Race and ethnicity in sport

1
Race and ethnicity in sport

• Sport can involve complex issues related to race
  and ethnicity.
• Race is defined as a population of people who
  are believed to be naturally or biologically
  distinct from other populations.
• Ethnicity refers to a particular cultural
  heritage that is used to identify a category of
  people.
• A minority is a socially identified population
  that suffers disadvantages due to systematic
  discrimination and has a strong sense of social
  togetherness based on shared experiences of past
  and current discrimination.
• Racial ideology consists of a web of ideas and
  beliefs that people use to give meaning to
  specific physical traits such as skin colour
  colour and to evaluate people in terms of how
  they are classified by race.

2
Race, racial ideology and sports

• Racial ideology occurs for example, when all 100
  m sprint finalists are black-Americans or from
  the Caribbean or when all 100 m sprit finalists
  in freestyle swimming are white.

3
Racial and ethnic relations in Canada

• Relation with the USA
• The US is a melting pot and Canada is a
  mosaic?
• Historical issues
• Segregated sports teams 1890-1930
• The use of Chinese immigrants to construct
  railways.
• Anti-Semitic policy that denied Jewish immigrants
  escaping Nazi Germany before WW11.
• Relations with Aboriginal peoples in the
  residential school system.
• Imprisonment of German-Italian and Japanese
  immigrants in WW1 and WW11.
• Anglo-Franco relations

4
Challenges in eliminating racial and ethnic
exclusion in sport participation

• When players are not excluded teams increase
  profits.
• Individual performance is assessed objectively
  without reference to race.
• Sport teams ensure all players benefit from
  success.
• When athletes play well there is no expectation
  they will be promoted into leadership positions.
• Team success is not related to off-field social
  relations.
• Ethnic minorities sign a contract with white
  coaches or managers .

5
Questions