Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Racism in today's society
Essay on racism in sports
Racism in today's society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Racism in today's society
On April 24th 2014, the entertainment television channel TMZ released an audio record of a conversation between Donald Sterling, the owner of the professional basketball team Los Angeles Clippers, and his girlfriend. In the conversation, Sterling expressed his extreme racism towards the African Americans. He specifically told his girlfriend, “You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that… and not to bring them to my games.” Sterling’s recorded conversation immediately invoked a series of protesting reactions from a great deal of public figures within and outside the basketball field. Five days after the recording tape was released, on April 30th 2014, Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, announced that Sterling would be banned from NBA games for life, and most likely would be forced to sell the Clippers. Silver stated, “We stand together in condemning Mr. Sterling’s views. They simply have no place in the NBA.”
This story proves that even though the society’s opinion towards racism has changed dramatically for the better in the past decades, racism still exists and remains a real problem in our society today. It becomes even more important to look back into the past and re-examine the legacies of anti-racism, especially one of the most prominent anti-racist figures in history, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. He was famous for his activism in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and after his death by assasination has become an influential figure in the anti-racism movement.
On August 28, 1963, the date of the March on Washington, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King delivered his most essential speech in his ca...
... middle of paper ...
...nst Sterling’s racism proves that racism is declining, and the world is changing for the better. In King’s own words, “in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” If he can be here today, he would be happy to see that his dreams have finally come true.
Works Cited
King, Martin Luther Jr. “I Have a Dream.” Lincoln Memorial, Washington, District of Columbia. 28 August 1963. Public address.
“About Dr. King.” The King Center. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Web. 4 May. 2014.
TMZ Staff. “L.A. Clippers Owner to GF: Don’t Bring Black People to My Games… Including Magic Johnson.” TMZ. EHM Productions, Inc, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 May. 2014.
“Donald Sterling receives lifetime ban.” ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 May. 2014.
On April 4, 1968 America experienced the tragic loss of one of its greatest social leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a pivotal leader in the civil rights movement who permeated American history as a man who maintained the importance of nonviolent social change. He fought racism within the public domain by pursuing school integration and basic civil rights for the African-American community. Thirty-one years after his death, America is forced to evaluate the exact implications of his legacy on modern society's attitudes towards race and race relations. Did the civil rights movement really promote positive changes in race relations? How far has American society really come?
It is no secret that Martin Luther King Jr. did great things. We have learned in school that he was a leader in the movement to desegregate the South. He has served as a role model for people across the globe. But even though Martin did change the world for the better, it was not without hardships. We gathered new information on Dr. King in the essay, “Heeding the Call” by Diana Childress. From his childhood to his last days, Martin faced massive opposition. Still, all of these challenges brought Martin the wisdom and idealism he used throughout his life.
In the end I believe the NBA commissioner Adam Silver made the right decision on banning and fining Donald Sterling. This shows his leadership skills and shows that he will not tolerate anything that could jeopardize the league and its players.
King introduces two phases of the Negroes struggle: “the first began in the 1950’s when Negroes slammed the door shut on submission and subservice,” and “when Negroes assertively
And more likely than not the next Jordan, and there will be one (just maybe not in basketball), will probably not want to put their entire career and reputation at risk even if it can benefit their entire race. People are motivated out of self-interest, and want to win. Rhoden really wants to believe that all black athletes are selfless and want the best for their community and race. But to expect this is really ludicrous. Kobe truly believes that the ends justifies the means. If he shoots the ball 3 for 21 on any given night but his third make happens to be a game winner, Kobe is a happy man. And if that means that he is hard to play with and teammates do not get along with him, then so be it. In Kobe 's words, “Friends come and go but banners hang
Traditionally speaking, the player was the property of the owner, so much so that players had little to no control over where they played or for whom. By demonstrating that he would play for the Miami Heat rather than the Cleveland Cavaliers, his hometown team that drafted him, James “disrupted the age-old American sporting tradition of the player and owner relationship,” in turn “shap[ing] his own destiny” (Ratchford 50). What makes James’ decision so potent is that he chose to televise it, a decision that many ridiculed as vainglorious and unnecessary, and one that even James admitted he might not have done again (Windhorst 2011). Even still, by televising his decision, James not only flouted tradition, but did so openly, outside of the back offices in which decisions like these are typically made and, instead, in the living room of white America. As such, white America must have surely realized that it no longer served as gatekeeper of Black self-determination. Rather, Black athletes were the ones in control over their own careers, and so would make the decisions that aligned with their desires and advanced their interests. As expected, this reality did not jar well with many white Americans, who took to the streets in protest, burning James’ jersey in the open and declaring the once beloved son a traitor and coward. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavilers, even “incited anti-James propaganda,” calling him a “‘coward narcisit’” that turned his back on his hometown (Ratchford 53), leading prominent Black figures like the Reverend Jessie Jackson to denounce the owner and his slave master mentality. As much as anything, James’s decision to leave the Cavaliers demonstrated that the young superstar understood that he was in charge of his
had delivered his speech on the day of August 28, 1963 titled “I Have a Dream.” to millions of people who wanted the same equality he did. A massive group gathered on that day in Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC men and women as well as the most prominent civil rights leaders for the same reason. (Archives). Freedom and equality. King had always wanted equality and freedom for African Americans, even as a younger man in college. And when he made that famous speech so powerful and inspiring a national change had begun with that once a brave and wise
On August 28th 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream…” speech in from
In the greatest demonstration for African Americans’ or Negroes’ freedom. Martin Luther King delivered his appeal on August 28th, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. which was entitled “I Have a Dream” to enormous group of civil rights marchers who demonstrated to press the United States government for equality and to reject racism. Martin Luther King was an African Americans leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and political activist of the claimants to end racial discrimination against blacks.
