"While the language may be lovely and the reasoning just, the ideas themselves may prove trivial." -Lu Chi (from Wen Fu)

Writing Prizes:
Winning Essays

Three Generations Prize for Writing in the Social Sciences

"The Sociology of Basketball and its Impact on the Black Male"
Lydia Chan '01

Since Jesse Owens' record-breaking performance at the 1936 Olympic Games and Jackie Robinson's professional baseball debut in 1947, sports have been lauded as having achieved great strides in race relations. This praise, however, rings hollow upon closer examination, for misconceptions about black dominance in sports with its racist implications still abound. In addition to furthering myths about blacks, the disproportionate number of blacks in professional sports encourages young black males to consider these athletes as their role models, dreaming of a similar career that would serve as a ticket out of the ghetto. Nowhere is this phenomenon more apparent than in basketball, in which the money involved in exorbitant endorsements, licensing fees, and television contracts has grown exponentially. The seductive combination of fame and money has lured young athletes to aspire to play professional basketball - an elusive goal at best. Exploited by coaches and corporate executives, young black males usually find themselves without a viable job when their playing days end.
African American involvement in sports began on the plantation. During the nineteenth century, slaves often boxed against each other for entertainment and in contests sponsored by their owners. In some cases, slaves who won these boxing matches earned preferential treatment and a fortunate few were even freed. Othello Harris (1997) describes Tom Molineaux as the first African American to fight for the heavyweight championship. A former slave from Virginia, Molineaux won his freedom after defeating another slave in a match that earned his owner $100,000 (p. 312). The social mobility granted to athletic slaves was not limited to slave-owner relations; athleticism was rewarded among slaves themselves. Slave boys challenged members of their peer group to impromptu running, jumping, throwing, and swimming contests. David Wiggins (1997) writes, "The ability to perform well in physical contests usually guaranteed [slave children] the respect of their impressionable young playmates. One of the fastest ways for them to attain a degree of status and the recognized leadership of their peer group was to be successful on the playing field" (p. 9).
Reflecting American society at the time, blacks achieved national acclaim in a wide range of sports in the years immediately following the Civil War. Fourteen of the fifteen riders in the first Kentucky Derby in 1875 were black, and Marshal "Major" Taylor, a bicyclist from Indiana, garnered headlines across the country for his speedy finishes (Wiggins 1993, p. 25). As evident with these athletic accomplishments, the newly found freedom during Reconstruction created an atmosphere in which blacks were readily accepted into sports such as boxing, baseball, and horse racing. This progress in sports ceased as the nineteenth century drew to a close, and southern black codes were enforced. Along with the rise of imperialism during the late 1800s, social Darwinism supported the belief that blacks were inferior to whites and incapable of surviving in a competitive society, contributing to an increasingly hostile and violent environment toward blacks. The exclusion of black athletes from highly organized sports intensified after the Supreme Court permitted separate but equal facilities in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
African American athletes, however, continued to compete, despite the segregation of sport. They formed all-black professional teams and leagues in football, basketball, and baseball and continued to compete in individual sports. As racial tensions slowly diminished, black athletes rose to prominence. One of the first black athletes to be embraced by whites was the sprinter Jesse Owens. Unlike the black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson who challenged white conventions when he married three white women, Owens exhibited the proper amount of deference while representing American superiority. His exemplary performance, which included four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, "checked Hitler's arrogance about his 'master race"' (Harris 1997, p. 314). Owens's success opened the doors to sport for African Americans, improving race relations within sports. Together with Joe Louis who defeated the German heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, he was one of the first black athletic heroes to white America and, therefore, paved the way for black athletes in other sports.

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• Lynne Viti and Wini Wood
• Wellesley College Writing Program
• Created by: Jerina Hajno '04 and Nora Jarrah '02
• Date Created: June 29, 2000
• Last Modified: August 4, 2008
• Expires: July 31, 2009

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