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).
| In thinking about racial justice in how it has been described in lecture as the actions and efforts that are taken to create a safer environment/world for people of colour. Rather than simply ignoring past oppression that efforts of racial justice recognize the oppressive systems that are worked into our structures and ways of operating so rather than simply providing all with the same resources and expecting the same outcome, racial justice recognizes that there are groups who been systematically set up to fail therefore we must provide appropriate resources that are actually helpful to that specific racialized group. |
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 a large reason for the extrapolating the athleticism of certain black athletes onto all black people has to with the “othering” of black people, seeing them as all being the same with the same capabilities, therefore is one black person has great athletic “they all must”. I think this ascribing athleticism onto all black people also creates a justification for white people to blame it on the fact that black people are just naturally blessed with athleticism, disregarding all the hours of work and practice that were put to attain that win.
|
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 speak to the experiences of tennis player Naomi Osaka noting the push from the media to categorize her into a singular race, essentially telling her to pick a “home”. She has resisted this narrative that is been pushed onto her by claiming both her Japanese and Haitian identities. Even when post match interviewers have attempted to pin her into a singular racial identity she corrects them saying things like “Of course I’m very honored to be playing for Japan. But my dad’s side is Haitian, so represent. But um, yeah. I forget the rest of your question”. She said this in response to an interviewer criticizing her for not representing her Haitian side enough when in fact she was playing for team Japan. On the interviewers side this seems like it was meant to be moment of “aha! i got you! you are choosing to represent as only Japanese an not Haitian”. I think Naomi’s experiences with the media showcase a very experience of what it means to be bi-racial and the constant acts of resistance bi-racial people must enact every day to protest this ideology of having to “pick a side” to identify with.
|
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.
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 of this article speak the idea of “story telling” in sports media and using story telling as a tool of protest to challenge pre-conceived hegemonic masculine norms within the sports world. The goal is to reframe the stories of marginalized peoples in sport to be recognized as a significant role in sport. For example, we often associate white men in sport who speak up about issues pertaining to them, such as mental health awareness, to be participating in sports activism, however when marginalized people in sport speak up about their issues, they are not recognized as participating in sports activism but instead of being in a more niche activism that is presented as being separate from sports activism. For example, the women who speak up about unfair wage differences in athleticism are recognized as addressing a “feminist issue” rather than a “sports issue” as if they are separate matters with no overlap.
|
C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
Read this story by Ramsey Khabbaz contrasting the NFL stance on athlete activism with that of the NBA, especially in regards to BLM. Do sports leagues hold when it comes to BLM? Please respond to the padlet poll and record a brief rationale for your answer there in the space below. Remember to respond collegially to a classmate’s point (you may need to circle back at a later time if you are one of the first to post).
| I do believe that sports leagues should bear the responsibility of speaking up and supporting players in times of social movements and upheaval, especially in cases like the BLM movement. Sports leagues like the NFL understand who their players are and who predominately makes up their league. While black people in the United States only make up 14% of the population, over 53% of the NFL is made up of Black football players. When over half of your league is made up of a marginalized community, I would hope a league as affluent and funded such as the NFL would take some time to educate themselves on the issues that effect the players that dominate their league rather than choosing to ignore these social issues. These players are human, and as we have already discussed in this course, athletes have the right to speak up on social justice matters, especially when it is an issue pertaining to their community. I would then argue that as a business, the NFL has an obligation to educate and make themselves aware of the lives and obstacles impacting their employees. It is unjust to see a league turn a blind eye to the constant brutality and obstacles faced by the majority that make up their league and then when a player decides to say something about this brutality, they are blackballed and shunned from the league for stepping and saying something they [the league] have chosen not to educate themselves on. |
Section Three: Taking a shot
Module Assignment (submit as part of notebook and separately through Blackboard mini assignment #1 portal)
