Jackie Robinson, Doug Williams, Texas Western – historic names that signify the immergence of the African American athlete in professional sports. Jackie Robinson became the first professional African American baseball player in 1947 debuting with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In football Doug Williams was not the first African American in the NFL, but he became the first African American quarterback to win a Super Bowl in 1988. The first team in NCAA Basketball history to start five African American players was Texas Western – and they won the championship that year. Jackie, Doug and Texas Western broke down racial barriers. Baseball before Jackie Robinson was an all-white-boys club. African Americans before Doug Williams were considered mentally ill-equipped to manage a team as quarterbacks. And no one imagined that an all-black team could win at basketball’s highest level (Wikipedia). Today baseball is black, white and every other color imaginable. In the NFL athletic African American quarterbacks like Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb are among the best at their position. All-black basketball teams are the standard in college and in the NBA. The immergence of the African American athlete has removed barriers to their progress, however stereotypes that limit of African Americans still exist in the sports media.
Sports are American rituals. It starts at a young age, playing catch in the backyard with dad, progresses to Pee-wee and Little League and high school sports. Much later, the long summer days of 18 holes at the local country club characterize the golden years of the typical middle class American. Our live are constantly influenced but sports and the sports media. For the fan, watching sports is not mere passive recreation. Most sports fans don’t just watch the game, they prepare, watch and then review. For example, studies show that a majority of NFL football fans begin their Sundays with the NFL Gameday crew on ESPN with broadcasters offering commentary, analysis and predictions regarding the upcoming games (Rada and Wulfemeyer). Through television, radio and the internet the minds of sport fans are inundated with the opinions and comments of the sports media. And exactly what are they telling us?
With the marriage of television and sports came the assimilation of African Americans into mainstream middle class American culture. African American participation in professional sports began at the same time that television became an integral part of American society. This expanded the market for sports and the possibilities of athletes – and African Americans. The sports market became another avenue to achieve the American dream, go from rags to riches with the swing of a bat or a flick of the wrist. In this meritocracy African Americans have flourished (Rada and Wulfemeyer). They are the stars. However, these stars are being typecasted. In spite of an expanded presence, the sports media continually stereotypes African Americans in one specific role: the “brute.”
Commonly, stereotypes afflict the minority. Stereotypes arise from man’s limited knowledge. They are defined as "cognitive structures that contain the perceiver's knowledge, beliefs, and expectancies about some human group (Fujioka)." Stereotypes arise because having intimate knowledge of every member of the human race is impossible. Instead, “we notice a trait which marks a well known type and fill in the rest by means of the stereotype we carry about in our heads.” Stereotyping is not malicious; it is an attempt to understand the world (Buchanan). However, stereotypes limit our understanding of the world. By definition, minorities are less abundant, known and understood, a definition that causes the stereotypes. Stereotypes of minorities are frequently demeaning, as demeaning as “brute”. Webster’s defines “brute” as, “of or relating to beasts; characteristic of an animal in quality, action or instinct; purely physical.” This stereotype of African Americans has existed since they were taken from Africa, subjugated and enslaved (Rada and Wulfemeyer). The “brute” stereotype of African Americans exists in spite of their emancipation and desegregation, in spite of their progress and impact on this country. The “brute” African American is perpetuated through the sports media.
Although the sports media has created an avenue for African American progress it has perpetuated their “brute” image by significantly emphasizing their athleticism and Caucasian intelligence. Since the first steps taken by Jackie, Doug and Texas Western African Americans have been a dominant force in professional sports, and the athleticism of many African Americans is undeniable and overemphasized. Broadcasters, the connection between the viewers and the action, have been shown to repeatedly emphasize athleticism while disregarding other qualities of African Americans. A study on sports commentary performed in 1985 shows that when announcers frame issues and behaviors they do so according to race-based misperceptions. Sports commentary defines Caucasian athletes as hard-working and intelligent while African Americans are physical specimens, genetically advanced super athletes. This does not mean that broadcasters are racist (Rada and Wulfemeyer). The fast-paced action and unscripted commentary creates an environment primed for racial stereotypes. Announcers are pressured to fill time by commenting about everything from an athlete’s childhood to their love life, yet studies show that these comments are significantly skewed to defining African Americans as “brutes.”
