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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).
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Racial essentialism is the belief that racial groups or all people of the same race hold the same biological and genetic factors. This includes physical characteristics, personality or ‘natural talents’ shared by individuals in the same racial group. This belief can be extremely harmful to those individuals because we are making assumptions about them based off of stereotypes related to their race. Especially in sport, we see the success of black athletes being attributed to physical ‘advantages’ as a result of racial essentialism. Rather, we should be appreciating the time, effort and hard work that these athletes have placed into their sport.
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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.
| I think Joel’s question provokes some great thinking and consideration for the deep rooted racism in sports. As mentioned by Joel, Michael Phelps success was not attributed to his genetics. However, when I think about the success of some famous black athletes a lot of what I have heard people talk about or seen in the media has something to do with genetic factors, rather than coaching/hard work. To answer Bervell’s question, I think unfortunately there is some deep rooted systemic racism in our society that becomes especially evident when black people succeed. As sad as it may sound, it appears as though society struggles seeing black athletes excel and instead of discussing their journey as an athlete, society and the media reverts back to explaining their success through stereotypes and racial essentialism. I cannot speak from direct experience as I hold a lot of privilege due to my race. I have never had someone belittle my success as an athlete and try to explain it to be due to some sort of biological advantage. I can only imagine how frustrating this experience would be for someone who puts in hours of work and dedication to their sport. |
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 article highlights the story of tennis player Naomi Osaka, who was forced into the media spotlight when she won a tennis match against the famous Serena Williams. As the article describes, Naomi was not in the spotlight for her talent as an athlete. Rather, she gained a ton of attention because Serena was favoured to win and when she did not, people started to wonder who her competitor was. Naomi began to receive some misrepresentation online due to the media erasing important parts of her ethnic identity. This leads to the first strategy for resistance that Rajack and Joseph highlight in their article. Self representation in the media is essential for athletes to reclaim their identity and write their own narrative of who they are. In Osaka’s case, she took to twitter to respond to some comments that had been made about her skin colour. The use of social media allows athletes to fight back against misogynoir by first, allowing them a platform/voice to share their story and also giving them a space to shut down/respond to hurtful comments people make. Another strategy for resistance is athletes embracing their intersectional identities. In this case, Osaka embraces each and every aspect of her nationality and culture which resist the misrepresentation that she only possesses one singular identity. As the article mentions, Osaka has ties to America, Haiti and Japan, but the media is often asking her to depict one singular “home”. If Osaka can continue to embrace her intersectional identities this will act as a clear resistance against the media’s misogynoir by disrupting the stereotypical picture the media is trying to paint. One example of her embracing her identity is by publically showcasing her pride for who she is by going to her favourite Haitian restaurant, engaging with fans who hold up Haitian flags and even carefully crafting instagram posts to showcase her love for her culture. Overall, social media has the power for athletes to re-write their narrative in a way that accurately depicts their success. It is essential for athletes to utilize social media to push back against misogynoir in sports because sadly, it is one of the few effective ways to give misrepresented athletes a chance to share their voice.
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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.
In my opinion, athletes should have the choice of what they want to use their platform for. Athletes put in a ton of work all throughout their lives to get to the level they are at. One thing that no one prepares you for as an athlete growing up is what to do once you are successful and potentially have a large following on social media. If I were to put myself in this position for example, it would be a ton of pressure having people hang on every word I say online when in reality, I did not sign up for that. I think to say that it is an athletes responsibility to use their platform for social change is unrealistic. While yes, it is influential when athletes do, I do not think it should be a requirement that comes with having a following. Athletes have other things to worry about such as training, competition, dieting, housing, family and friends that if social media is not for them, they should not be responsible for that as well. At the end of the day, their job is to perform as an athlete, not to be a social activist. However, with that being said I do believe that with a large following comes large responsibility. So while I do not think they must use their platform for social change, I do think their platform needs to be used responsibly. This means being aware that whatever they post will be in the public eye so be smart and do not post anything you may regret.
