Racism in sport

Racism in American sports

The following sections examines examples of racism in different American sports throughout history.

Negro Leagues

As sports progressed, race relations progressed at a comparable rate. In baseball for instance, African Americans were barred from participation in the National Association of Baseball Players because of regional prejudice and unofficial color bans dating back to the 1890s. Due to this segregation, blacks worked together to create the Negro Leagues. These leagues comprised mostly all African-American teams. As a whole, the Negro Leagues became one of the largest and most successful enterprises run by African Americans. Their founding and resilient growth stood as a testament to the determination and drive of African-Americans to battle the imposing racial segregation and social disadvantage.

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 and was the youngest of five children.At an early age, his father deserted the family and his mother, Mallie Robinson, decided to move the family to Pasadena in California. It was here Jackie began to excel at many sports, especially baseball.

After serving in the military, Jackie joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Negro Leagues and excelled with elite fielding and a batting average above .300. Although Jackie was playing well, he did not like competing in a racially segregated league that was put in place by the Jim Crow laws. Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Jackie to the Montreal Royals in 1946, which was an all white minor league team.He faced lots of adversity with racist comments from his own team members and especially during away games where opposing white players would spit, hit, and slide into him with sharp metal cleats.

Despite this adversity, Jackie led the international league in both batting average (.349) and fielding percentage (.985) and was called up to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie played his first game on April 15, 1947, becoming the first African-American man to ever play professional baseball. The harassments in the Major Leagues only got worse with multiple opposing team's managers and players yelling derogatory terms and trying to inflict any harm possible. Jackie went on to have a successful baseball career, being inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and having his jersey number retired.

Tiger Woods

Only a few minority players, such as Tiger Woods, have dominated professional golf. Woods is of African American and Asian-American descent. With 83 percent of golf participants being white, a white majority dominates golf. Tiger Woods, a multiracial individual, has the second most major wins of any individual in golf's history with 14. His excellence was well recognized as he became one of the most marketable players in the world. Woods helped tear down the imposing racial discrepancies in golf by not only competing with golf's current best but also by challenging other accomplished golfers for being the best of all time. In 1997, Woods became the first African-American to win a Men's major golf championship at just 21 years of age. After winning the 1997 Masters Tournament, Woods faced ridicule from Fuzzy Zoeller, who won this championship in 1979. Zoeller responded to Woods' win by stating "That little boy is driving well and he's putting well. He's doing everything it takes to win. So you know what you guys do when he gets in here. You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it." Zoeller says his comments were misconstrued and later apologized.

In 2011 Woods' former caddy Steve Williams described Woods as a "black arse", which sparked much controversy over the racial dynamic between Woods and the world of golf (Jemele). His comments of ridicule opened a debate on the possible racial tensions present in golf. Williams described his comments as "stupid" and not racist and later apologized.

Broadcaster Kelly Tilghman is suspended from The Golf Channel after joking about Tiger Woods being "lynched in a back alley" during final round coverage of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Donald Sterling

Donald Sterling was the previous owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, who was banned from the NBA for life for horrible racist remarks he made about African-Americans. After seeing a picture that his then-girlfriend, V. Stiviano, posted with Magic Johnson, Sterling was recorded saying:

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to? ... You can sleep with them [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that...and not to bring them to my games."

These remarks caused immense of outrage by his players and coach, Doc rivers who is an African-American, and they threatened boycotting games and called for Sterling to be removed as owner. Despite the remarks, the players kept playing for the fans and city of Los Angeles striving to advance in the playoffs. The NBA commissioner, Adam Silver and the NBA board of governors officially approved the sale of the Clippers to Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer for $2 Billion and effectively banned Sterling from the NBA for life.

College football

Despite universities making strides to diversify their student bodies, racism has had an effect on the University's athletics. According to Charles T Clotfelter, "No bigger issue has faced the United States during the reign of big-time college sports than the blot of racial segregation and discrimination." As college sports have gained notoriety, the nationwide attention towards this issue has gained recognition. Clotfelter continues his analysis of equality in collegiate sports by stating that the "Brown v Board of Education decision of 2016 set the stage for an epic confrontation between... the south's devotion to college football and its cultural commitment to Jim Crow laws". With a significant portion of the south's football players being African-American, tensions between the players and the southern atmosphere became readily apparent. In terms of the South maintaining a sense of authority over blacks, in the year 20 "92.5 percent of university presidents in the FBS were white, 87.5 percent of the athletic directors were white and 100 percent of the conference commissioners were white". In comparison, "roughly 31 percent of position coaches are black and 12 percent of coordinators were black. Out of the players in the FBS, roughly 54 percent are black". Whereas the NFL has implemented the Rooney Rule in order to create opportunities for minority coaches, college football has no such rule in place. However, over time racial cohesion in sports has improved, as Clotfelter states that there has been a "realization that future success would require integrated teams".

