The Fight for Equal Access in Sports

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The development of sports in the modern era has an equal share of the history of inclusionary rights, especially with regard to women and minorities. Long branded as a tough sell, these groups have had a long fight for equal access to sports and leisure. Pioneers such as Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Billie Jean King, all overcame those challenges and rose to the pinnacle of their sport in this era. This has led to a gradual overhaul in the ideology of Americans towards minorities in sports of today. However, this was a process wrought with difficulty, and these pioneers had to fight relentlessly for not only inclusion, but also recognition of their status in sports. Examining the history of sports with regard to these athletes, we will focus on the challenges that each of these athletes faced in their era, and review some of the inclusionary practices of this time. At the conclusion, the reader will gain a better sense of the plight and accomplishments experienced by minority and female athletes, who were firstly, groundbreakers.
During a racial and segregated Jim Crow era, sports were no different from restaurants, bathrooms, or schools. There were places for whites to play sports, and there were specific and usually less adequate places for minorities to play sports. Americas pastime, baseball, is a great example of how sports enforced the Jim Crow laws and culture of the time. Major league baseball denied access for black baseball players to play, and therefore aided in the creation of the negro leagues, which in essence was the first step towards eventual integration. However, at the time only few saw that goal, most were just excited to play and watch baseball. The start of the negro leagues in America was impo...

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...elated to sports. However, Guttmann expands on the negativity of Title IX; “Although Title IX has forced changes, it has not wrought miracles. P. 222” Title IX was by no means the end to the struggle of women equality in sports, but a great leap towards it. It caused controversy and confusion. How was the legislation supposed to be interpreted? And the fact that there were more male athletes than women athletes led many to believe that title IX would fail. However, as the years went by the number of female athletes in college increased dramatically, meaning that title IX was an important and detrimental part of the feminist movement to gain equality.
Closing point – these three examples set the stage for the current trend in today’s sports. Blacks and whites play alongside each other – Wimbledon paid both male and female winners same prize money, etc.

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