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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).
| Colourblindness is the word I will be defining. Colourblindness is a concept that is used when individuals say that they see every human as the same, removing their race from the picture. This concept may seem very fair and equal in hindsight, however can be extremely controversial and harmful. When we as a society remove the race of an individual, we are erasing the systemic harms that are embedded within society pertaining to race. If we want to make a change within the way our institutions operate and harm others, we need to complete the first step of acknowledging it. |
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 feel that society likes to categorize coloured athletes, more specifically black athletes, in a way that makes society thing coloured individuals can only be subjected to a singular sport to be good at. White athletes do not seem to be subjected to this because society may seem to think that white individuals are able to be good at multiple sports, and have a wide variety of an athletic background. Some of these stereotypes may be harmful to communities if inflicted upon them. One example I can think of is that all Jamaicans should be good runners, this stemming from the great Usain Bolt. Another one I have heard is Black athletes should be bad at winter like sports (hockey, skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, etc). These are harmful because they limit individuals potential for all that they can accomplish within their athletic career.
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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?
| First strategy:
One strategy used is a research strategy called critical discourse analysis (CDA). This strategy is used to to understand how race and social processes are interconnected within a society. Further, the strategy uncovers how systems in society are built on domination and exploitation amongst coloured individuals (Rajack, Joseph., 2020). This strategy is sort of the opposite of what I discussed in the concept of colourblindness, it acknowledges and discovers the issues occurring amongst coloured individuals within our society who struggles from the barriers inflicted upon them. Second strategy: A second strategy used is that of colorism. Colourism is used in a dominant cultural sense to distort a Black women’s reality, ir privileges light-skinned individuals over their dark-skinned counter parts (Rajack, Joseph., 2020). Rajack and Joseph offer a unique looking point to this strategy through the famous tennis athletes Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. It is seen through how the media compares and treats the two women very differently, Williams is treated more poorly compared to Osaka who is of mixed colour.
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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.
I believe athletes do have a significant responsibility to use their platform for social change. Athletes are endorsed for their skills within their sport by their fans and the media. We as a society endorse these people to build them a platform to display the image that they want to create for theirselves. I view many famous individuals using their platform to create the image that they want for themselves whether that is edgy, punk, rock, girly, nerdy, etc. So if individuals are able to use their platform to create these personas, why can’t they use them to speak out for social change? Athletes play in big crowds and are unique in the way that they are always going to be broadcasted on national television, therefore a shirt that has a meaning, a hat that has a saying, or simply a gesture performed will be remembered and talked about within the media. Think back to 2020 when the Black Lives Matter campaign was within the media, many athletes wore shirts, participated in charity events, and even knelt down during national anthems because they were tired of a country that did not respect all of their citizens. These actions were powerful, they were documented within the media, and they were most certainly remembered.
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.)
| Cooky and Antunovic first discuss the concept of changing the story and narrative as a way to challenge how mainstream sports journalism privileges neoliberal feminist concerns. By rewriting the story we disrupt the dominant narrative both within mainstream sport media and academic narratives (Cooky, Antunovic., 2020). We are called upon to expand audiences and outlets that we publish stories, not just specifically to women sports site, but any sports site in general! Additionally having journalists who do not just have one area of speciality to report, but expanding their skills and knowledge as well. Doing this opens up more narratives, and leaves this solo and narrow path that specific sports media gives. More recognition and representation will be present. |
C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
| I noticed one of my classmates response within the padlet, and it made me spark an interest to expand on it. The individual had stated that athletes are not just simply entertainers, which is something I one hundred percent agree with! It is no question that politics and social justice arise within the world of sports, we are various teams and countries competing against one another, and we all do not hold the same values as each other. Various basketball players, tennis players, football players, and many more athletes participate in the advocation of political movements all the time. I state simply I believe this is a duty because athletes can make one of the greatest changes and success of spreading a message than anyone else. Athletes are constantly broadcasted and obtain a much wider viewership than any other form of “celebrity”. There are reasons athletes can brand deals to display within their career, this is because they are always going to be broadcasted in whatever they are sponsoring. It is a different playing field when it comes to athletes, and I fully believe that their advocation and support will spread and hold a powerful and meaningful message that gets the media talking for months.
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Section Three: Taking a shot
Module Assignment (submit as part of notebook and separately through Blackboard mini assignment #1 portal)
For this mini assignment I chose to complete it on the powerful sports historical movie Invictus. This movie follows a true plot of Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) who had just been elected the president of South Africa, as he finds an opportunity to bring together his dividing nation. This divide is patched through a championship of rugby through his team the springboks. There was one character, Chester Williams, who was presented as the only black player on the rugby team within the movie. His character was a pure representation of a racialized black athlete, as he faced challenges from the wider society and even within his own team. Chester had this sense of proving himself as a black man in a predominately “white man’s sport”, not only to the world but his teammates who were untrusting of him at the time. The athletes within the movie sort of use their whole team to speak out and display to the media that they were trying to send a message. By having a black player within their team, he himself is solely representing a change within the sports world. The team and unity they all create with the guidance of Nelson Mandela shows to viewers how powerful sports can be within a social justice aspect. The team understands how the media talks poorly on them and sees them, and they use this to their advantage when displaying themselves on the playing field and during press interviews. It seems a negative reaction to this team trying to unify and change the racism and divide that was embedded within South Africa at the time. I understand that this movie represents many sectors of individuality, not just focusing on race, which once again is accurately depicted by the character Chester Williams. This movie as well due to a lack of representation of women speaks on the time period this was set in, a time where women were limited in the involvement of sports and even politics. Lastly I want to focus on the category of class, which is accurately depicted between the white and coloured Afrikaner players within the team, most specifically Chester Williams who grew up in a more impoverished area compared to the captain of the team Francois Pienaar who grew up in a very rich and well earned family. I want to end this assignment off of a note that highlights how different representations view the way that we see sports. The white Afrikaner players on the springbok team view the sport of rugby as an identity, a way to prove their strength and passion for their country. On the opposing side a coloured Afrikaner player on the springbok team views the sport as an exclusion and racialized ideas towards their identity. The whole point for Mandela was to change these views through uniting both groups and identities, and changing these negative views for good ones.
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