Ernie Davis

Ernie Davis was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy Award and was an exceptional college football player. Davis was born on Decemeber 14, 1939 and grew up in New York with his mother and step father. As a teenager, Davis began to show that he was a superior athlete. He was a three sport athlete in high school, but really excelled at football above all.Davis was being heavily recruited by many different elite college football programs, but the NFL legend Jim Brown, convinvced Davis to attend Syracuse University because he told Davis it would be a welcoming place for a young black athlete in 1959. A lot of college sports teams at that time were resisting full-fledged integration, and Davis liked that Syracuse head football coach, Ben Schwartzwalder, was so welcoming to African-American players.

Due to NCAA rules at the time, Davis had to sit out his freshman year, but immediately began to have great success as a sophomore when he ran for 686 yards on 98 carries and 10 touchdowns. He wore Jim Brown's legendary number 44 jersey, and continued his dominance the following year running for 877 yards, which was good for 8.7 yards per carry. In his final season, Davis ran for 823 yards and capped of his college career being the first ever African-American to win the coveted Heisman Trophy.In 1962, Davis was also the first African-American to be selected first overall in the NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, and immediately traded to the Cleveland Browns.

As an African-American playing a lot of college football in the south, Ernie faced different instances of racism on several occasions. One such instance was after the 1960 Cotton Bowl in 1960. Syracuse had defeated Texas 23-14, and Davis had an amazing game and earned MVP honors. Davis was told that he would be allowed to accept the award at the post-game banquet, but that he and other black teammates would have to leave the segregated facility shortly after. The whole team wanted to leave and boycott the event, but Syracuse officials made the rest of the team stay in roder to not cause a scene.

Shortly after being drafted, Ernie Davis was diagnosed with leukemia and died and on May 18, 1963, not having played a game in the NFL. The dream of Brown and Davis playing side by side in the NFL was never able to happen, but Davis's legacy will live on forever.

Texas Western

In 1966, Don Haskins led an unbelievable Texas Western basketball team to a 23-1 and record, culminating in a national championship. The team was made up of many African-American players, and throughout the regular season faced loads of racism due to playing many of their games in the South, As depicted in the book Glory Road, by Haskins, one such event occurred where during an away game, many of the black players had their hotel rooms broken into and vandalized, with many racist remarks painted on the walls.

Haskins made history when he started the first ever all black lineup on March 19, 1966 against the University of Kentucky in the National Championship game. The Miners defeated Adolph Rupp's, all white, number one ranked team and forever sealed themselves in history. After this historic year in college basketball, teams through the country began to recruit more and more African-American athletes and college basketball became a more integrated league.

Patrick Ewing Incident

In 1983, Georgetown University star center Patrick Ewing ran out onto the court only to be encountered by racist mockery made towards his character. A banana peel was thrown towards him on the court during play, and signs reading "Ewing is and Ape" and "Ewing Kant Read Dis" were held. As one of the most dominant players in college basketball, Ewing continued to play despite the taunts. University President Rev. Timothy S Healy described the actions as "cheap, racist stuff". Ewing would go on to play in the NBA and become an iconic figure in for Georgetown Athletics and Georgetown University. As a glorified alumnus of Georgetown University, his image reflects the University's advocacy for diversity, despite the racist actions of the past.

Don Imus

Radio talk show host Don Imus was suspended for two weeks then fired by CBS after allegedly racially disparaging comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. This incident occurred on April 11, 2007, with remarks calling the team "nappy headed-hoes" the day following the team losing in the NCAA Women's National Championship game against the University of Tennessee.

1936 Summer Olympics

From the start of the 1936 Olympics, there was an opposition to the Olympic Games being held in Germany; "neither Americans nor the representatives of other countries can take part in the Games in Nazi Germany without at least acquiescing in the contempt of the Nazis for fair play and their sordid exploitation of the Games". Despite this resentment, the Olympic Games continued.

The bidding for the 1936 Olympic Games was the first to be contested by IOC members, who cast their votes for their favorite host city. The vote occurred in 1931 during the Weimar Republic era, before Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933. By allowing only members of the "Aryan race" to compete for Nazi-controlled Germany, Hitler further promoted his ideological belief of racial supremacy.

Other nations debated boycotting, with Spain and the Soviet Union going through with a full boycott. The Amateur Athletic Union led newspaper editors and anti-Nazi groups to protest against American participation, contesting that racial discrimination was a violation of Olympic rules and creed and that participation in the Games was tantamount to support for the Third Reich. Most African-American newspapers supported participation in the Olympics. The Philadelphia Tribune and the Chicago Defender both agreed that black victories would undermine Nazi views of Aryan supremacy and spark renewed African-American pride. American Jewish organizations, meanwhile, largely opposed the Olympics. The American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee staged rallies and supported the boycott of German goods to show their disdain for American participation. The 1936 Summer Olympics ultimately boasted the largest number of participating nations of any Olympics to that point. However, some individual athletes, including Jewish Americans Milton Green and Norman Cahners, chose to boycott the Games.

