Sports is one of the most common ways to include the concept of diversity in the activity. However, when we start to distinguish the color of an athlete's skin rather than the accomplishment is wrong. We get caught up in racist thinking that the only reason why a certain athlete excels in a certain sport is because of the color of his or her skin. We scrutinize athlete's personal achievements and only focus on the color of their skin. Athletes work hard and compete everyday to prove to the public that they deserve to be in the position that they are in. Psychologically, athletes can either get down on themselves and begin to perform poorly in their sport or they can use the scrutiny as movitvation to prove the public wrong. At the 1968 Olympics, two African American athletes showed the world that the issue of skin color and racism has no place in the world, especially in sports. We have now come to a point where sports has so many diverse cultures and all types of people and skin colors making sports a diverse community.
Brian Chan
Kin 339I M 7pm
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If distinguishing the color of an athlete's skin over their accomplishment is wrong, does that mean society is marginalizing the accomplishments of these athletes? What if an athlete's skin color is brought up with equal importance to their accomplishment? Would that still be considered wrong?
ReplyDeleteWhenever I hear about Tiger Woods and Venus or Serena Williams, I often hear their race included with their accomplishment. Instead of identifying their accomplishment alone, race is often brought up along with it. Whenever Yao Ming is discussed, the fact that he is asian always seems to be discussed. When I first found out about Tiger Woods, I heard that he was an amazing black golfer. Can he not just be a great golfer? I suppose being a great black athlete can be a source of pride, but some may find the distinction detracting from their athletic abilities. As a society, we do not discuss white athletes in the same way. Racism has no place in sports, or in society as a whole. However, how can we identify the ethnicity of athletes with pride, without taking away focus from their athleticism?
In your blog you mentioned two African-American athletes winning at the 1968 Olympics. I was wondering who you were talking about, and would have found it interesting if you divulged more about that.
Eric Harnden
Kin 339i
M 7 PM