discrimination in sports

Nicole Gleicher
Professor Conley
Writing Seminar
5 May 2014

Racism in Sports

Do I think that the racism issue is still happening around in the atmosphere of the United States? Absolutely. In our eyes, the society viewed media as perfection but here lies the truth, racism is still happening everyday in many people’s lives. According to Anup Shah, Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others (Shah 1). The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been around for a long period of time, surprisingly, still faced plural types of racial issues. This paper presents a few situations of why it is truly important to recognize the significant of racism in sports and how media can influence people.

First and foremost, the biggest issue had recent occurred where Donald Sterling made a racist remarks to his girlfriend during the Clippers basketball game. Sterling’s wife who is known as a black and Mexican posted a photo with Magic Johnson on an Instagram. Sterling made a statement said, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you are associating with black people. Do you have to? You can sleep with black people. You can bring them in; you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that and not to bring them to my games. Don’t put him Johnson on Instagram for the world to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.” His statement has made it a big deal on the society. To put it briefly, it is a lesson learned for Sterling to avoid putting a cruel perspective on race or expressing their opinions carefully.

Secondly, society is not perfect but the importance of recognizing that the Racism and Ethnic bias in the media is problem that needs to take an action immediately. According to Page, the National Basketball Association has banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racist comments but let alone the Washington Redskins having to deal with the owner, Daniel Snyder who insults Native American Indians in public every day but the name of Washington Redskins never changes (1). It is sad to see that the NFL is not doing anything to save the name that has affected this much pain on Native Americans. Page mentioned that, if the NFL were two-thirds of Native American Indian instead of two-thirds black, there would never be any conversation regarding to the issue with name of Washington Redskins.

Luckily, there is a solution to Donald Sterling’s racist remarks to his girlfriend. He is fined worth of $2.5 million and a lifetime ban as his punishment. The NBA came to a decision by banning Sterling from attending NBA games or practices, even stepping foot inside any Clippers’ facility, taking part in business or personnel decisions, or having a role in league activities such as attending NBA Board of Governors meetings (Botelho, Smith, Fantz 1). It is necessary to remind that there is a different view on Donald Sterling’s racist remarks but it is important to keep an open mind as we all are learning new things everyday. It is a behavior that we grow into learn, not what we are born with.

There are ways to address and reduce racial prejudice and racism in our workplace, schools, sports, media and community will succeed if everyone works together. Specifically in the work place, companies are encouraged to hire diverse staff, board members, executives, managers, and more. The importance of understanding one another is to go on fieldtrips to historical places that face struggles against racism even though media has a strong and powerful role in bringing the messages to the public but if were to write letter to the editor of news paper or even contact the local media and organize presentations could make a difference. There are also things that can prevent the racism in the community such as organizing a cleanup, create a town event on racism, and support new candidates from different ethnic groups to run for a position of city council or other government positions (Hampton and Lee 1). These examples will help open people’s eyes and be able to change the world they want it to be.

Racism is a strong term that is still happening in America. It is important to ensure that people are continually to be well informed on racism and how it applies to our lives. Always be mindful of the community we represent and live for involves discrimination especially when it happen in sports. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of people that have the courage to stand up and speak their voice against racism because some of them feel oppressed by the media. As a matter of fact, it takes a whole to end this issue. It will be a helpful tool to plan workshops to spread awareness about the current issues in racism. Also, it is an encouragement to speak out on the acts of racism you face or known of somebody that had experienced in your lives.

Works Cited

Botelho, Greg, Matt Smith, and Ashley Fantz. "NBA commissioner bans Clippers owner Sterling, pushes to 'force a sale ' of team." cnn. N.p., 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 5 May 2014. .

Golliver, Ben. "NBA investigating Clippers owner Donald Sterling for alleged racist comments." http://nba.si.com. N.p., 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 5 May 2014. .

Hampton, Chris, and Kien Lee. Section 4. Strategies and Activities for Reducing Racial Prejudice and Racism. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Page, Clarence. "It 's time to change the name of the Washington Redskins." Chicago Tribune 4 May 2014: n. pag. Print.

Cited: Botelho, Greg, Matt Smith, and Ashley Fantz. "NBA commissioner bans Clippers      owner Sterling, pushes to 'force a sale ' of team." cnn. N.p., 29 Apr. 2014.      Web. 5 May 2014. . Golliver, Ben. "NBA investigating Clippers owner Donald Sterling for alleged      racist comments." http://nba.si.com. N.p., 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 5 May 2014.      . Hampton, Chris, and Kien Lee. Section 4. Strategies and Activities for Reducing      Racial Prejudice and Racism. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Page, Clarence. "It 's time to change the name of the Washington Redskins."      Chicago Tribune 4 May 2014: n. pag. Print.