Race and Equity in elite sport

Question 1

What is the equality act (2010)?

Answer 1

Legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance the equality of opportunity for all

Question 2

What are the 9 ‘protected characteristics’?

Answer 2

Age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Question 3

Define race

Answer 3

“a population of people believed to be naturally or biologically distinct from other populations”.

Question 4

Define ethnicity

Answer 4

“a particular cultural heritage that people use to identify a particular population”.

Question 5

Define minority

Answer 5

“a socially identified population that suffers disadvantages… and has a sense of social toughness.”

Question 6

Define visible minority

Answer 6

“minority groups that are identifiably different”

Question 7

Define national identity

Answer 7

“feelings of attachment to a nation’s history and traditions that create a sense of unity…”

Question 8

What are the 2 main external/ visible traits?

Answer 8

Skin colour, size/ shape of physical features. these are continuous traits which means they are possessed to some degree by all humans but are not objectively identifiable

Question 9

What are the 2 main internal traits?

Answer 9

Intelligence and physiological function

Question 10

What is the racial ideology suggested by Coakley and Pike (2014 pp. 264, 268)?

Answer 10

“interrelated ideas and beliefs that are widely used to classify human beings in categories assumed to be biological and related to attributes such as intelligences, temperament and physical capabilities”.

Question 11

what are the 4 main racial classifications that have impacted on sport?

Answer 11

• Participation (data is limited due to flaws in the classification system).
• General participation (Surveys generally higher participation among people identifying as black or mixed race but lower participation among people identifying as Asian, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani, when compared to the National average).
• Sport-specific participation (-Higher representation of black athletes is limited to certain sports. -Black and other ‘non-white’ athletes are almost absent from other sports).
• Separated clubs/teams (-Accra football club, Brixton. -Caribbean Cricket Club, Leeds).

Question 12

Define direct racism

Answer 12

Directed at a player

Question 13

Define indirect racism

Answer 13

Non-directed e.g chants

Question 14

Define racism on the field

Answer 14

Athlete-to-athlete

Question 15

Define institutional racism

Answer 15

Resulting from structures, systems, policies which lead to racial discrimination.

Question 16

What are the 3 major challenges that exist in relation to racial and ethnic relationships in sports today?

Answer 16

• Eliminating racial and ethnic exclusion in sports participation. (-Fostering desegregation among sports in which racial ideologies still persist. -Eliminating ‘hidden’ exclusion, including those overlapping with social-economic exclusion).
• Dealing with and managing diversity in sports (-Addressing racism in the face of increasing diversity. -Managing the impact of globalisation).
• Integrating positions of power in sports organisations (Positions of power and control are held primarily by white men. -Recruitment procedures adopted (e.g. personal contact recruitment) may close access higher level positions).

Question 17

What are the 3 main authors associated with race and equality?

Answer 17

• Connor (2009) (myths of modern sport)
• Coakley and Pike (2014) (definitions of race)
• Foster and Sharp (2002) (genetics)