Sport plays an enormous role in African American culture. Sport not only impacts every day life, but it largely shapes identities among African Americans. For example, in order for an African American male to be considered 'masculine' could directly correlate with whether or not he plays (and excels) in sports. When we think of the African American male, we often think of an athletic body that perseveres on the court or on the field. African American basketball, football, and baseball players dream of making it to the major leagues in their sport not only for personal glorification, but also to support their families whom often time depend on them for their well-being. Therefore, African American athletes face great pressure to excel in their sport in order to shape their identity and better themselves and their families.
In the Documentary Hoop Dreams we followed the lives of two African American male high school basketball players in their journey as athletes. Although they were both talented, they faced enormous challenges in reaching the next level in their sport. It goes to show that even when you overcome so much adversity, there are still bigger factors at play that influence the path you are on in life -- some of which were in your fate when you were born because of your given skin color, socioeconomic class, etc.
In Hollywood movies such as The Blind Side, African American athletes can be celebrated because of their successes on the field. However, a lot of the times these Hollywood movies don't show the struggle, trials, and tribulations it takes for an African American athlete to reach that level. Additionally, even when an African American athlete does have that kind of success on the field, there are still many other factors at play such as racism and white male hegemony. These black athletes are almost always ruled by a white governing force whether it be their coaches, the NFL, their university or the NCAA.
It's easy for society to speculate that African Americans have come a long way and racism no longer exists in US society because Blacks are so successful in the sporting realm. However, measuring progress by the number of African Americans in professional sports leagues doesn't make sense, because we are failing to consider the role of African Americans in leadership positions. Not only are there not many African QBs, but there are also few African American coaches, athletic directors, executives, etc. Also, we need to start to think of African Americans outside of the sporting realm. There are more African Americans with PHD's than there are professional athletes -- so what about the African American doctors, lawyers?
We have learned that people of the same race can be more genetically different than people of different races. Skin color doesn't have anything to do with pure biological athletic performance. Therefore, I believe society will be heading in the right direction when we stop glorifying blacks as athletes and entertainers, and start glorifying them for being intellects -- when we measure their success the same way we measure the success of a white man.
