3 Chapter Three: Race, Gender, & Social Justice
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).
| “racial essentialism” is the act of assigning fixed, innate biological or cultural traits to all members of a racial group, essentially erasing their individualism, and generalizing entire races. which when i was younger in primary school, we learned that stereotypes are harmful and not true, but i feel like there has been an increase in racial essentialism, and its almost normalized now, like in media (tv shows like family guy) and memes online, which i find concerning as i thought we had moved past that as a society when i was younger. this harmful belief implies that race determines personality, intelligence, or moral capacity, which in my opinion is one step away from pseudoscientific eugenics.
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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 honestly don’t know why we do that. this isn’t my personal beliefs, but digging down to the systemic racism we’re exposed to, it may be due to the fact that we think there needs to a genetic reason for black people to outperform white people, which is again linked to the harmful eugenics beliefs.
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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 identify many strategies for pushing back against misogynoir. one of these is promoting representation of complex identities, like for example Osaka’s identity as a “Black, Asian, mixed, Japanese, American, and/or Haitian” making it harder for racists/people to put a single reductive label on her, promoting the existence in mainstream narratives of intersectionality. another strategy they talk about is reframing the definitions of “blackness”, beyond colonial constructs, which aims to highlight the fluid multifaceted nature of race and self expression. this serves as resistance by undermining racial essentialism tropes. they also highlight comedic resistance that Osaka and other black athletes participate in on social media, using comedic posts as a way to satirize misogynist narratives, and build community in humor.
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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 responsibility to use their platform for social change. i think so because morally, if you are given a large platform for whatever reason, i think you should use it to try to do good, or just stand up for what you believe in. i also think for athletes, many of them are role models for children, and seeing their role model participate in social change and standing up for human rights, can help shape them as a person, and it could even be the kids first time seeing a narrative that goes against what their environment/parents have told them, and i think coming from a role model like an athlete could be influential. this gives athletes the opportunity to have marginalized peoples struggles or voices be heard by the masses. so although they don’t really have to, i think morally if you’re given a large platform you should feel responsible to use it for good, and to help bring light to issues in the dark that are looked over.
B) Athlete Activism & Feminism
Exercise 4: Complete the activities
Popular Feminism is associated with the following:
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Celebrity Culture
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Media friendly
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Corporations
Feminisms that gain visibility are often those that do not Challenge structural arrangements
Feminist expressions that critique patriarchal structures and systems of racism and violence are more Obscure
Neoliberal Feminism as defined by the article is associated with the following characteristics and priorities:
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Entrepreneurship
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Individualism
- High visibility
than other kinds of feminism. It identifies
. It argues that inclusion alone does not
. Intersectional feminism attempts to address (structural forms of inequality
simultaneously
gender, race, social class, sexuality*.
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 journalists to tell stories differently by focusing on narratives of solidarity and collectivism, and adopting intersectional feminist lenses to actually expose structural power imbalances instead of superficial celebratory success stories. they also call for sports media to include digital and social media places where marginalized activism can gain visibility.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
| in favor:
i believe sports leagues do have responsibility to support social justice movements like BLM. i think this because they are such large platforms, so i think they should have to use them to benefit society, and bring awareness to these movements. they have so much presence in the media and online that they can really bring a lot of awareness to these issues. i also think they have a responsibility because these leagues make profit off of these marginalized people, so i think they have a duty to serve to protect and vouch for them. also when the movement is something as simple as human rights (like BLM) i think a neutral stance/silence isn’t really neutral, its on the side of the oppressor by being silent about human rights violations. in response to this classmates padlet “Although I do agree with your statement, that supporting social justice movements in sports leagues can be a very beneficial thing. I just dont think it should be athletes responsibilities to promote social justice movements, I think they should be able to decide weather or not they want to support. Everyone has different religious and different backgrounds where they might not feel safe or might agree in supporting certain movements. Even if society thinks it is wrong, everyone has their own opinions and should not be forced to support something they do not want to.” i respect your view and opinion, however i feel that if your religion or upbringing is interfering with you supporting social justice movements (that are mostly always on the right side of history), you should think for yourself on WHY your religion/belief system would be set up in a way to not support social justice movements, which at it’s core are human rights movements, and how this serves you.
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Section Three: Taking a shot
Module Assignment (submit as part of notebook and separately through Blackboard mini assignment #1 portal)
Mini assignment I
The show I have chosen is Netflix’s “Colin in Black & White”, where the show begins showing the casual racism Colin would face everyday in the locker room, which shows how this bigotry shaped his activism. Colin employs a symbolic protest of kneeling during the anthem, mirroring the silent power of the 1968 Black Power salute in sport, and challenging viewers notions of patriotism by bringing attention to police violence against black communities. He also amplifies his message on social media to bring awareness to racial injustice, a strategy promoted by Rajack and Joseph to bypass traditional media gatekeepers. He also eventually founded the “Know Your Rights Camp” to educate youth on systemic inequalities, showing his multifaceted approach to bring awareness and educate. This approach resonates with Galily’s argument that athlete activism on Twitter creates “an iterative process” where dissenting voices face backlash but achieve wider reach. The commentary on athletes using their voice in the show is positive, as it critiques the NFL owners calling Colins protests divisive, exposing how corporations/capitalism prioritizes profits over social justice. The show also shows Colin’s protests as an act of moral leadership, challenging the accepted sports league neutrality. Colin’s identity is shown with tension between belonging and exclusion, due to him being biracial and adopted by white parents, which emphasizes how race informs his sense of injustice and solidarity. The show highlights football as a venue for political discourse and social justice, which reshapes our view of sports as an entertainment, and instead a cultural arena where athletesvoices have the power to redefine rules and challenge national myths/views.
