Racism Case
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Racism has played a huge role in sports in America and has changed the perception of how people are viewed and how the sports are played. Racism was once used as a way to demean and keep certain races down in order to keep whites as the only dominant race. However, once blacks and other races started progressing in other sports racism was used to show that whites should be the only ones considered dominant and people were willing to change the rules in order to prove so. It did not matter what the sport was as long as whites continued to be the hierarchy they were fine with the same outcome. Much like everything else in American history whites had to prove they were the dominant superior race that could control the country and every aspect in the states whether it was politics, media and sports. Racism has proven to be what kept America back from integrating races because scientist believed that the two races were not genetically similar and that blacks would be inferior to whites if the participated with them.
As seen in the film on Joe Louis he was resented at first because he was thought to be another Jack Johnson a prominent black boxer that everyone hated because he was not what whites wanted out of black people. Johnson was too flamboyant and was frequently seen with white women. Whites did not want Louis to be like him so they would not allow him to get a chance at a tittle shot until Louis had to give up half his salary for over ten years to get a chance. Also as seen in the film once Louis had returned from helping in the war and his boxing career was over the company of Coca- Cola helped his German and Nazi rival Max Schmeling which was worth millions and could have helped Louis and his debt owed to the IRS and government.
Another way racism played a role in America is that it instilled fear into blacks from speaking out against the oppression that they faced it caused backs from wanting to help themselves even though they knew injustice was occurring all around them. Blacks were afraid that they would lose their wealth and success if they spoke out against the racial issues they faced. In Jim Browns article “Racism in Context” from the novel The Unlevel Playing Field Brown says that he believed that O.J. Simpson “cant tell the truth to America” which means that Simpson who was a prolific player in the NFL was too scared that he would be stripped of his success and fame if he spoke out about the hardships that blacks had to endure.
Another form of racism has been the Washington Redskins name, logo and mascot. The Redskin is a derogatory name used for Native Americans that has not been changed because it has been with the organization for years. Also the local area has not been to friendly to blacks so the athletes felt a double standard whenever they were pulled over and they were treated differently if they were not known as an athlete.
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