12/1/09: Religion And Sport In The Soccer World

Description: A look at Religion and Sport. Mainly what occurs when one team defined by religion comes into contact with an opponent from an opposite religion, mainly seen in the Celtic vs. Rangers derbies. Also, a look at Jewish teams and Muscular Judaism in the sport of soccer.

VIDEO:

11/16/09: The Use of Native American Mascots, Nicknames, And Symbols Is Simply Unacceptable!

According to Los Angeles Times Writer Bill Plaschke (2009), who often times can be seen on Around the Horn, the use of the name Washington Redskins is basically the Native American equivalent to the N-word. According to Native American advocate, Suzan Shown Harjo, who is fighting the name in court, Redskin, "is the worst thing in the English language you can be called if you are a native person." Thus, the continual use of this nickname is flatout unacceptable. Roger Goddell is attempting to clean up the image of the NFL with violence on and off the field. Yet, he is mute on this point. Further, is the derogatory nickname really that important to the franchise? It is 2009, not 1929! Redskin fans and owners. Furthermore, the NBA Washington Bullets were too offensive for those shot with bullets and changed their name to the Washington Wizards (Banzhaf, 2009); therefore why do the complaints of Native Americans fall on deaf ears in Washington?

The most offensive names are not the only ones that need to be changed.

The use of Cleveland Indians, Florida State Seminoles, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Braves, and etc. is not much better. Why? Because the people that own most of these teams are white and the people that patronize these teams usually are not Native American (at least in any great numbers). At least in the case of European teams and fans that use racial nicknames, like Tottenham's Yid Army and Ajax fans embracing being called the "Jews," at least this was a case of having a half-Jewish fan population and having the other half (as well as the Jewish half) embrace the nickname given to it by rivals, instead of looking at it as a negative (Levenfeld, 2009).


Tottenham shirt (left) and Ajax display (right) are displays showing respect and even pride...

I see use versus non-use as a case of the following... African American and Latino comics use negative words and racial stereotypes, but there seems to be an unwritten rule that if you are a part of that group, then you're allowed to use the term. For Native Americans, it is almost like Non-Native Americans use Native American terms at free will, without consultation, like the Native American is extinct.

FYI, SPORTS WORLD IF THE NATIVE AMERICAN SAYS IT IS WRONG TO USE THEIR TERMS, THAN IT IS WRONG.

Also, there is no respectful or acceptable way to do it, unless the Redskins consult Native Americans on an acceptable Native American name and logo. As, at least the Yid Army example is a case of non-Jews embracing the nickname as well as their Jewish neighbors as being Tottenham Hotspur as well. However, with Native American team names, not once did a Native American have any part in it. For example, how ridicoulous is the Florida Seminole celebration? The below image is a white man, spray tanned with a wig, throwing a weapon in the ground in front of 100,000, mainly white people. A blatant reinforcement of Native Americans as savages.



How could this ever be acceptable or respectful? Also what does Chief Wahoo teach us about Native Americans? According to this article by Johnathon Zimmerman (2007), it reinforces the image of Native Americans "as savages on the warpath, with scalps dangling from their belts." Further, it is a grotesque caricture grinning idiotically, according to Zimmerman.


Not much different than this..


In conclusion, Native American logos are inherently racist and a real effort needs to be made by American sport's fans to force ownership and leagues to take notice, and change the names! It's ignorant to have advocates like Suzan Shown Harjo have to fight this alone in the Supreme Court. Sport's fans should tell their teams that they want the name changed as well, whether they are Native American or not.

11/16/09: Race And Performance In Sports

Race should have no socially, meaningful use in sports performance on the field or on the sidelines!! Colleges miss out by not giving more leadership opportunities to minorities. For example, just look at the success of MAC Champion winning coach, Turner Gill, and Super Bowl winning coach, Mike Tomlin.

A biologist at Yale University has recently stated: "Race has no biological reality. The human species simply does not come packaged that way."

But, science aside... Why do those with the lightest skin make up 83% percent of male college sports and 87% percent of female college sports, while only taking up 74% of the total American population? And, why do only 4 African-American head coaches exist in a total of 119 Division I College football programs, when 54 percent of the players on those teams are minorities (with 50 percent of those players being African-American)?!

Even though science might not see skin color as important, apparently society does... So, why have people chosen skin color as a socially meaningful trait, and what are the difficulties in using skin color to classify all the people of the world into races?

According to research by Hochschild & Weaver (2007), skin color is a socially meaningful trait because, more often than not, skin color is associated with an individuals' preferences as well as their outcomes. In non-scientific speak, using skin color is socially meaningful because it saves time; a person can make sense of another person and get from point A to B, as quickly as possible, without doing the leg work of actually getting to know that person. As an outcome indicator, it also can be used with other factors to determine future house and wallet size. As according to Hochschild & Weaver (2007), in terms of outcomes, lighter skinned individuals are stereotyped as more economically and educationally advantaged and thus more likely to have a brighter future than others. And, in terms of preferences, according to Hochschild & Weaver (2007), most Americans (light skinned or not) prefer those with lighter skin color compared to those individuals with darker skin, with only some exceptions.

