Sports and Ethnicity

Sports are incredibly important for African American culture. They are often portrayed as a ticket out of the difficult and oppressive lives that they endure and a way to live meaningful lives outside of poverty. It is popular for Hollywood to portray the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" image while telling stories of African American success in sports. This is, after all, part of the American Dream. Pop culture and news sources often choose the select few stories of black males who come out of the depths of poverty and achieve successful careers as sports superstars. The reality is, these stories are few and far between, and it is incredibly difficult to break the cycle of poverty and oppression that many African American communities face. Hoop Dreams is a prime example of this. Both of the young boys featured in the film were given rare opportunities to play basketball in schools outside of their lower class neighborhoods. Hollywood would take their stories and conclude that the two young men went on to play professional sports and have very accomplished athletic careers. The reality of the situation, however, was that neither were able to pursue professional sporting careers once they graduated. Their adversities persisted, and both found it incredibly difficult to leave their lower class standing. The images portrayed in Hollywood of successful African American athletes who overcame adversities could be seen as detrimental to preserving the myth of race. Racism still exists in America, and Hollywood puts a lot of effort into creating images that argue otherwise. Leaving your socioeconomic standing is difficult in itself, and stories of Black Americans achieving extraordinary feats that allow them to rise from the depths of poverty and oppression are incredibly rare. Yet, we still see many movies suggesting otherwise. I believe it is incredibly important for us to realize that we are putting pressure on Black Americans by making claims that anyone can become a successful athlete if they put in the hard work.