Race and resistance: A typology of African American sport activism

Abstract

Historically, sport has been viewed as an apolitical space where organizers, managers, coaches, spectators, and sponsors expected athletes to focus solely on their performance and adhere to functionalist origins of the activity, including physical fitness benefits, character building, teamwork, and social entertainment. Despite these various positive attributes, the institution of sport does not operate in isolation from broader society. Instead, sport serves as a site where societal inequalities such as racism, sexism, economic stratification, and other forms of oppression are reproduced, exacerbated, and/or ignored. Throughout history, several African American athletes, sport scholar activists, sport institutions, and entrepreneurs have critically reflected upon this arrangement and courageously engaged in actions to promote social justice within and beyond sporting spaces. Recent actions by African American athletes across participation levels have raised questions about the term activism and how it is applied to certain actions. In an effort to foster a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, the purpose of this article is to present a typology that delineates different forms of African American sport activism. The proposed typology outlines five categories: (1) symbolic activism; (2) scholarly activism; (3) grassroots activism; (4) sport-based activism; and (5) economic activism. Implications for future engagement and research are discussed.

Shut Up and Play: Black Athletes, Protest Politics, and Black Political Action

“…Black sport stars engaged in activism in the athletic arena have long recognized sports as a useful political tool to gain prestige and protest (Strenk 1979). Athletic protests are appealing to black athlete activists because sports are organizational and group based, and black athletes are often well represented among successful athletic competitors (Hartmann 2003), providing them with the resources to engage in various forms of sports activism (Cooper, Macaulay, and Rodriguez 2017; Meyer 1995). Moreover, the role of black sport star activism is decidedly different from that of other celebrities, because the athletes’ goal is seldom to shift the movement of which they are a part toward “consensus-style politics,” as Meyer (1995, 191) contends other celebrities do.…”

“…During a preseason game in August 2016 in which Kaepernick was starting, he chose to kneel on the sideline during the national anthem in protest, along with his teammate Eric Reid, which sparked a national debate (Branch 2017). Even though other black sport stars were similarly engaged in grassroots activism in response to police brutality (Cooper, Macaulay, and Rodriguez 2017; Gill 2016), the backlash was immediate, and the ire focused almost entirely on Kaepernick. 5…”

The Olympic “Revolt” of 1968 and its Lessons for Contemporary African American Athletic Activism

“…4 The second part of the paper is informed by new and emerging scholarly treatments of this new, contemporary wave of athletic activism as well as my own reading of media coverage and online archival sources. 5 I have also conducted interviews with a handful of athletes, administrators, and reporters involved with African American athletes and their protests over the past few years. The final section on the unique cultural status of sport as a site for protest and social change is informed by my own research and writing on the racial space of modern Western sport as "serious play," and norms separating sport and politics.…”

Understanding Emerging Adults’ National Attachments and Their Reactions to Athlete Activism

“…Hughson and Free (2006) note sport is a “defetishized commodity with deep communal significance and attachments” (p. 72). It is a microcosm of the larger society and, as such, is a place where “inequalities such as racism, sexism, economic stratification and other forms of oppression are reproduced, exacerbated and/or ignored” (Cooper, Macaulay, & Rodriguez, 2017; 151). Conversely, sport can be a vehicle for “progressive social change” (Kaufman, 2008).…”