The Isms Competing Against Black Athletes
“We have to be thankful, and we also have to be positive so that the next black person can be number one on that list. Maybe it’s meant to be the next person to be amazing and I’m just opening the door” -Serena Williams
Unity Turned Discrimination
Sports for centuries has proven to be a great unifier and way to uplift nations by having their representative athletes brought into the spotlight. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that racism, sexism, and ethnocentrism in addition to various -isms continue to stay present on pitches, courts, and fields across the globe. The discrimination black athletes face varies greatly and can affect them on many levels. A black wrestler in high school facing racial bias at the state competition by being forced to cut off locks or forfeit a match, Naomi Osaka being a Japanese-Haitian representing her nations to the U.S Open tennis champion but having to forfeit dual citizenship if she wishes to fully retain her ethnic background, and soccer player Dani Alves on FC Barcelona having to deal with bananas being thrown at him during games.
While there are more awareness and media attention towards acts of discrimination and hate speech in the stadiums, the condition of sports is not getting any better. The sport contains aspects of tribalism, that the spectator is coerced going to a match and picking a side to support. The -isms being forms of tribalism may rear their ugly heads in the most unsettling ways partially due to many spectators withdraw inhibition because they have been tapped back into a tribalist mindset. This is not to say that sports coerce discrimination or to justify its occurrence, but to provide another perspective among the many reasons why one chooses to be a part of senseless acts of discrimination. Of course, a spectator already has entered the arena with hate, prejudice and resentment towards a particular group before the game even started. After the fact, many are quick to say that the spectator’s comments are provocation, mockery or sarcastic chants meant to rile up the player and are in fact not racist.
Instances at the Global Level
Instances of discrimination must be combatted and put to an end. With social media continuing to expose more instances of prejudice to peoples’ attention, activism in sports proves to be increasingly necessary. Athletes have begun to use their various platforms to bring awareness to issues at a global level. There are debates on whether it is acceptable for black athletes to speak on injustices if it affects the proceedings of the sport itself, but a black athlete cannot say they are supportive and are a part of black culture without trying to enact positive change to the blatant or covert injustices in their sport. Colin Kaepernick brought much more attention to police brutality and racial inequality, Eric Reid shed a light on the issue of excessive drug testing of black athletes and Laila Ali, Colin Kaepernick, Caster Semenya Tiger Woods, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, LeBron James, Venus and Serena Williams, and many more continue to win titles, break-in past stereotypes and create opportunities in and outside of their sport.
Not only do spectators discriminate against players but international sports administrations may enact policies that subject their players to discrimination. One instance of gender bias was when the International Association of Athletics Federation in 2018 created regulations that prohibited female athletes who have hyperandrogenism, a naturally elevated level of testosterone, from competing unless they take medicine or contraceptives to reduce their levels. Caster Semenya, the South African two time Olympic gold medalist of the 800-meter competition who has hyperandrogenism, has become a spokesperson for the movement pushing back against these regulations. Women with higher levels of testosterone are restrained from competing at a national level, are forced to run different distances, made to compete against men or are restricted to racing against intersex athletes. In May 2019, Semenya took legal action but was still prohibited from participating at the Doha World Championships and the Diamond League in Morocco. Showing strength in the face of adversity Semenya won the 2000m race in Paris in June with a time of 5 minutes and 38.19 seconds. Now Semenya continues to stay strong in her stance as she inspires more athletes to come forward to continue to fight the unjust regulation.
Olympics and Futbol
For decades, acts of prejudice have been tied to the Olympics, a global event created to promote peace between nations. At the 2016 Olympics, Lebanese and Egyptian athletes were made to share a bus for transport to the opening ceremony. The Lebanese athletes chose to block the entrance and aisle so that the Egyptian athletes would not make it to the opening ceremony. The act became viewed as racist and anti-Semitic. Greek triple jump athlete Paraskevi Papahristou posted a racist tweet targeted towards all Africans and later apologized after she received quick backlash. Gabby Douglas, the first black gymnast to win a gold medal in the women all around, had an animal commercial broadcast after her performance which seemed to be an underhanded way to draw a comparison to a monkey gymnast. The NBC network apologized to viewers and said the advertisement was bad timing. An instance of colorism was presented at the global stage when viewers noticed the sprinter Lolo Jones getting significantly more media coverage than her dark skin contemporaries Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells even though those women won second and third place in the 100m hurdle.
One of the most well-known instances of racial prejudice is the one surrounding Mario Bonatelli, a world-class Italian Nigerian striker, playing for Brescia against the Serie A team Verona. Throughout the match, he had been racially abused by supporters of the opposing team. In the 53rd minute, he picked up the ball and kicked it into the stands where the chants were originating. FIFA protocol had the game was temporally suspended while an announcement was made that any further chants would lead to the match being ended. Threatening to walk off the pitch but then deciding to stay and finish the match, Bonatelli later went on to score a goal at the closing minutes of the match. At the end of the match, Bonatelli released a statement on social media thanking those that demonstrated solidarity at that moment and criticizing those that denied its occurrence. Verona’s manager at the time, Ivan Juric, failed to acknowledge that racist chants were made on the team stadium that day. That same weekend another incident was reported during a Napoli and Roma match. Inter Milan player earlier in the season suffered from racist abusee by Cagliari fans but any punishment was admonished because an independent judging panel found no compelling evidence. Often times the federation, club, league and police do not enforce sanctions due to lack of evidence so sometimes forums are held by players and officials for the public. However, 16 sanctions were placed on 12 clubs and federations from 11 different countries with a significant portion being made up of members of the Union of European Football Association by December 2019.
Pushing Back Against the Isms
Racism may be the largest stain that has plagued the football association for decades. Only in the last few years has there been more media attention surrounding the increasing number of reported racist incidents to create a call to action. Not only does the problem affect the black players, but also the black officials, black referees, and black supporters in the stands. Those in the stands throw slurs, trash, items such as umbrellas and bags. Stopping many players, for example, those that are about to take corner kicks, from continuing their gameplay. Not only does the turmoil happening in the stands of the pitch but there have been numerous instances of players not being able to leave the stadium because of fan blockades, and riots that have started. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association and other associations have been fining clubs for not being able to manage their crowd, the team for not being able to manage their fans.
Fines to the football clubs and federations are made with subsequent matches having to happen without a crowd. Football federations can be fined and clubs can be forced to hold the next match without having supporters allowed in the stands. The monetary punishment becomes an incentive for the club and federations to increase their sensitivity and resistance of discrimination. Many believe that the sanctions are too lenient because the fines are small relative to the club revenue and not enough is done to change the attitude. Organizations such as Kick It Out, “Disciplinary process[es] in response to racial discrimination should be overhauled and urge them to explain the decision-making process behind their sanctions for incidents of discrimination”. Many organizations such as the FARE network, Racism Against Europe network and the Kick It Out campaign have stepped up to tackle issues such as homophobia, racism and gender discrimination in sports. Collaborations with sports associations such as UEFA are created to have pro-inclusion messages on the uniform, create popular matches to raise money for more activism and create safe spaces for discussions to be held.
Athletes around the globe are making strides for the betterment of their sport to eliminate discrimination and to create pathways for marginalized groups to perform at the highest level. They stand strong in the face of dehumanizing attacks from supporters and the media because of their love for the sport and belief in themselves and their achievements. Laila Ali, Colin Kaepernick, Caster Semenya Tiger Woods, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, LeBron James, Venus and Serena Williams amongst many other Black athletes continue to win titles, create opportunities in and outside their sport and break past stereotypes by overcoming the limitations set upon them by others.
