African American Athletes Essay

Ameri quarter disciple boosterstraps harbour always set round stereotypes in and out of the classroom, being seen as self-segregating or dumb jocks that re all(prenominal)y wouldnt be at school if it werent for their athletic ability. Although these stereotypes be applied to some(prenominal) uninfected-hot and obscure athletes, African American students, especially men, feel it much than their light counterparts. African Americans be already, for the close part, seen as intellectually inferior, so when they be seen in an academic environment they be mechanically judged.If they didnt get into school safe for being black, they got into school for being a black athlete. Excuses argon made as to why African American student athletes and pro athletes dominate in the human race of sports in general. From the time the black athlete stepped into the sports bena and began to compete with whites, white hatful dupe been looking for an explanation. In his expression Saile s looks into the storys and stereotypes surrounding African American athletes, most of which fork out been created by whites.In broadly speaking replicated the experiment that Sailes conducted with his students and in doing so I found that the stereotypes he discusses do exist and m what of all time pack strongly cogitate in some of the myths. I interviewed twain male and female athletes and non-athletes alike and surprisingly most of their answers to my questions were the identical. I asked them all the same five questions 1. Do you think African Americans dominate in sports? 2. Which Sports? 3. Are at that place certain positions they are stop at? 4. Why? 5.Is their demeanor on the flying field or court different than that of a white athlete? and 6. Have you comprehend any myths about why black athletes are mitigate? Interviewee 1, A white female on the hoops squad at Gettysburg Col limbe matte that black athletes were better at all sports and in all positions, but particularly in basket addict game and football. She has learned from experience that black athletes are more loud and competitive. It was her belief that African Americans are better at sports because of genetics.She to a fault utter that it could be because historically they perplex d unmatched hard sweat and had petty(a) plays, so their physical condition has evolved. The nonpareil myth she has heard is that African Americans have an extra bone in their leg which makes them capable of jumping higher and rill faster. Interviewee 2, an African American football faker stated that blacks are better at all sports, but especially football, in such positions as cornerback, running back, and vast receiver. When asked why he felt that this is original his answer was because were just cheating(a) 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 some monkey go away in them. Interviewee 3, a white college graduate, non-athlete supply that blacks are better at any sport they try but non in any positions that require foreland power or thought. He express that they are not usually tidy quarterbacks because they arent smart enough. When I asked him why, his receipt was, because they are dumb Ns.He believes that they become athletes because they have no other options to get a job or get 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 leave off for lacrosse and hockey, and that the reason for this is because they are much more expensive to start up and maintain- as opposed to soccer/football/basketball where all you need is a ball unfeignedly.He thinks black people on the whole start out biography economically feeble compared to whites and believes in the myth that they have been evolved into more muscular and stronger people because of the process of natural selection during thraldom 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 only sport they motivation 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 transcendency of African Americans is attributed to the selection and so called engender process along with the manual labor performed during the days of slavery.The psychological and dumb jock theories were also articulated in the answers I received from the white students for they all said at some point or other during the interview that African Americans are intellectually inferior and all they have going for them is sports, and even 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 somehow genetically different.I was really taken aback by my findings. Even though I have learned throughout this semester that people are more racist than I ever thought they were, I didnt ca-ca that this racism is existent in literally everything. Im not really into sports and do not pay economic aid to them, so I had no liking 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.