The National Basketball Association is the most popular professional basketball league in North America; it is also the most popular professional basketball league in the world. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most diverse businesses in the world, which was the deliberate plan of former NBA commissioner David Stern. The NBA was once an all white and male dominated league, now through years of an aggressive effort to diversify the organization the NBA is now one of the shining beacons for diversity, tolerance and acceptance in the workplace. Former NBA commissioner David Stern spearheaded and put into action on the best examples of creating and cultivation opportunities for success based on merit. “When David Stern steps down as NBA Commissioner in 2014, among the legacies he will have created is an era in professional sport when leagues and teams hired the best people possible. He embraced the moral imperative for diversity while helping to show the other leagues that diversity is also a business imperative. The evidence for the NBA’s continued commitment to racial equality is seen in the strong grades in the League Office and in many key areas on the team level.”(Lapchick, R.) To fully understand the transformation of the league we will cover the history of the association, team diversity, league diversity, the NBA diversity initiative, and current diversity issues.
King peacefully pleads for racial tolerance and the end of segregation by appealing to the better side of white Americans. His attempt to persuade America about the justice of his cause, and to gain support for the civil rights movement was emotionally moving. He spoke to all races, but his rhetoric was patriotic, and culturally similar to, and focused on African-Americans. He was able to make practical use of a history many Americans are proud of. The use of repetition reinforced his words making it simpler and more straightforward to follow. His speech remains powerful because it is still relevant today, like economic injustices and stereotyping. This reading can be applied to remedying current issues of stereotyping, racism, and discrimination by changing white racial resentment and eliminating racial
There are three ways to feel towards racism: accept it, hate it or be neutral. However, according to Jesse Jackson in his essay “Jets of Water Blast Civil Rights Demonstrators” and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” there are only two feelings, for it or against it. They both use the acts of oppression in Birmingham to instigate their feelings. The disparity, though, is that Dr. King experienced the oppressive acts first hand, while Jackson gains passion on the incidents from pictures. Jackson and King share a similar side of extreme anti-segregation, but differ in the way acts of oppression affect them and in their views of who holds the power to control these acts.
Racism is still in sports today. Which is a big deal because all the athletes want to do is just play the sport that they work so hard for all their life to become so good at and, they want to do is live the dream. I read an ESPN article about how racism are still in sports today, and they were saying “2014 was filled with news stories about racism in sports. Although it seems we have made much progress in hiring practices in our front offices and league offices, there are still racial issues in sports we must deal with both domestically and, especially, internationally. What was different about 2014 in sports were the newly raised voices of athletes speaking out on racial issues. Through Dec. 23, there were 17 reported domestic incidents of racism in sports and 89 reported international incidents in 2014. Domestically there were 10 incidents of racism in football, six in basketball and one in the UFC. NBA dealt with two major incidents of racism: the leaked tape of Donald Sterling's racist remarks and Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson's self-reported email with racist content. A third owner's remarks were also questioned. The most widely discussed case was that of Sterling, the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Although Sterling's racist comments were not news to many, given his past, hearing the shocking words on the audio recording was enough to have him removed as owner of the team and handed a lifetime ban from Commissioner Adam
Even though many organizations claim to be about equality and respect for their players and even their spectators—of color. It becomes evident that respect and equality is not the priority of the organization, which are headed by majority White males. For example, in 2014, the Atlanta Hawks, a sport organization with a roster majority of young Black men and its fans being nearly 70 percent Black came under criticism and investigation for racist comments made via email and phone conference. The racist comments that were made were by former Hawks owner, Bruce Levenson, and Hawks GM, Danny Ferry; Both White men. Both Levenson and Ferry were involved in two race controversies. Former Atlanta Hawks’ owner Bruce Levenson sent out an email to other Hawks CEOs stating that the audience and it entertainment (the team, cheerleaders, halftime talent, music selection, etc.) are all Black. Levenson continued to say in his email that because the audience and entertainment were majority Black, it was scaring aware White fans and investors from coming to the games (Joesph, 2014, USA Today. On the other hand, Hawks’ GM Danny Ferry was recorded during a conference call making defamatory remakes about free agent, at the time, Luol Deng who the Hawks were trying to acquire. During the call, Ferry professes that “ ‘[Deng] has a little African in him’ ”(ESPN.com). In the
As King states in his "I Have a Dream" speech, "I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers" (Para 20).... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Ens, Jack Vans. Practice patience under pressure.