Is There Racism In Sports?

It has often been declared that the sporting world is one of the society’s truest forms of meritocracies that exist. It is perceived by many that sports provide people of all backgrounds, and life experiences, a level playing field; that all social constructs such as religion, educational level, or personal ideology are dismissed once the participating athletes step foot into the arena of their prospective sports. In an ideal scenario, this particular school of thought would be valid. However, it is only necessary to deal with real life.
Sports, just like any other institution or area of society, has been inundated with more than its fair share of discrimination and negative perceptions held by many members of the dominant American society. Perhaps the most well-documented example of racism in sports has to be Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking foray into the ranks of Major League Baseball after playing in the Negro Leagues before that. Another notable instance of racial overtones in sports would include the aforementioned negative perceptions of the black athletes in the eyes of both certain sports fans and casual observers alike.
However, there is one racial disparity that exists in sports actually parallels that of what is actually occurring in society outside of the world of sport. This disparity that I am referring to is the gross lack of a substantial black presence in pivotal positions, such as coaching, front office executives, and most important position in sports, ownership.
The lack of blacks in ownership is comically ironic. With professional sports being dominated in number--in addition to domination by the sheer performance of black athletes--(such as the NBA, NFL, MMA/UFC, and Boxing), there is a lack of owners in the team sports such as the NBA and NFL. The lack of black-owned promotion teams in individual sports such as MMA and boxing further states this case.
To address the many racial issues that occur in sports would be redundant. The accumulation of financial assets and wealth equates to power, regardless of any industry one works in. I believe it was the founder of the Rothschild Banking Dynasty who once said, “Give me control of a nation’s money supply, and I care not who make its laws.” To relate Rothschild’s quote to the topic at hand, it basically means that the one(s) with the most money have the most leverage, and that is how society operates. The very meaning of racism itself is a group of people who have a clear cut political, economical, and social advantage over another group of individuals whom they discriminate against.

Until blacks are in ownership positions in sports and decide to start sports leagues and associations of their own, racism will always maintain a crushing chokehold on the black (employees) athletes that serve to produce an entertaining product for countless people, thus generating billions as a result of their athletic performance. -Bryson Clark, Melanoid Nation Blogger (November 18, 2014) Courtesy of Melanoid Nation
(You can find all of Melanoid Nation’s posts here http://melanoidnation.org/.)

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