A Visual Exploration of Recent Protests and Research Findings

Racism in sports: what does recent research say?

Racism in sports is a topic that has been written about much in the mainstream media and Social Media. Racist events in the recent past have led to protests by sporting fans, celebrities, and sports personalities. Before we take a look at the recent research on sports in racism, it would be worthwhile to take a look at some of the photographs that document the recent events related to protests against racism in sports as these photographs also provide a visual evidence of the recent interest and protest against racism in sports. This visual evidence demonstrates how sports in racism is now leading to fans and others to demonstrate against it, including by ‘taking the knee’ to lodge their protest against racism.

Photo 2: Vanessa Ogbonna of Wexford Youths and Kellie Brennan of Athlone Town take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of the Women’s National League match (Lawless, 2020)

Photo 3: Members of the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz take the before the start of an NBA basketball game (Deccan Herald , 2020)

The pictures above show how the issue of racism against sports has taken centre stage, (literally when players take the knee in the stadium or court). But what does academic research tell us about racism in sports in the recent times? It is also important to refer to academic research in this context because this gives us researched and peer reviewed data on racism in sports.

One theme that may be noted in recent literature is that of racism in sports and exercise medicine (Zondi & Austin, 2021). The writers note that racism is ubiquitous in sports and also exists in the field of sports and exercise medicine. Importantly, the writers document that as two black professionals they have also experienced racism in sports medicine as daily lived experience even when they are in positions of leadership. One of the important points made in this academic literature is that Black clinicians and researchers are underrepresented in the field of sports medicine (Zondi & Austin, 2021).

Another theme in recent literature is that of racism in sports and Social Media (Farrington, Hall, Kilvington, Price, & Saeed, 2017). This is an important theme given how Social Media has now become ubiquitous and is now a source of opinion making as well as expression. It is also on Social Media where many of recent controversies related to racism in sports have taken place (Lawless, 2020). In their work, Farrington, Hall, Kilvington, Price, and Saeed (2017) have noted that Social Media has come as a bane as well as a boon to the sporting world because where Social Media allows the sport federations and professionals to interact with the fans, it also provides a platform where users can give vent to their racist feelings and opinions against specific sport stars and professionals. The writers give specific examples of racist abuse on Social Media against football, cricket and boxing professionals (Farrington, Hall, Kilvington, Price, & Saeed, 2017).

A very interesting angle about racism in sports is provided in an academic work that relates to racism within the players in the teams (Stahl, 2021). This work documents the interethnic conflict between players in amateur football in Germany; it is suggested that football clubs that have players from different migrant communities demonstrate incidents of interethnic conflict between members of teams that are from the different communities (Stahl, 2021). The work shows that racism in these teams lead to ethnic discrimination and interethnic conflict (Stahl, 2021). Furthermore, the work shows that migrant football clubs may also face discrimination by opposing teams and sports association officials because their club may have a specific character (Stahl, 2021).

Yet another interesting aspect about racism in sports is provided by Hextrum (2020) who writes about racism in college and university sports. Hextrum (2020) provides evidence of racism in college football and basketball especially in how some universities in America have also tried to gain some profit off the undercompensated labour of predominately Black men in Division I football and basketball. Furthermore, Hextrum (2020) provides some evidence that within universities there is also elevation and centring of white players and sportspersons at the expense of people of colour. Interestingly, these findings of the work are based on narrative research where 47 college athletes have spoken about racial segregation, racial innocence, and racial protection (Hextrum, 2020). Another study into racism in college sports in America also suggests that despite many newly recruited players being Black, the sports media is disproportionately dominated by White men due to which some reporters may express racial stereotypes in their reporting in the sports media which may lead to other forms of inequity (Love, Winemiller, Harrison, & Stamm, 2021).

The recent research articles and academic work that has been considered for this post throws light on some interesting aspects related to racism in sports. We can see that racism in sports is manifested in different ways. Thus, racism can be seen in how some fans may post racist content against specific players. Racism can also be seen in how players within the same teams may interact with their colleagues from different racial backgrounds. Another manifestation of racism can be in how teams having specific racial characteristics may face discrimination from other teams and even sporting federations. In the particular context of Social Media, racism has found a platform to express their opinions.

Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to A report on Management of Change in Adoption of New Business structure by Spotlight.

To conclude, recent research on racism in sports has highlighted at least one important point, which is that racism continues to be an important issue in sporting world. In the recent period, literature has continued to show how racism in sports can be seen in college and varsity sports as well as amateur and professional sports. What can be surmised is that racism in sports is a serious issue and needs to be addressed.

Bibliography

Deccan Herald . (2020, DEC 30). 2020: The year sports stars stood tall against racism Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/2020-the-year-sports-stars-stood-tall-against-racism-933208.html. Retrieved from

https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/2020-the-year-sports-stars-stood-tall-against-racism-933208.html

Farrington, N., Hall, L., Kilvington, D., Price, J., & Saeed, A. (2017). Sport, racism and social media. Routledge.

Hextrum, K. (2020). Segregation, innocence, and protection: The institutional conditions that maintain whiteness in college sports. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(4), 384.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/national-league/performative-actions-are-not-enough-to-tackle-racism-in-sport-1.4399188

Love, A., Winemiller, S., Harrison, G., & Stamm, J. (2021). I Don’t Know How You Get Past That”: Racism and Stereotyping in College Football Recruiting Media. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1-9.Love, A., Winemiller, S., Harrison, G., & Stamm, J. (2021). I Don’t Know How You Get Past That”: Racism and Stereotyping in College Football Recruiting Media. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1-9.

Lumumba, H. (2020 , July 1). If you stand up against racism in Australian sport you pay a heavy price. Retrieved from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jul/01/if-you-stand-up-against-racism-in-australian-sport-you-pay-a-heavy-price

Stahl, S. (2021). Racism and interethnic conflict in Amateur football: The case of migrant sports clubs in Germany. In Football and Discrimination (pp. 111-126 ). Routledge.

Zondi, P. C., & Austin, A. V. (2021). A question of colour: systemic racism in sports and exercise medicine. BMJ, 526-527.