African americans in sports Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

African americans in sports - Research Paper spokesperson42-43). Too often, however, sport does not provide social mobility and lucrative careers for African American. Background Debate involving whether or not the sport domain in the United States is benefiting or exploiting its African American participants continues to be an write of critical concern. Specifically, as the discussion relates to the impact of the athletic experience upon the progress of young, African American student- athletes. enter within this discussion exist two opposing perspectives which view sport as either the pattern of the American dream of meritocracy and success (Sammons, 1994, p. 215) or as an institution designed to operate as a form of social control. According to sport sociologist George H. Sage (2000) the fundamental difference regarding these arguments and in how sport has historically been understood lies in whether one considers sport a heathenish practice or not. Sage (2000) offers a logi cal and rational argument for considering larger socio-historical setting when examining sport issues. He maintains that sport is a cultural practice that cannot be richly understood as a practice isolated from the social, economic, political, and cultural context in which it is situated (In Brooks & Althouse, p. 2). The divergence in opinion regarding the utility of sport, as expressed by the African American community, has dated as far back as knuckle downry (Wiggins & Miller 433). The sentiments of ex- slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass on this subject have been noted by historian Jeffrey Sammons From his retrospective go under as ex-slave, Douglass considered sport and oppressive instrument and divisionary device to occupy the minds and energies of slaves, thus preventing them from pursuing more useful activities and fully appreciating their horrible plight (p. 216). Cautiousness about the current role of sport in the lives of the African American community continues to be voiced mainly through the limited amount of sport sociological books addressing the subject of the African American athletic experience. As indicated by Gates (p. 78) much of the current decoct involving African American athletes has been generated in response to the channeling and overrepresentation of young black youth into collegiate revenue producing sports, unreal dreams of playing at an elite level, and the alarmingly poor academic proceeding and graduation rates of mel littleed profile Division IA collegiate athletics i.e. basketball and football. Historically, higher education institutions have tended to view low achieving minority students as problems citing the students inability to acculturate to the college environment as a significant factor. Tierney (p. 603-618) suggests that institutions reconsider this position and to consider their own inability to operate in a multicultural world. Explanations for poor academic performance as compared to whites in Africa n American student-athletes have generally been consistent with the problem perspective, implying that these student-athletes and their significant others overemphasize sport at the cost of academic development. According to Powell (p. 73) African-American males dont treat academics with the same devotion as they do basketball or football. According to Harris (In Brooks & Althouse, 47) the National Collegiate Athletic