Exam 6: Racialethic Minorities and Sport Main Themes

According to your textbook, existing empirical studies lead to the conclusion that

The Harlem Globetrotters reinforce the "Sambo" stereotype of African Americans.

Information on the racial desegregation of sport shows that African Americans

Blacks, compared to Latinos and Asians, have the largest representation in Major League Baseball.

In the view of your textbook authors, the research shows that the most significant factor explaining African American dominance in some sports is

The situation in which minority group members are relegated to specific team positions and excluded from competing for others is called

The desegregation of professional sports for African Americans has been primarily motivated by

The pattern toward desegregation of sport has been primarily motivated by financial profits.

One reason that African American athletes have been more successful in certain sports, such as football and basketball, is that

The occupational limitations faced by African Americans in American society explain why they are overrepresented in all American sports.

Your textbook authors suggest three possible explanations for the overrepresentation of African American athletes in several popular sports. Explain what are they and describe the arguments that are used in support of two of them.

The situation in which minority group members are relegated to specific team positions and excluded from competing for others is called centrality.

During the past twenty years, one of the best-documented forms of assignment of players to a position on athletic teams based on ascribed status rather than achieved status is popularly known as "stacking."

Latinos were excluded from Major League Baseball until after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947.

With the exception of professional basketball, the corporate and decision-making structure of professional sports is still about as white as it was before Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball in 1947.

Functionalist theorists emphasize the socially constructed nature of race and consider it to be based on inherently racist social assumptions.

What is "stacking" as a form of discrimination in sports? Summarize the evidence and give examples of where it has existed in sports.

The idea that "sport is a way out of the ghetto"

Proportionately, there are just as many African American athletes today in professional individual sports as there are in team sports.

Respond to the following statement: "Although many positive changes have occurred, sport remains racist in many respects." If you think the statement is true, describe the ways that racism exists; if you think it is false, describe the evidence showing that it is false.