One example is the study done by doctors James Rada and Tim Wulfemeyer of college sports. Rada and Wulfemeyer studied the 1998 regular season of college football and the 1999 NCAA basketball tournament, analyzing the commentaries made by the broadcasters. Among other things, the hypotheses that African American players would receive more positive comments relating to athleticism than White player and that White players would receive more regarding intellect were tested. A statistically significant 92% of all comments regarding physical ability were directed to African Americans. Also, Caucasian players received a significantly higher percentage of comments regarding intellect. Additionally, during the basketball tournament, eighteen times references like, “The team they have on the floor right now is just so athletic,” were made about specific teams. In each and every instance the comment referred to teams with five African Americans on the court (Rada and Wulfemeyer). These results indicate the stereotype, and according to Dr. Wonsek of Hunter College African American scholastic inferiority and athletic ability are the most prevalent stereotypes of African Americans today. This sounds an awful lot like the definition of a “brute.”
Because of these unintentionally racist comments the “brute” stereotype prevails. In 1980 a study by Black Enterprise showed that although African Americans have progressed in employment and politics their image in the media is worse than it was ten years ago. The progress and domination that African Americans have achieved in sports has been undermined by the interpretation made by the media. The sports media has attributed their progress to genetics instead of hard work (Wonsek). Another study done by Andrew Billings of Clemson University showed that each success of African American quarterbacks in the NFL were vastly more likely to be attributed to their physical abilities than their minds. So even when African Americans succeed it is not because of their work ethic or their intelligence, it is because they were born as “brutes.”
Though the effects of the media are difficult to quantify, some studies have demonstrated a statistically significant effect of the media on perception. Obviously, there are many other things that influence stereotypes. Parenting, geographic location and peers are just a few of the influence on perceptions. Because there are so many influences it is impossible to isolate the effects of the media. However, the influence can be proved to exist. A study done by Yuki Fujioka compared Japanese and American students’ perceptions of African Americans. Based on the assumption that Japanese students have less direct contact with African Americans than American students, researchers compared both student groups’ perceptions of African Americans. The results first confirmed that Japanese personal contact with African Americans was significantly lower than Americans. The only contact that Japanese students had with African Americans was through the television. Then the data showed that Japanese students hold significantly more negative stereotypes concerning African Americans than American students. Additionally, Japanese ratings of African American work ethic, wealth, trust and intelligence were significantly lower than the ratings of American students. The influence of media does exist. The study shows that media does influence perception of groups especially in absence of their direct contact.
The sports media has provided an excellent medium for African Americans to progress. It gives exposure to their many abilities and enabled them to progress to middle and upper class America. Television is the most powerful marketer of African Americans. They are the stars of professional sports. However these stars are being portrayed as “brutes” by the sports media. Emphasizing African American physical prowess in comparison to Caucasian intelligence only perpetuates the stereotype that has existed in the US since the days of slavery and ignores the progress made by Jackie Robinson, Doug Williams and Texas Western. The evidence of such bias is significant. The sports media perpetuates the “brute” stereotype of African Americans by emphasizing African American athleticism and Caucasian intelligence.
Billings, Andrew. “Depicting the Quarterback in Black and White: A Content Analysisof College and Professional Football Broadcast Commentary.” The HowardJournal of Communications 2004: 201-210. EBSCOHost. Brigham YoungU. Libs., Provo. 5 Apr 2006.
Buchanan, William. “How Others See Us.” Annals of the American Academy ofPolitical and Social Science September 1954: 1-11. JSTOR. Brigham Young U.Libs., Provo. 7 Apr 2006.
Definition: Brute. 14 Apr 2006. Merriam-Webster.
Fujioka, Yuki. “Television portrayals and African-American stereotypes: Examination oftelevision effects when direct contact is lacking.” Journalism and MassCommunication Quarterly Spring 1999: 52-76. EBSCOHost. Brigham Young U. Libs., Provo. 5 Apr 2006.
“Jackie Robinson.” Wikipedia. 11 Apr 2006.
Rada, James and Tim Wulfemeyer. “Color Coded: Racial Descriptors in TelevisionCoverage of Intercollegiate Sports.” Journal of Broadcasting and ElectronicMedia March 2005. EBSCOHost. Brigham Young U. Libs., Provo. 5 Apr 2006.
“Texas Western.” Wikipedia. 11 Apr 2006.
“Washington Redskins.” Wikipedia. 11 Apr 2006.
Wonsek, Pamela. “College Basketball on Television: A Study of Racism in the Media.”Media, Culture and Society July 1992: 449-461. EBSCOHost. Brigham YoungU. Libs., Provo. 5 Apr 2006.
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