African American Athletes Essay

American student jockstraps leave always faced stereotypes in and come in of the classroom, being seen as self-segregating or reticent jocks that re solelyy wouldnt be at develop if it werent for their athletic ability. Although these stereotypes be applied to both vacuous and lightlessness athletes, African American students, especi ally men, olfactory perception it more than their white counterparts. African Americans atomic number 18 already, for the most part, seen as intellectually low, so when they ar seen in an academic surround they argon automatically judged.If they didnt stop into instill just for being calamitous, they got into school for being a sullen athlete. Excuses argon made as to why African American student athletes and pro athletes master in the world of sports in general. From the quantify the black athlete stepped into the sports argonna and began to contend with whites, white pack have been spirit for an explanation. In his article Sa iles looks into the myths and stereotypes surrounding African American athletes, most of which have been created by whites.In loosely replicated the experiment that Sailes conducted with his students and in doing so I found that the stereotypes he discusses do exist and m either people strongly believe in or so of the myths. I consultati onenessd both male and effeminate athletes and non-athletes alike and surprisingly most of their answers to my questions were the same. I asked them all the same five questions 1. Do you think African Americans dominate in sports? 2. Which Sports? 3. Are there certain positions they are conk out at? 4. Why? 5.Is their behaviour on the field or motor inn different than that of a white athlete? and 6. Have you hear any myths well-nigh why black athletes are break? Interviewee 1, A white female on the basketball game team at Gettysburg College matt-up that black athletes were die at all sports and in all positions, nonwithstanding in par ticular in basketball and football. She has learned from exist that black athletes are more cheesy and aggressive. It was her belief that African Americans are better at sports because of genetics.She also said that it could be because historically they have done concentrated labor and had menial jobs, so their material condition has evolved. The one myth she has heard is that African Americans have an extra gussy up in their leg which makes them capable of leap higher and trial faster. Interviewee 2, an African American football player express that blacks are better at all sports, but especially football, in such positions as cornerback, running back, and wide receiver. When asked why he mat up that this is true his answer was because were just nasty like that. In regards to myths he recalled one of his high school classmates expressing to him that the reason blacks were better was because they still had most monkey left in them. Interviewee 3, a white college graduate, non-athlete furnish that blacks are better at any sport they gauge but non in any positions that require brain power or thought. He said that they are not usually good quarterbacks because they arent undimmed enough. When I asked him why, his response was, because they are close Ns.He believes that they change state athletes because they have no other options to shoot for a job or spawn rich, unless they can rap. He also stated that the reason they can run so fast is because they are used to running from the cops. Interviewee 4, A white male who is a former athlete said that he believes that African Americans are superior in all sports except for lacrosse and hockey, and that the reason for this is because they are much more expensive to incur up and maintain- as opposed to association football/football/basketball where all you pick up is a ball really.He thinks black people on the whole start out life economically infirm compared to whites and believes in the myth th at they have been evolved into more muscular and stronger people because of the process of raw(a) pick during slavery where the slave owners bought the biggest and strongest, and theyre offspring are the ones that created the people that are dominating in sports now.My last interviewee was a female African American basketball player who felt that African Americans dominate in football and basketball because it is the just now sport they want to play so they strive for it. She also said that blacks are more aggressive because it means more to them. In the majority of my interviews the participants mentioned what Sailes referred to as the Mandingo Theory, in which the physical superiority of African Americans is attributed to the selection and so called breeding process along with the manual labor performed during the days of slavery.The mental and dumb jock theories were also articulated in the answers I received from the white students for they all said at some point or another during the interview that African Americans are intellectually inferior and all they have going for them is sports, and point in the world of sports there are positions that they are mentally incapable of occupying. The one thing that I believe all the participants agreed on both black and white is that African Americans are someways genetically different.I was really interpreted aback by my findings. Even though I have learned throughout this semester that people are more antiblack than I ever thought they were, I didnt realize that this racism is active in literally everything. Im not really into sports and do not pay attention to them, so I had no idea that people felt this way about African American athletes. So, it seems as though African Americans are battling this war on racism on yet another front.