Stereotypes
persist in sports
Donovin
Matthews
Every
so often a person may find him or herself
eligible for the "Insert Foot Into
Mouth Club." Paul Hornung, welcome
aboard. After remarks made by the 1956 Heisman
Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Fame member,
they might even waive his membership fee
to join.
"We
can't stay as strict as we are as far as
the academic structure is concerned because
we've got to get the black athlete,'' Hornung
said. "We must get the black athlete
if we're going to compete."
These
comments, which landed Hornung in hot water,
were made during a radio interview on Detroit's
WXYT-AM. In the interview he suggested that
Notre Dame should lower its academic requirements
to "get the black athlete." Such
comments made by Hornung, knowingly or unknowingly,
were insensitive, and perhaps even racist.
Hornung's
remarks first make the absurd assumption
that African-American athletes are intellectually
unable to succeed academically at a high
level. His comments also suggest that white
athletes might be inferior athletically
to blacks. Such sentiments, although ignorant,
are not new.
In
1988, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder
was fired as a CBS football analyst for
remarks he made to a Washington, D.C, television
reporter about the physical abilities of
black athletes.
"The
black is the better athlete," Snyder
said. "And he practices to be the better
athlete, and he's bred to be the better
athlete because this goes way back to the
slave period. The slave owner would breed
this big black with this big black woman
so he could have a big black kid. That's
where it all started."
While
Hornung's remarks do not go to the lengths
of those made by Snyder, both comments do
have in common the fact that they both stereotype.
It has been long thought by some that black
are the more athletic than whites, while
whites are more "cerebral."
In
the National Football League not too long
ago, it would have been a shocking occurrence
to see a black playing quarterback. Perhaps
due to racism or just mere ignorance, many
NFL organizations failed to play blacks
at that position.
To
play quarterback requires split-second decision
making, and one must also have an overall
high intelligence for the game. If we are
to believe Hornung's stereotypical comments
of African-Americans, these are traits blacks
simply do not posses.
It
wasn't until 1987 that NFL teams began to
seriously take notice that perhaps race
has nothing to do with one's intelligence
or one's ability to play the quarterback
position.
During
that year Doug Williams, an African-American,
led the Washington Redskins to Super Bowl
victory. Williams became the first black
quarterback to start a Super Bowl, and he
would also go on to win Most Valuable Player
for the game.
Today
in the NFL, it is very common to see blacks
playing quarterback. Winning apparently
is to some the best solution for breaking
stereotypes.
On
the flip side of stereotypes and sports,
it has also been said that whites do not
posses the same athletic prowess as blacks.
One particular movie title feeds into this
labeling of whites. The 1992 film titled
"White Men Can't Jump," which
was directed by Spike Lee (a black movie
director), perpetuates the notion that white
athletes are inherently less athletic than
other races.
Let's
have Lee tell Seattle Super Sonics' guard
Brent Barry (a white player), that white
men can't jump. In 1996, Barry won the NBA's
Slam Dunk Contest. During this contest,
Barry's last dunk was made from the free
throw line (a 15 foot-long distance). Up
until that time, such a slam-dunk had only
been successfully made in the contest by
the likes of Michael "Air" Jordan
and Julius "Dr. J" Erving.
Race
should never enter into the equation when
speaking of one's ability to perform athletically.
Statements like those made Horning and others
and lack of knowledge are both why stereotypes
continue to exist in today's society. Simply
speaking: a great athlete is a great athlete,
regardless of race.
Donovin Matthews is a journalism major at
Cal State Long Beach.
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