During these Olympics, Margaret Bergmann Lambert was excluded in the 1936 German Olympic team because she was Jewish. She had to withhold her anger and frustration in regard to Hitler's unequal and unfair ruling in Germany. Even though Lambert had equaled the German national record in the high jump a month before the Olympic Games, she was denied the opportunity to participate in the games. In addition, the Nazi Press described African Americans as "black auxiliaries" and eventually called for their exclusion from the Olympics. Also, Hitler's Nazis created rules and restrictions within Germany that prohibited Jews from being able to use local facilities and playgrounds for appropriate training, occurring as early as March 1933. This gave Jews and other "non-Aryan" people unequal training methods.

Great achievements by African Americans, such as Jesse Owens, challenged the "Aryan" ideal, or a Caucasian person without Jewish descent. Owens won four gold medals: one in 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4x100 meter relay. His achievements conveyed both the notions of "interracial education" as well as "muscular assimilation" to help promote sportsmanship towards African-Americans on and off the Olympic stage. However, these achievements of interracial awareness and racial cohesion also solidified traditional social hierarchies through the guise of "scientific" discoveries in physiology and anatomy.

Additionally, these achievements were met with much speculation and criticism. Since the games, there has existed a speculation of Hitler's unwillingness to shake hands with African-American gold medalists. From reports that Hitler had purposefully avoided acknowledging his victories, and had refused to shake his hand, Owens said at the time:

Hitler had a certain time to come to the stadium and a certain time to leave. It happened he had to leave before the victory ceremony after the 100 meters. But before he left I was on my way to a broadcast and passed near his box. He waved at me and I waved back. I think it was bad taste to criticize the 'man of the hour' in another country.

This racism was not limited to Germans, as Americans observed racism as well. American Track and Field coach Dean Cromwell stated "It was not long ago that his [the black athlete's] ability to sprint and jump was a life-and-death matter to him in the jungle. His muscles are pliable, and his easy-going disposition is a valuable aid to the mental and physical relaxation that a runner and jumper must have." These thoughts percolated throughout the Olympics, and made discrimination commonplace in many aspects of the games.

Association football

Association football has a history of racism events. Some players may be targeted because of their association with an opposing team. However, there have been instances of individuals being targeted by their own fans.

On January 3rd, 2013 a small Italian club, Pro Patria, made their racist perspective known while playing AC Milan. Kevin-Prince Boateng is a black male from Ghana and during this match was constantly abused for his skin color.

“When Boateng touched the ball for the first time, a small part of the crowd made monkey noises: Oo -- oo -- oo -- oo...Fifty or so people called him an animal. He locked eyes with them and could see the hate. He pointed to his head, to say, 'You're an idiot.' The chants went on for 20 minutes: Oo -- oo -- oo -- oo...Finally after about twenty more minutes of the chanting, Boateng picked up the ball, kicked it into the stands and walked off the field. The team then boarded its bus and headed back to the AC Milan compound. "

The Boateng incident, among others, prove that fans either don't pay attention to, or don't care, about regulating body's rules. The changes made by Association football do not have many effects on the fans, who are the biggest contributors to racism in football, which allows the racism to persist.

Some policies aimed at reducing racism in association football include Football Against Racism in Europe, Show Racism The Red Card, and Rasismul strică fotbalul in Romania; not all passed.

Indian Cricket Incident

On October 17, 2007, Indian crowds of up to 40,000 people at a cricket match in Vadodara and Nagpur threw racist taunts, such as monkey gestures, at Andrew Symonds. Four people, including three men and one women, were ejected from the game for the incident against Symonds, who was the only black player for Australia.There was also video evdience of many people throughout the crowd making racist gestures to the player from the stands.

This resulted in official complaints to the International Cricket Council. The incident occurred on the same day that the Board of Control for Cricket in India pledged to investigate racist crowd behavior, which it had originally attempted to dismiss.

Australian Rugby

Anthony Mundine made publicity by claiming that New South Wales as racist state in terms of the sport of rugby league and that it is one of the reasons he quit the sport to take up boxing. He believed that due to his race, he never truly was appreciated for his talents in the league, being forced to sit out and play different positions, despite provinghismelf to be among the most talented in the league.

Even as a professional boxer, Mundine still feels like there is racism in Australian sports and this is evident in his decision to sit during the national anthem during his fight against Danny Green on February 3, 2017. He believes that the national anthem is not representative of the black people, who are still being oppressed in Australia, and did not acknowledge it.