Race/ Ethnicity & Idengeneity Flashcards
what is race?
Biological similarities among certain groups of people
- some people do not believe in ‘race’ as a term
what is ethnicity?
social contructions of “race”
- cultural activites, values, language, traditions shared among groups
- societal expectaions and assumptions from these “ethnicity roles”
what is colonization?
- white europeans began colonizing the world and assumed peoples were a different “species” of human
- they assumed that they were “normal” and different variations were deviant, immoral, irrational, or primative
how did white people justify their behaviours?
- religion: believed they were doing good
- science: developed racial classifications that supported their viewpoints
what were the 3 racial classification theories?
1) social darwinism: “natural selection”, “survival of the fittest”
2) Eugenics: forcef sterilization and marriage prohibitions of certain apparently “less desirable” members of society
ex: mental/physical disability, low IQ, etc.
3) Nazi Holocaust: Racial classification of “problematic” groups
what is prejudice?
positive, or negative values assigned to assumed characteristics of a member of a particular group
what is an example of race logic?
the ideology of ‘natural black athleticism’
- assuming that the dominance of blacks in sports is due primarily to innate biological differences between races
law of compensation pervades what?
- the assumption that natural black athleticism comes with a price of being limited intellectually
AKA racial stacking
ex: white quarterback, black receivers
what are some sociological factors to consider with different athletes?
- access to high altitude training
- diet/nutrition
- access to high quality coaching
- viable role models
what is the ‘hunger fighter’ theory?
sport has a perception of being ‘accessible’ for people in north america
ex: black athletes are over-represented mostly in inexpensive sports (track, basketball, football)
what is racial stacking?
athletes pushed into certain positions within a team based on racially-derived assumptions about their abilities/inabilities, connected to race logic
ex: white quarterbacks, black runners
why is racial stacking an ongoing problem?
- trends reproduced by white authority figures (teachers, managers)
- under-representations of black managers/coaches in key decision-making positions
- success requires living up to the standards set by whites and acting in ways that whites define as normal and appropriate
what are the differences of how achievements were represented for whites/blacks?
whites:
- character (hard work)
- culture
- organization
Blacks:
- Biology
- Natural physical abilities (natural athleticism)
how are black athletes generally represented in the media?
- animal like
- sex-obsessed
- uncontrollable
- self-centered
- desire white women
- arrogant
- savages
what is white privilege?
the ‘invisible package of unearned assets’ that white people enjoy
- advantages, privileges and courtesies in society
what is colour blindness
- whites are often unaware of privilege
- denouncing the significance race/racism as an issue
- considering moral/culteral values ssociated with whites as neutral, normal and ideal
what are some examples of white privilege and colour-blindness in sport?
- disallowing baggy shorts
- denoucing its ‘gangsta’ image
- challanging the ‘bad boy’ behaviour
- banning elaborate touchdown football
- french open banning Serena Williams skin-tight outfit in tennis
what was the aim with the ‘black lives matter’ movement?
Primarily aimed at highlighting white privilege in the US
- Colin Kaepernick became the face of this movement in sport
how is white privilege seen in relation to Native mascots/team names?
- Created as an outcome of white privilege
- Ignorance of harm caused by Native mascots/names is an example of colour-blindness
why is it bad that we use indigineous names for sports?
- they remove opportunities for Indigineous people to define themselves and promote their ownership
what have been some success that protest brought about?
- in 2005, the NCAA issued a ban on college teams usin potentially offensive names
- In 2014, Cleveland Indians phased out Cheid Wahoo
The struggle is still far from being over
what is the truth and reconciliation commission?
3200- page document of numerous stories of neglect, abuse and trauma
what were the aims of the TRC?
- to investigate the residential school system from 2008-2015, providing a platform and voice for 6000+ witnesses to recount experiences
what role did sport play in the context of residential schools?
- helps us understand the development of native/non-native relations
- sport/rec had potential to be:
- site of cultural struggles and contested meanings of the body (how it should be used, displayed and conceptualized)
- tool for both colonization and resistance processes
