Evolution of SportsEssay Preview: Evolution of SportsReport this essaySports have evolved significantly over the course of history to become what it is today. There have been many characteristics that have molded modern sports, but the most predominant in the evolution is equality. The development of prevailing sports can be also be attributed to other characteristics, such as secularism, specialization, rationalization, bureaucracy, quantification, and records, but during the period of 1865-1950, equality of different racial groups played a vital part in shaping our country, in addition to sports. We can look at specific sports, such as football and basketball to see how they opened up to different races, genders, and social classes to become the successes they are today.
We can start by looking at the ancient Greeks to see how the history of sports began. Women are thought to not play a part in the history of sports until recently, however Greek history proves otherwise. Women would compete in separate events, and had limited rights as to what they could play, but it is important to note that rights were offered to them. Slaves and all those who were not Greek were not allowed to partake in any sports games in the start. The Greeks tended to create different sporting groups based on size rather than age, which was a starting point for equality. As time progressed, sports seemed to demonstrate inequality based on class. For example, only noblemen could play tennis around the 1500s, and similar circumstances were seen with horse riding. Equality seemed to have a different connotation from sport to sport.
As the 1865-1950s came around in America, sports had been starting to break away from the equality standard that had been set over the past couple centuries. For the first time, sports were seeing the appearance of African Americans (e.g. Jackie Robinson in 1947) and the NFL had allowed African Americans to join in the 1940s. Collegiate sports were where African Americans saw their first game time action in 1890s. These were drastic steps that the country was taking. Despite the entire civil right movement that was going on, African Americans were still able to get their names out in sports for the first time.
Why is equality the predominant force in the evolution? Had it not been for the breaking of the racial barrier, sports such as basketball and football would not be subjected to the great African-American influence they have today. Additionally, women would not have the same privileges in sports. During this time period, women were making appearances in basketball, golf, hockey, and even fighting. Colleges, such as Vassar, were becoming more open to the idea of letting women create their own sports teams, and eventually, women became fully adapted into sports. The government started to intervene to make sure women were receiving fair rights. Title IX stated that sex discrimination would not be tolerated; this was the first time
The Constitution
In the 16th amendment, the US Constitution explicitly gave equal rights with respect to race, color, religion, and national origin. The US Constitution does not permit racial preferences.
In an op-ed titled “The Declaration of Independence”, President John Adams proposed a system of laws that would ensure equal rights for all Americans without discriminating against groups under the “White race”.
A White man’s race has nothing to do with his gender, social position, education or even anything else that could possibly be construed to promote race relations.
In 1817 the federal government began to restrict race relations as a separate category under the “White race” classification, which was applied to people of other race.
In 1836 Congress passed the Federal Racial Equality Act (S.A. 1098, also known as the Freedom to Choose Act) that codified, under the law and adopted in force since the 17th century, the concept of race as “equity” under federal law. White male leaders would be able, without discrimination, to make the choice of whether or not to serve in the United States senate or vice-presidential race and to participate in political debates. Although all federal officials were required to file formal reports, as much as one-third of all decisions for such officials were made by men and minority groups, which constituted the principal reason that the Federal Government was able to discriminate against non-white people.
In addition, the President was asked to consider affirmative action among candidates as part of the first steps in establishing a National Opinion Survey of the President’s conduct with respect to race. These decisions were made in August of 1836 and were subsequently challenged by Congress and the Supreme Court. One of the most controversial provisions that was made to this date was the National Opinion Survey of Senator John Adams which was used to determine the role gender played in whether a Senator would support affirmative action. More than 70 percent of respondents agreed with both of these propositions.
In addition to the use of racial discrimination in the hiring and development of law enforcement forces, as well as the use of race as an official factor in criminal justice policies, all governmental officials were expected to support equality in the hiring and development of law enforcement.
In the 1970s the Federal Court was to decide whether race was a principal factor in criminal justice policies. The Federal court also ruled that racial discrimination existed in the hiring of judges and jury members. The Court reasoned that there was no evidence that race influenced the selection or decision to hire blacks.
In 1986 the court affirmed an earlier ruling by the federal court of appeals, which upheld the law’s application to whites as they hired white judges