Race in American Sports

These essays critically examine the issue of race in college and professional sports, beginning with the effects of stereotypes on black female college athletes, and the self-handicapping of black male college athletes. Also discussed is the movement of colleges between NCAA designated conferences, and the economic impact and effects on academics for blacks. An essay on baseball focuses on changes in Brooklyn during the Jackie Robinson years, and another essay on how the Leland Giants became a symbol of racial pride. Other essayists discuss the use of American Indian mascots, the Jeremy Lin spectacle surrounding Asians in pro sports, the need to hire more NFL coaches of color, and ideals of black male masculinity in boxing.

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James L. Conyers, Jr., is a winner of the Cheikh Anta Diop Ankh Award for Distinguished Research in the Discipline of African American Studies. He is the director of the African American Studies Program and university professor of African American Studies at the University of Houston.

Edited by James L. Conyers, Jr.
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 288
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7319-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1584-4
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction  1
“As Girls See It”: Writing Sport on the Margins of the Black Press (Rita Liberti) 5
The Modern Day Black Sporting Experience: A Dialogue on Race (Billy Hawkins, Joseph N. Cooper and Ashley Baker) 21
An Ethic of Care: Black Female College Athletes and Development (Akilah R. ­Carter-Francique) 35
Right Place, Right Time: The Galvanization of Brooklyn During the Robinson Years (Demetrius W. Pearson) 59
The Athletic Industrial Complex: Conference Realignment, Race and Title IX (Earl Smith) 71
Encountering the Undead: An Open Letter on the Persistent Problem of Native American Mascots (C. Richard King) 84
The Case for Tennessee State as an Expansion Member of the SWAC: Economic Impact (J. Kenyatta Cavil) 94
The Leland Giants Baseball and Amusement Association: A Symbol of Race Pride Through ­Self-Help, 1907–1911 (Michael E. Lomax) 114
A Fantasy in the Garden, a Fantasy America Wants to Believe: Jeremy Lin, the NBA and Race Culture (David J. Leonard) 144
Institutional Barriers and ­Self-Handicapping Behaviors of Black Male Student-Athletes: Catalysts for Underperformance in the Classroom (Gary A. Sailes and Rebecca Milton Allen) 166
Why Do I Get Hit in the Face? Boxing as an Expression of Black Male Masculinity (Ray V. Robertson) 189
The Fritz Pollard Alliance, the Rooney Rule and the Quest to Level the Playing Field in the NFL (N. Jeremi Duru) 204
Does Race Matter? Core Character Matters (Edward “Will” Thomas) 224
Sacrifice, Modality, Inspiration and Triumph: An Afrocentric Analysis of Race and Sport in America (James L. Conyers, Jr.) 245
Race, Colonization and the NFL Draft: A Fanonian Analysis of the Interviewing of Black NFL Prospects (Drew Brown) 254
About the Contributors  267
Index  271

• “Shines light on a variety of circumstances that illustrate that race is an ongoing concern for those participants of minority status…recommended”—Choice

• “Valuable”—Journal of Sport History