Media Representations of Multiracial Athletes

Abstract

There is a substantial body of research examining racialized narratives about Black and White athletes. However, there is an absence of literature that has specifically explored multiracial identities in the sport context. The purpose of the current study was to examine narratives constructed in the media when discussing the race(s) of multiracial athletes. Investigators conducted a qualitative media analysis using 68 online and print news articles that clearly identified athletes as multiracial. Findings indicated that sports journalists are susceptible to perpetuating certain racialized sport stereotypes when covering multiracial athletes. Media members should make an effort to be aware of an athlete's racial identity and be mindful of not relying on racial stereotypes when writing about multiracial athletes.

Exploring Discourses About Race/Ethnicity in a Spanish TV Football Program

“…Contrary to our expectations based on previous literature (Hylton, 2009;Johnson & Romney, 2018) our results did not reveal any specific pattern regarding the representation of Black or Black African players in terms of their physicality. Hence, once again, the results of our content analysis challenged hegemonic discourses on race/ ethnicity that had been documented earlier in other countries, most notably England and the US (Bradbury et al, 2019;Deeb & Love, 2018). However, our study is not unique in this, as a few other studies also failed to find evidence for the Black physicality discourse (Angelini & Billings, 2010;Lewis et al, 2019;Sabo et al, 1996).…”

Print Media Narratives of Bullying and Harassment at the Football Association: A Case Study of Eniola Aluko

“…This works in a way that the legitimacy of Aluko's complaint is questioned. By questioning racism and the complaint made by Aluko; this seeks to deny racism, or if it did occur, suggest that racism is a historical or individual problem (Deeb & Love, 2018). Thus, what constitutes racist comments and how we understand racism and racist behaviors may mask White privilege and issues of power (Carrington, 2011;Harrison, 2013;King, 2007).…”

“…This includes a focus on her appearance and athleticism, which seek to reinscribe Whiteness as the normative identity in women's tennis (Schultz, 2005). In other research exploring intersections of power in media reports it was noted that women and ethnic minority athletes are often absent (Deeb & Love, 2018) and when they are discussed they could be framed as troublesome by the print media (Kilvington & Price, 2017). These observations highlight how the Whiteness of sport spaces continue to highlight the role of White privilege in sports (Bruening, 2005;Long & Hylton, 2002).…”

“…In this article, we focus on print media representation (Millington & Wilson, 2016). Media analysis is an established method in the sociology of sport, and in this article, we adopt similar methods to other studies on print media representation (Biscomb & Griggs, 2013;Bowes & Kitching, 2019;Carey & Mason, 2016;Deeb & Love, 2018) to provide an analysis of print media representations of Aluko, Sampson, and The FA around the time of the inquiry. Despite the growth of online media and platforms, print media remains a salient source of news.…”

Low Hanging Fruit: How Sports Talk Radio Hosts Discuss Racism

“…The comment about Black athleticism underscores the Brawn versus Brain trope, which posits Black physicality against White intelligence (Deeb & Love, 2018) and allows the caller to refer to race without directly stating it. Framing the Black athlete as one who can rest on their laurels because of athleticism sets up the narrative for this very athlete to be predisposed to laziness (Modiano, 2017).…”