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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 – In general, the term colourblindness is exactly what it sounds like, the inability to see colour. When people try to claim they are colourblind or say they don’t see colour they are referring to the fact they believe everyone is the exact same and the colour of their skin does not matter. It is used as a term to create equality by not looking at peoples differences however as good as that seems in theory, it is creating alot of negative and not addressing deeper rooted issued. People of different cultures don’t deserve to be ignored, their culture should be demonstrated and celebrated. Colourblindness is a lack of teaching and educating of people on other cultures and truly does not address the issues of racism it is trying to.
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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 the reason we extrapolate the athleticism of one black athlete to all Black people but not do the same for white athletes due to racial stereotypes that have been developed overtime. These can come from cultural or geographical differences which can be completely false. Examples of this would be people thinking black athletes from third world countries are better runners because they don’t have cars. Or even as simple as a guy like LeBron James who’s so good having some of his work associated with being an example of how all black people are just bigger, stronger, and more dominant. Where on the other hand a white athlete like Tom Brady’s greatness is not known for his natural athletics, it’s his work ethic and strategy that puts him over the top.
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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?
| Some key strategies that rajack and joseph identify in their article as means of pushing back against and resisting misogynoir are self definition and narrative control. This can be seen by the way Noaomi Osaka conducts personal statements, social media, and public appearances. Other ways can be challenging media narratives, political activism, and community support.
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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 do not think athletes have the responsibility to use their platform for social change. Being an athlete is a job to these people just like going to the office is for others. Theres no expectation for a 9-5 office worker to use their platform for social change so why should an athlete have to deal with that extra pressure just because we put them up on a pedestal. I do believe athletes should use their platform for only positive if they decide to use platforms because they know the amount of eyes on them and shouldn’t be a negative impact on the world. But if there are topics that make them uncomfortable or they don’t care about, I don’t think they should be given the expectation to create social change.
B) Athlete Activism & Feminism
Exercise 4: Complete the activities
Popular Feminism is associated with celebrity culture, corporations, and media friendly
Feminisms that gain visibility are often those that do not protest 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: individualism, entrepeneurship, and high visibility
Intersectional feminism is often less visible than other kinds of feminism. It identifies embedded relations of power. It argues that inclusion alone does not sufficiently address gender based inequality. Intersectional feminism attempts to address (structural forms of inequality in the recognition that domination and subordination operate simultaneously across multiple social locations such as 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.)
| In the article the authors call for or a more inclusiveness and intersectional feminism in sports media. They also want to create more of a voice for women athletes of colour. Lastly they want sports journalists to critically reflect on their roles.
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C) Corporate social justice
Exercise 6: Padlet Poll
| I do believe sports leagues bear a responsibility when it comes to supporting social justice movements like BLM. The reason for this is that although I don’t think we should mix politics and sports, things like Canadians booing the national anthem at the 4 nations hockey tournament cause of trumps tariffs, or athletes being asked interview questions about the political state of the world. Social justice matters are a little bit different. The reason social justice movements occur is because we are trying to create change that makes the world better and professional sports have a huge platform with their massive audience so if they are able to spread awareness about such issues, then they can really help be a change in the world. If don’t think individuals players should have to do anything on their own, if they do I believe their respective leagues should back them up. But the leagues as a whole need to set a standard of respect and willingness to use their platform to benefit the world.
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Section Three: Taking a shot
The racialized athlete I am choosing is Colin Kaepernick from the television series “Colin in Black and White”. In this series Kaepernick is represented as a racialized athlete activist. The show shows some of the different barriers that black athletes face as well as strategies they use to challenge injustice. The show critiques how sport institutions like the NFL attempt to silence athlete activism, much like we read in Ramsey Khabbaz article “Sports and Social Justice. In that article, they talk about how Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL due to reasons such as the weak players bargaining agreement, the lack of diversity in NFL fans, and owners being worried about the financial impact. This is why Kaepernick was vilified and it was portrayed in the show that instead of the league officials embracing his cause and joining in on the activism, they simply told him to “Stick to sports” and tried to silence the whole thing. Kaepernick being told to stick to sports is eerily similar to the “Shut up and dribble” phrase we read about in Yair Galily’s article. Both of these are just ways mainstream media tried to limit the voices of black athletes when they were trying to create a positive social change through activism. One strategy that Kaepernick uses for his cause is leveraging his visibility as a star athlete to draw attention to certain issues. In the Galily’s article we see a quote from Lebron James saying “I have this platform and I have a way to inspire… I will lend my voice, I will lend my passion and my money, I will lend my resources to my youth and my inner city and outside of my inner city to let these kids know that there is hope, there’s greater walks of life, and not one individual, no matter if it’s the president of the united states or if it’s someone in your household, can stop your dreams from becoming reality.” That is him talking about using his stardom to create positive change, which is a concept we discussed in our padlets. That is what Colin Kaepenick did when he took a knee during the national anthem of an NFL game. He knew millions of people would see that which would create a stir and have people talking about him and the issues he was addressing which would help spread awareness and start creating change.
