Sports, Race and Pop Culture-Strange Bedfellows

The article: The Popular Racial Order of Urban America, Sport Identity and Politics of Culture takes a critical look at the "urban" pop culture and how it is constructed within the cinematic and sport narratives in regard to the portrayal of African American male athletes. While trying to read this article with a critical mind, in the sense that I should also be neutral in the arguments that an article makes, I could not help but agree with many of the criticisms that they placed on the pop culture, specifically the creators of music and cinema and athletics that continue to portray demeaning roles and unattainable goals for African American youth.

The article begins with look at new trends in toward of looking at diverse portrayals of athletes in cinema and in the news, wth regards to films such as Bend It Like Beckham and athletes like Cathy Freeman (which I do remember the massive amount of media attention she recieived as an Aboriginal Olympic Champion). Today, it may seem that we are much more enlightened in our portrayal of minority athletes and as a society we have moved beyond separation into a global hybrid society. The article takes a critical look at those whom portray African Americans within the context of sports, gangs and success and maybe inadvertently continuing to prepetuate African American steroetypes while presenting their "reality"

The music and sport celebrities continues to celebrate the urban style that is in vogue today. Many African American embrace the style of clothes as symbol of their heritage, even though its mainstreaming depended on use of white designers. Gangs still are continuously glamorized and seen as an alternative family stucture that urban youth can depend on if their own families cannot provide for their emotional and financial needs. However, its is not the politically correct or socially acceptable avenue to success and has no creditablitiy in the mainstream society due to it's criminal nature.

Sports, on the other hand is still protrayed as the more socially acceptable avenue to pursue. It is individualistic, some dependence on the sympathetic person (usually white) or greedy person to lend a hand, but the talent is their own, which no one can take away. Some would argue this may be on purpose. The ratio for success is extremely low (a million to one), and what happens to those whom do not posess talent? I am really wondering when the next "Stand and Deliver" is going to come out. Not that the movie is without criticism, but there are very few films that I can think of that portray academics as a legitimate way out without the white teacher who leads the way. In most settings, because of the situations they come, urban students have some catching up to do in academic skills, in comparison to their suburban peers, and they often know it. They are very few viable alternatives to success that is portrayed for urban, particularly African American youth. Most of them are aware of the lure of criminal activity and it's consequences, yet have not experienced or unaware of other options which lead to longer fulfillment.

In my own experience, I could not begin to count how many students truly believe that sports or music are their own avenues to success, in their own mind, they want to be a rap or hip hop artists or a "baller". When I ask (and I always do) if they play on school team or involved in extracurricular activities that comprise of these mediums, they always claim that the school team or extracurricular group is "wack" and they are much too talented to lend their skills to such a mediocre groups. I am fairly sure it is mainly due to the fact that oftent they already know they will not be successful in the academic aspect of school, that these are socially acceptable paths to success that they know of but also do not have talent in. Either they often do not comprehend that it is due to the involvement of these organizations that lead to their "discovery" or it is a front they portray because they may not know of any avenue they may be accepted as successful.

The current controversy surrounding the Vogue Magazine cover of LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen brings the issues of racial identity and sports to the forfront in recent weeks. James strikes a menacing pose that some see as a gorilla-like, animalistic pose, baring his teeth, with one hand dribbling a ball and the other around Bundchen's waist. Although she is smiling in the picture, and it may have been done in fun, the historical racial context of protraying African Americans as subhuman and menancing and the continuing stereotypes that the photograph symbolizes should not be ignored.


The lesson that you could use or futher develop in regards to this issue of the portrayal of race, identity and sports I think could done in context of looking several pieces of film that combine the use of sports as avenues of discipline and success and having students critically analyze them. He's Got Game would be one, obviously because of some sexual content, I would choose only pieces to view. You could also tie in films such as Love and Basketball , Drumline, Coach Carter, and Stomp the Yard. Most of these also share similar themes of equating success with athletics with success in life, athough Drumline uses musical abilities.