Racism in Sport: The White Wide Receiver

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/packers-receiver-jordy-nelson-yeah-being-white-helps-me-on-the-football-field/

In class on April 12th, we discussed the presence of racism in sport.  One topic we discussed was the traditional race logic in sport.  Traditional race logic consists of stereotyping the achievements of African American athletes as due to biology and natural athleticism.  This same mode of thinking attributes the success of white athletes to character, culture, hard work, and the organization.  This article cites an example of it as Jordy Nelson, a white wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, claims that being white is beneficial for him as a receiver.  He and his teammates claim this because opposing players tend to underrate his tremendous abilities.  If what we discussed in class is true, then what Nelson is claiming only adds more credibility to the discussion.  Race logic is present in sport, and is one of the issues we need to start rectifying.

In Coakley's text on pages 289-291, he discussed the topic of racial ideology.  Coakley contends that different races have different ideologies when it comes to sport participation.  This has resulted in the forming of ideas about "white sports" and "black sports."  He cites an example of a high school athlete who was elected the states best athlete in both basketball and football.  When asked which sport he would pursue, he answered football, claiming that it would be easier to make it as a 6-6 white quarterback than a white forward in basketball.  This is only one example of race ideology.  Jordy Nelson and other white wide receivers like Wes Welker have decided to go against this racial ideology and achieved great success, just as quarterbacks such as Warren Moon, Steve McNair, and Cam Newton have done.  It is great for the sport of football and for sport in America as a whole to see these ideological barriers being broken, but there is still much work to do.