Free Essay Sample: Effects of Racism in the Sport Industry

Racism is a form of discrimination. In the sport, it has been on the rise and has triggered concerns among researchers and activists. Some researchers consider that racism affects the sharing of roles in the sports industry, and some say decision-making on leadership positions also depends on race. In my discussion, I will discuss how racism has affected the sports industry, focusing on football and athletics, especially on roles and leadership perceptions. I will address this by considering ideas given by Lawrence and Stefan, Killington, et al., and Reagan et al. The points that I will discuss will be from the author's views on the effects of racism in the sports industry.

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The first effect addressed is role-playing and racism. According to Lawrence and Stefan, it is clear that racism has affected the sharing of functions (140). For instance, according to the authors, athletes are given different playing positions depending on racial attributes such as power and speed instead of focusing on actual performance. Blacks are more often perceived to be more muscular than their origin, and therefore they are given roles associated with physical appearance. On the other hand, whites are perceived to be more powerful and thus receive leadership roles. The stereotype suggests black people possess a natural advantage when running and jumping compared to whites. Therefore, it has seriously affected the structural and strategic dimensions of sports. According to the authors, American football has supported a stacking pattern whereby whites occupy quarterbacks, and blacks occupy wide receivers. Some coaches and teachers also select and encourage players depending on their racial background to a player in certain positions. The authors suggest that players' roles and positioning should rely on their actual performance and not their racial backgrounds.

On the other hand, Killington et al. gave their views that racism has affected college sports and leadership (24). In his study, he showed a presence of discrimination when it comes to leadership roles and positions. The racism led to coaches losing a sense of belonging and consequent sight of high turnover. In college athletes, black students are aware of negative racial stereotypes and discrimination, and they fear that enrolling in leadership positions may affect their absorption into such roles. When it came to hiring, it depended on the athletic directors' racial background. When athletic directors were black, their assistant coaches would also be black, and when directors were white, the selected assistant coaches were white. It shows that racism is still a problem when it comes to leadership. The author noted that in 2012 by the conclusion of the 2013 season, termination of coaches started with black coaches sooner before the termination of their white colleagues. In such a situation, favoritism and privilege were clear. When nominated athletic directors were white, whites were overrepresented as head coaches even when their performance was low compared to the black coaches. Regan et al. support this by saying that leaders' final decision-making is affected by race. Deciding to terminate blacks sooner than whites shows blacks' under-representation in the decision-making process (32). The author suggested that to end this effect of racism in college sports, there is a need to change the percentage of white and black athletic directors and coaches to a neutral point.

In comparison to Kilvington et al., Reagan et al. said there is an underrepresentation of minorities in football clubs (15). According to the authors, when it came to leadership in the sports industry, some institutions practiced racism. The authors say that there is little representation of minorities in leadership, hence affecting the decision-making process. The lack of leaders to represent minority groups became a challenge; in that, some decisions made did not favor the minority. The authors suggested fighting racism affecting minorities; institutions should ensure minorities and majorities in sports occupy leadership positions. Minors should have an opportunity to share their opinions in the decision-making process.

Both authors agree that, indeed, racism has affected the sports industry. They agree that leadership positions and role positioning have depended on race. Reagan et al. pointed out that the decision-making process is affected by racism. He noted that some institutions' leaders make decisions that favor the majority, and the minority fails to have a good representation.

Conclusion

To summarize this discussion, although the authors’ views on the effects of racism on the sports industry may slightly vary, the majority agree that racism has led to the discrimination of different persons in the sports industry. This discrimination has led to some races feeling incompetent and unfit for other sports and leadership positions. Decision-making has also been affected by racism (Reagan et al. 32). The author has suggested various changes that need to be done to reduce or end discrimination in the sports industry. Based on the authors' arguments in this discussion, it is necessary to fight racism to mitigate its adverse effects.

Work Cited

Kilvington, Daniel, and John Price, eds. Sport and Discrimination. Taylor & Francis, 2017. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aUQlDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=sports+and+discrimination+on+college+sports&ots=XIKZ4prb8y&sig=xhWLw2iB3OwfXiLYP7aol_w4czI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=sports%20and%20discrimination%20on%20college%20sports&f=false

Lawrence, Stefan. "A critical race theory analysis of the English Premier League: Confronting the declining significance of ‘race' and racism myth." The English Premier League. Routledge, 2017. 133-149. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jQEoDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA133&dq=underrepresentation+of+minorities+in+racism+and+sports&ots=z8LETuIBCE&sig=XhduvrftSlpEKcsWC0thHTE2qv4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Regan, Michael, and Joe Feagin. "College sports leadership: Systemic racial employment barriers." Sport and discrimination. Routledge, 2017. 27-43. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aUQlDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA15&dq=athlete+positioning+and+racism+in+sports&ots=XIKZ4qq54x&sig=Q8tAWWHhWqR-akJtt4GFANTwfWY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=athlete%20positioning%20and%20racism%20in%20sports&f=false