But, with time is skin color becoming less socially meaningful and less of a determinent of outcomes? And, is a certain skin color even actually preferred? Hochschild & Weaver's findings on lighter skin being preferred by most Americans, doesn't touch upon the fact that so many younger, lighter skinned individuals like to artificially tan these days. This link states that 25% percent of college students are addicted to tanning and a darker skinned perfection that they cannot usually reach. Further, according to Bagdasarov, Banerjee, Greene, & Campo (2008), younger people perceive those with tanned skin as more attractive. And, in terms of politics, the younger generation appears not as concerned with skin color; as college students were a boon to electing the first African-American president, Barack Obama. Further, the favored music of a good portion of American youth (no matter the skin color), is the African-American dominated hip-hop. However, currently Hochschild & Weaver (2007), believe that a preference for fairer complexion can be seen in the work of film-makers, novelists, advertisers, modeling agencies, matchmaking websites, and etc. Most of these companies have presidents and leaders who come from an older generation, where skin color had more importance. Thus, since the older generation are mainly the decision makers at companies and sports organizations, these preferences lead to stereotypes and missed opportunities for all backgrounds, including those who would appear more advantaged.

If race is a myth then why is it such a big deal in this country?

Race is a major issue in American society because of our past and our present. Race was a major issue in the past because of European settlers destruction of Native American society and life. Further, Caucasians also made Africans slaves in this country. Today, that issue continues between all Americans and Latinos who come to America (sometimes illegally) and in some American opinions, to take jobs. Racial issues also occur today with the stereotyping of Middle Eastern people as terrorists.

How is race used to explain performance in sports?

Based on performance on the field, some come to the conclusion that African-Americans are better at sports such as basketball, track, and football. While Latinos are better at soccer. And, Caucasians are better at hockey, golf, and being the coach and quarterback. However, this is more cultural, and not based on an actual jumping gene, or a natural athletic gene, or a natural coaching gene (C. Higgs, personal communication, 11/16/09).

Therefore, overall, the major issue with these stereotypes in sports is that it shuts out certain individuals from a position or a sport based on their race. A good example of this is minorities coaching the top sports. As according to Hochschild & Weaver (2007), darker skin is equated to being poorer and less educated, this thus sometimes disqualifies the most qualified who are bypassed because of these ridicoulous stereotypes. In relation to sports, this is especially the case in college football; where African-American coaches are under-represented on the sidelines. Giving credence to a viewpoint that those with power in college sports (an older generation) believe that blacks are less qualified to coach. Additionally, according to blackpower.com, many college universities and their rich white supporters don’t care what the Black Coaches Association and the BCA's report card thinks about their respective university's hiring procedure. This is leading to missed opportunities for these universities, as they lessen their field of perspective coaches by half.

Therefore, in reality those who look at skin color in sports are actually hurting themselves. Just look at the success of minority coaches in the NFL, such as Super Bowl Champion winning, Steelers Coach, Mike Tomlin, and the success of minority coaches in college football, such as MAC Champion winning, University of Buffalo coach, Turner Gill. Possibly, these African-American coaches, who were successful African-American athletes, can relate better to the majority of their teams (and the majority of their starters) who are African-American. But, even if that is the case, their receiving of the job (same as white coaches) should be based on their experience and not the fact that they are white like most of the adminstrators or they are black like most of the players. It should be based on personal talent, ability, experience, and personality.

CONCLUSION: Skin color should have no socially, meaningful use in or out of sport.

In conclusion, skin color should have no socially, meaningful use because it hinders the ability to judge someone based on their own personal ability. Also, most of the times, our stereotypes based on skin color are completely incorrect, just try this link, I only got 5 out of 20 right. Further, today, it is also almost impossible to actually tell the background of some people. Just look at Tiger Woods who refers to himself as "Cablinasian" standing for caucasian, black, indian, asian (C. Higgs, personal communication, 11/16/09). Therefore, what is even the point of classifying anyone as anything else other than just a human being? As skin color stereotyping can get in the way of finding those who are the most qualified to win Super Bowl trophies, those who can lead a business away from bankruptcy and bailout, or even those most capable to lead this country.

Scholarly Links:
Bagdasarov, Z., Banerjee, S., Greene, K., & Campo, S. (2008). Indoor tanning and problem behavior. Journal of American College Health, 56(5), 555-562. Retrieved from: http://navigator-sru.passhe.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=31594828&site=ehost-live

Hochschild, J. & Weaver, V. (2007). The skin color paradox and the american racial order. Social Forces, 86(2), 643-670. Retrieved from: http://navigator-sru.passhe.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mth&AN=28056482&site=ehost-live