There is a huge problem with the way media handles black athletes. And this problem did not start with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee. This has been going on for decades, ever since segregation in pro sports leagues became a thing of the past.
Back in 1988, Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder was fired by CBS from his job as an NFL sportscaster for making highly racist comments about “the superiority of African Americans as natural athletes.”
The man actually attributed it to breeding programs started by white slave owners dating back to the Civil War era! While Snyder’s story is indeed an extreme example of racism against black athletes, versions of that attitude still resonate to this day.
One reason why this view is so offensive is that it automatically reduces black athletes to their physical prowess. It is dehumanizing, reducing them to the level of racehorses for example. It reinforces the idea of “whites having the brains while blacks have the brawn.”
This stereotype is mirrored in the way power is structured in the big sports leagues like the NFL and NBA.
The Problem of Overrepresentation of Black Athletes
The two sports leagues that contribute the most to common stereotypes against black athletes in America are the NFL and the NBA. It is in these two leagues that the imbalance between black and white athletes is strongest.
In football, nearly 65% of all players at the top level are black. This number is even higher in basketball, with black players accounting for 75% of all players. Contrast that with any other sector of employment in the US, for example, in tech, 93% of the workforce is comprised of non-black ethnic groups.
Despite dominating these two leagues, blacks are drastically under-represented at the higher levels of the league, in coaching, management, and team ownership. This again reverts to the old stereotype of blacks being good only for the physical aspects of the sport.
And this does not restrict itself to the professional sports arena either. Unfortunately, generations of young African Americans are given sports as their only option to a better life, in schools and colleges across America.
Those not gifted enough for sports, especially from poorer economic backgrounds, have limited encouragement to pursue academics. A 2018 study of universities underlines this trend – only 2.4% of all undergraduates were blacks, yet they made up more than half the football and basketball teams on campuses.
This means that a majority of black students at colleges and universities come from an athletic background. Sadly, this only serves to further reinforce the stereotype.
The Impact of Success and Wealth
Some stats indicate that if you are a black student-athlete, your chances of making it big in the NBA or NFL are as low as 0.02% or less. The elite athletes to reach this level earn multi-million dollar paychecks and lucrative endorsement deals.
This level of success brings with it another kind of media attention, and an equally disturbing racial stereotype – the hedonistic, free-spending, hard-partying athletes with a penchant for domestic violence and sexual abuse.
The reality is that leagues like the NFL do indeed have a huge problem among its player base related to issues of overspending, lavish lifestyles, and gender violence. But herein lies the rub – black athletes are over-represented when it comes to negative media coverage of such cases.
This can be readily seen in news reporting of cases of domestic and sexual violence – instances by white players go underreported, while black athletes get heavy negative press. Another form of this kind of stereotyping can be found in the HBO comedy Ballers.
The view the clothes, everything painted the stereotype to the max
Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a retired footballer turned agent, Ballers milks the rich black athlete stereotype to the maximum. The main characters are all black NFL players hell-bent on buying up million-dollar cars, lots of bling, and of course gambling as well.
Ballers is a perfect example of how Black superstars are often portrayed in TV and film as flamboyant and excessive in everything they do. Parties all the time, massive mansions, big yachts and a tendency for gambling.
Whether it be sports betting or classic casino games – it is always blackjack, poker and other high stakes games for these millionaire playboys. The problem here is not that black athletes don’t do all this stuff – they are culpable, but they are not alone.
There are no racial lines dividing athletes when it comes to their off-field behavior. Both white and black players get into trouble with their hedonistic lifestyles. But when it comes to news clippings or shows like Ballers, it is always the black men who get more negative coverage.
Coverage of white athletes tends to be more positive, showing the good, responsible individuals and those men leading exemplary domestic lives.
Why Only Football and Basketball?
The genetics and slave breeding theory falls flat on its face when we look at other professional sports like baseball and soccer. Black players are a minority in those leagues, with whites and Latinos more successful.
It has got a lot more to do with socio-economic changes in black communities – loss of factory jobs, lower wages, increasing crime and police repression all contributed to this situation. Football and basketball are more popular and more easily accessible in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods.
Baseball and soccer practice is more accessible to middle-class suburban families. If you take a look at the background of many black baseball players, you will find that a lot of them come from the same middle-class, suburban origins as their white and Latino peers. This is one of the main reasons why the black domination of pro sports in America does not extend much beyond football and basketball.
There are no easy solutions to this problem. But any attempt at change has to come from the top. And for a start, we can begin with the top echelons of power in the NBA and NFL leagues. The day when the levels have at least 50% representation of black talent, we can start having some hope!