3 Chapter Three: Race, Gender, & Social Justice
Kelly McGuire and kimberleymcgrath
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).
| Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a social justice movement that uses a framework to challenge the intersections of racism with culture, politics and the law. CRT offers a critical and organized approach to an anti-racist movement.
CRT is built on the premise that racism is deeply embedded in individuals, organizations and society at large. We live in a racist society. and we are deprived of insight into racism by colorblindness, which reinforces white supremacy. The concept of race is a social construct, and it is not based on anything physical or biological. CRT examines inequality and subjugation with a lens of the intersectionality of racism with class and gender. |
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 sports world continues to judge the success of black and white athletes differently in a convenient way to continue racism and being colour blind. The biological advantages of white athletes, such as the example of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps are not presented whereas any genetic advantage of a Black athlete is generalized to the Black population whether they participate in elite sports or not. This generalization of Black superior athleticism allows the racist narrative to negate the discipline, grit and intelligence that Black athletes possess.
Examples are that football and basketball leagues have more Black players because they are faster, tougher and superior than their white counterparts. This is evident in the leading draft picks for many professional leagues.
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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?
| Rajack and Joseph call for active resistance. A form of active resistance is the use of self-representation of female Black athletes in media interviews. The media reinforces representation as both binary and one identity. Resistance is in the form of push back by emphasizing all sides of an athlete’s identity. Rajack and Joseph identify the use self-representation to expose and promote the identity the media is choosing to ignore.
Resistance as a strategy against misogynoir comes in the form of collective intolerance for misogynoir, where individuals use their combined voices to call on the media to be accountable for their misogynoir reporting in women’s sport. For instance, call out the media for maintaining white supremacy by rendering women of colour athletes as invisible or by using their overt acts of sexism. Resistance as a means of push back in the form of using information and communication technology such as social media platforms to call out the mainstream media and present a true narrative and interrupt the media’s attempt to erase full identity, especially of Black women. Identify and call out misogynoir in the media.
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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.
Athletes should be given the choice if they want to assume responsibility for social change. This should be a personal decision for the athlete and not a burden. If an athlete feels strongly about a social justice cause they can use their large platform and a large number of followers to promote their cause. Athletes are revered in society and serve as role models for youth, therefore, their decision to take action on social justice movements involves time and effort and they must be committed. This is a decision that cannot be taken lightly. I look at the professional sacrifice that Colin Kaepernick made to stand up for Black Lives Matter and police brutality. This action cost Colin dearly, this is a deeply personal decision.
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.)
| Male athlete activism captures the spotlight in the media. This is due to the media coverage which is based on the larger monetary value of men’s sporting events. Women’s athlete activism is all but invisible due to the lack of media attention.
To challenge how mainstream journalism privileges neoliberal feminist concerns requires us to tell stories differently. Tell a different story is a different way of knowing. Create an alternative method of sports media reporting from the way athlete activism is normally gendered as masculine. This calls for a disruption of the established sports media, and goes beyond to include other media and journalists. Women athlete activists can make celebrity and corporate feminism more visible. The challenge is to introduce a new way of knowing by incorporating feminism into sports media coverage thereby moving from the invisible to mainstream.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
| I am always in favour of supporting social justice movements, but I think that sports leagues should remain neutral. Having said that, I think sports leagues should support and respect the opinion of individual players and their choice to participate or not participate in a social justice cause. Again, they should retain a neutral position.
Sports leagues have a responsibility to be honest and ethnical in their overall conduct when interacting with the general community. This social responsibility does not extend to specific movement such as BLM. Sports leagues are focused on making money for their owner(s) and winning at their sport. I do not think that combining the motive of sports leagues and the motives of BLM is a win.
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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 “Race” was written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, directed by Stephen Hopkins.
Race is a 2016 sports film that depicts the representation of race through the life of Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was born in the United States in 1913. He won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin Germany. Jesse Owens was the most successful athlete at the 1936 games where he gained international recognition. The time and context of the 1930’s is important because Jesse Owen’s success was a direct challenge to the level of racism in the United States at that time and Nazi Germany’s image of white purity and supremacy.
Jesse Owen first broke down racial barriers by attending Ohio State University where he encountered racism from white students and athletes. The strategies Jesse Owens used to speak out against racism were interesting. He did not use words to protest or he did not fight back, he remained humble and let his athletic achievements speak for him. The intersection of race and sport was important as it highlights the difficult struggles for a Black athlete in a racially charged time in history. Jesse’s coach who was a white man formed a bond and found mutual respect for Jesse, this friendship was certainly outside the norm of race relations in the United States.
Race and Black identity plays a crucial role in the representation of Jesse Owens. In historical context the backdrop is the 1930’s when racial segregation and discrimination were the accepted norm in society. The challenges that Jesse Owens faced as a Black athlete in a racist charged society were enormous.
Jesse Owens was a powerful role model for the Black community and he inspired several generations to pursue their goals in sport and other aspects of life. despite the racism, adversity and acts of discrimination they faced. Jesse Owens used the power of sport to break down racial barriers and he used sport to push for social change and promote equality.
