Racism has been an issue in the United States since the
country was founded. People have always been judged on the color of their skin
and their ethnic background. This is an issue that has always stirred up
controversy, and when Anthony Federico wrote a controversial headline about
Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks and was fired because of it, it only proved
that it’s still an issue to this day.
“A stereotype is a generalization about a category of people
that is negative and/or misleading. Stereotypes are used to predict and explain
the behavior of a social category; in doing so they obscure the variability
within such categories,” (Wenner 157). Stereotypes exist for every race, but
the media plays up the stereotype at African American are ‘natural athletes.’ According
to Wenner, the media plays up that African Americans are naturally quick, good
at jumping and are lazy because of it. As well as just being lazy due to natural
ability, they are also depicted as self-centered, selfish and arrogant while
European-American athletes are known as team players.
One instance where the media accomplished both of these
things was with NBA star Allen Iverson. There was a point in time where he
missed practice, and the media brought it to his attention. The video is funny
to us viewers and it also was to those in the conference room, but it really
had a negative depiction of Iverson. It was especially bad at the end when he
said, “how the hell can I
make my team mates better by practicing?” Therefore, he played right into the
media’s hands and allowed them to show him in a selfish matter.
The media tends to show this side of African American
athletes much more than that of European-American athletes. We’ve seen it with
Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, and more recently Tiger Woods to name a few. While one
would think this negative connotation toward African Americans is bad enough,
media also attacks their intelligence and leadership abilities.
“‘Blacks run like horses and jump out of the gym, but they
rarely think it all through’ (Harris, 1991, p. 160),” (Wenner 159). What this
says is that African Americans are more athletic than their counterparts but
don’t really use their brains. Could that possibly be the part of the reason
Andrew Luck is considered the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL
Draft over Robert Griffin III? Or why there are more white quarterbacks and
head coaches? The coaches’ part had gotten so bad that it became a rule in the
NFL that teams were forced to interview at least one African American for a coaching
vacancy.
Overall, you may not realize it but the media plays a major
role is the American view of African Americans in sports. Even after all the
advances is diversity, the media continually gives them this negative representation.