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.)
| The authors call for sports media to tell stories differently. Furthermore, telling stories in a way that integrates the techniques in which dominant stories get told. What this means, is that we must challenge sports medias ideas about what is considered appropriate ‘sports content’. This includes pushing for more coverage about the diverse experiences and challenges of being a female athlete such as economic inequality, racial injustice and systemic barriers. Confronting the boundaries of what people believe is sports content allows for new learning in the sports community, teaching people about the reality of women’s sports.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
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I am a believer that those organizations who are privileged with the funding and fanbase have a responsibility to bring attention to social justice movements. In the article, they mention how leagues such as the NBA have more racially diverse fans, and that a pro-BLM stance will not hurt or threaten their revenue or ratings as much as it might effect the NFL. In my opinion, sports leagues as big as the NFL, while they may see a negative impact on revenue if they support and pro-BLM stance, still have responsibility to do so. The reason for this being they have a huge following that has the power to bring attention to this issue and potentially help combat systemic racism within the sports community. If only one sports league shows outright support for BLM by allowing peaceful protests, giving it media attention and creating BLM uniforms/equipment, not as much attention will be brought to the attention compared to if every sports league did this. I believe sports are much bigger than just revenue and ratings. The NFL should want to show support for not only a large majority of their athletes, but fans and supportive community members as well. The lack of attention being brought to BLM in the NFL is a clear example of the systemic racism occuring in sport. They are more concerned with money and ratings than they are with a real life social justice movement that has the power to affect many people. To conclude, the NFL is a large organization with a lot of funding and a lot of fans. In my opinion, showing outright support for social justice issues is simply a part of their duty as a large organization in sports, where racism is an evident issue.
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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 film, King Richard tells the true story of Richard Williams, the father of famous tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. This movie follows the Williams family story, highlighting the hard work of Richard Williams in training his daughters to be tennis players. While Richard himself is not an athlete, he plays a large part in promoting activism and displaying how it feels to be racialized in sports. To start, one significant moment in the movie that stood out to me is when Richard mentions that he had made a 78-page plan for his daughters’ careers before they were even born. While watching, I saw this as an extremely strategic way for the film to capture how racial minorities must put in significantly more work to keep up with those who hold more privilege. The 78-page plan demonstrates how much thought, time and effort Richard Williams put in to ensure that his daughters had a chance to be successful. The plan included coaching strategies, building a brand, and media exposure while also highlighting how Richard would help his daughters navigate their way through economic barriers and systemic racism in the sport of tennis. In addition, this captures the presence of misogynoir in Serena and Venus’ lives. As discussed by Razack and Joseph (2021), misogynoir describes the unique violence and discrimination against black women. This term is relevant here, as Richard is aware of how difficult his daughters’ lives may be due to their identity, so he builds the 78-page plan as a preventative strategy to combat this. Tennis is a predominantly white, elitist sport that is extremely costly. In the film, Richard trains his daughters on free, public courts throughout Compton. One scene is particularly powerful in showing how some athletes display activism. Richard is confronted by a group of men who begin questioning why Richard is even bothering to train his daughters in a sport that is dominated by white athletes. Richard stands his ground, defending his belief that his daughters are hardworking, talented girls who have the potential to break the barriers of tennis as a whole. This is an example of one way people in sports can speak out and bring awareness to social justice issues. By standing his ground with confidence and showcasing resilience and perseverance through ignoring these hateful comments, Richard demonstrates a quiet strategy that can be used by other athletes to bring attention to social justice issues. In the entirety of the film, Richard leads his daughters toward their dreams of becoming successful. This story reminds me of the reading we looked at earlier in this module about Naomi Osaka. Naomi, a famous tennis star and her sister Mari were allowed to represent Japan nationally, a decision made by their father to give them a chance for economic opportunity. In both cases, Richard and Naomi’s father played a role in getting their daughters to where they are today, highlighting just how important it is to have a supportive family. Overall, this film represents a true story of how racialized athletes combat systemic racism in sports. Using your voice for activism can be difficult, but this film captures a quiet strategy of perseverance, hard work and family unity that is an effective way for athletes to bring attention to these important issues.
