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

Towler, Christopher; Crawford, Nyron N.; Bennett, Robert A.

doi:10.1017/s1537592719002597

Cited by 39 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Due to stereotyping of Black athletes, they are often reprimanded by the public for advocating for political causes (Kaufman 2008). Importantly, however, there is evidence to suggest that Colin Kaepernick's protests were able to mobilize Black Americans to participate in politics at higher levels (Towler, Crawford, and Bennett 2019). This suggests that how individuals view Black people in the world of sports is similar to the divide between Black people and White people in society at large.…”

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confidence: 99%

Race, Dehumanization, and the NFL National Anthem Protests

Utych

2020

J Exp Polit Sci

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Dehumanizing language, or language used to describe human beings as non-human entities, is increasingly prevalent in political life. This dehumanization also occurs frequently in the world of sports. Sports and politics intersected notably in 2016, when Colin Kaepernick of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers started protesting the national anthem to raise awareness about police violence against African-Americans. Kaepernick’s protests generated considerable vitriol towards him and other protesters, some of which was dehumanizing. In this study, I examine how dehumanizing language used against anthem protesters of different races influences political attitudes. Using experimental data, I find that, when a Black player protesting the national anthem is dehumanized, White citizens are considerably less supportive of the anthem protests and protesters. This effect does not persist when the dehumanized player is White.

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confidence: 99%

Race, Dehumanization, and the NFL National Anthem Protests

Utych

2020

J Exp Polit Sci

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“…On the one hand, race and racial views have been linked to the response to individual athletes such as Colin Kaepernick. Towler et al (2020) found Kaepernick's activism served as a mobilizing force for African Americans. Intravia and colleagues found responses to a politically charged Nike ad featuring Kaepernick varied by race (Intravia et al, 2019).…”

Section: The Public's View Of Sports and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Says Shut Up and Dribble? Race and the Response to Athletes’ Political Activism

Niven

2021

J Afr Am St

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In response to a political comment from NBA superstar LeBron James, a Fox News commentator suggested he "shut up and dribble." James and many others considered the comment racist. Defenders suggested the comment was driven by political ideology rather than race. Interestingly, both perspectives could find support in existing research, as some studies depict race as a central factor in responses to political athletes, while other studies dismiss the role of race and find that political ideology and nationalistic sentiments drive how people see activist athletes. Using responses to a large national survey asking whether respondents find athlete political activism "acceptable," here I find strong evidence that both ideology and race shape attitudes on the subject. The picture that emerges reveals that party and ideology matter, but even after controlling for them, the race and racial views of the respondent help shape their perspective on political athletes. Establishing the importance of race and racial views here helps illuminate why the intersection of sports and politics generates such fierce responses including unvarnished vitriol from some political figures.

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“…On the one hand, race and racial views have been linked to the response to individual athletes such as Colin Kaepernick. Towler, Crawford and Bennett (2020) found Kaepernick's activism served as a mobilizing force for African Americans. Intravia and colleagues found responses to a politically-charged Nike ad featuring Kaepernick varied by race (Intravia, Piquero, Piquero, and Byers 2019).…”

Section: The Public's View Of Sports and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Says Shut Up and Dribble? Race and the Response to Athletes' Political Activism

Niven

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In response to a political comment from NBA superstar LeBron James, a Fox News commentator suggested he "shut up and dribble." James and many others considered the comment racist. Defenders suggested it was driven by political ideology rather than race. Interestingly, both perspectives could find support in existing research, as some studies depict race as a central factor in responses to political athletes, while other studies dismiss the role of race and find that political ideology and nationalistic sentiments drive how people see activist athletes. Using responses to a large national survey asking whether respondents find athlete political activism "acceptable," here I find strong evidence that both ideology and race shape attitudes on the subject. The picture that emerges reveals that party and ideology matter, but even after controlling for them, the race and racial views of the respondent help shape their perspective on political athletes. Establishing the importance of race and racial views here helps illuminate why the intersection of sports and politics generates such fierce responses including unvarnished vitriol from some political figures.

show abstract

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

Cited by 39 publications

References 65 publications

Race, Dehumanization, and the NFL National Anthem Protests

Race, Dehumanization, and the NFL National Anthem Protests

Who Says Shut Up and Dribble? Race and the Response to Athletes’ Political Activism

Who Says Shut Up and Dribble? Race and the Response to Athletes' Political Activism

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