not mean they have to be an outright activist, but it does means they have to be a good role model by not supporting harmful messages in the media that ought to be excluded from public discourse regardless.
B) Athlete Activism & Feminism
Exercise 4: Complete the activities
Exercise 5: Notebook Prompt
What do the authors of the article call for as a way of challenging how mainstream sports journalism privileges neoliberal feminist concerns? (100 words max.)
| Telling Stories Differently. This is a method of framing sports journalism and media coverage to illustrate the experiences of feminist women participating in sports and advocating for the right to be seen, heard and politically influential. This includes how sports media is informed by feminism, and vice-versa, as a point of entry. To accomplish this, we must seek information outside of mainstream broadcasting platforms to identify areas and issues that haven’t historically been included in media coverage and disrupt collective ideals and themes forced upon us as information consumers. This will improve the ethical nature and critical analysis of sports.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
| For-profit organizations, businesses and groups with such a large following and influence are responsible for speaking out in support of initiatives such as BLM, especially when the protest represents the cultural identity of many players on the team. It would be neglectful and inappropriate to stand silent when so much injustice is occurring outside the entertainment world, and sports platforms are being used more now than ever as a catalyst for social change rather than distraction and entertainment. As a collective of individuals who have an immense ability to influence populations, the strength of this population to make real political and social change cannot be underestimated. With fame and numbers (i.e. a whole sports team) comes power, and with great power comes great responsibility – this includes exposing injustices, promoting equality and protesting inequities, violence and harm towards marginalized individuals and groups. Due to the sheer influence the NBA/NFL holds (for example), it would be almost criminal to let these issues go unaddressed or to prevent them from public exposure for fear of financial/reputational losses.
Classmate response: I agree with and like your usage of the term “moral duty” to describe the responsibility teams hold in supporting peaceful protests. Indeed, participating in such rallies have a much broader and more powerful influence than an individual would have due to both the fame and the collective influence of these players. Corporations, organizations and groups have morals that they promote through collective action, mission statements and other supportive interventions. Leaving these issues unaddressed on the field would be a poor moral reflection of the values of the team and players within it.
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Section Three: Taking a shot
Module Assignment (submit as part of notebook and separately through Blackboard mini assignment #1 portal)
The movie 42 depicts the journey of Jackie Robinson joining the Dodgers and becoming the first black man to compete in major league baseball after WWII when American black segregation rampant. In the movie, Jackie takes a unique approach to facing racial backlash by using the resilience he’s built to ignore racist noise and maintain his immaculate playing abilities. In this time, “acting out” as a black person reinforced the violent Black stereotype seen today, forcing Jackie to act as a complacent, peaceful and calm player. The “angry black woman” stereotype was discussed in a module three reading and is seen in 42 reinforcing beliefs of Black people being seen as unpredictable, violent and out of control (Razack & Joseph, 2020). This film depicts the true caution black people had to take when resisting segregation efforts, since one wrong move could get him kicked off the team.
Additionally, a common theme I noticed in 42 was Jackie Robison being supernaturally portrayed – different than the white players. Joel Bervell comments on how Black people are commonly referred to as unnaturally biologically gifted regarding athleticism, beliefs stemming from stereotypes curated by people like John Hoberman’s “Image Factory” (Hoberman, 1997). 42 provides repetitive representation of these beliefs when Jackie is repeatedly referred to as an unnaturally talented athlete, which is commonly tied to his race rather than grit, determination and refusal on giving up (Hoberman, 1997 as cited in Bervell, 2024). The “race-induced talent” and ‘violent Black person” stereotypes inform our understanding of sports today through facilitated media coverage that portrays them as such – to fulfill a white, patriarchal metanarrative that has dominated sports journalism for centuries.
Sources
Bervell, J. [@joelbervell]. (2024, July 31). Are Black people naturally more athletic than athletics from other races?. #olympics #genetics #health [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@joelbervell/video/7397992856012541214?lang=en
Boyle, Raymond, and Richard Haynes, ‘The Race Game: Media Sport, Race and Ethnicity’, Power Play: Sport, the Media and Popular Culture (Edinburgh, 2009; online edn, Edinburgh Scholarship Online, 20 Sept. 2012), https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635924.003.0006, accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
Razack, S., & Joseph, J. (2021). Misogynoir in women’s sport media: race, nation, and diaspora in the representation of Naomi Osaka. Media, Culture & Society, 43(2), 291-308. https://doi-org.proxy1.lib.trentu.ca/10.1177/0163443720960919
