Black Male Media Plight
•
0 likes•966 views
M. Dexter's presentation at the 2017 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) Conference: Black males in media discourse are considered deviant, unintelligent, who seek fame and material possession, and who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The media discourse instills negative and ambiguous self-representations of Black males' masculinity. The salient images of the black heterosexual body as seen in rappers, athletes, entertainment and film stars disseminates adverse depictions of black masculinity as incapable, hostile and oversexed. Such media representations coax black families to steer their adolescents away from diverse educational opportunities that would permit socioeconomic advancement in society, with the place of choice being athletics. The source of data for this study are derived from the Netflix docuseries 'Last Chance U.' Utilizing Dr. Harry Edwards' notion of the triple tragedy, this presentation seeks to critique ways in which the media and sport institutions both propagate and institutionalize heteronormative ideologies of Black male athletes. The authors intend to stimulate conversations on how the media replicates injurious tropes of perseverance in athletics, hindering young Blacks' from actualizing their future outside of athletics, and validate fragile conceptions of Black masculinity. Furthermore, this session also seeks to illuminate opportunities for both the media and sport institutions to provide constructive narratives of Black athletic success, ultimately steering young Blacks from the plight of perpetual possibility.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (19)
Similar to Black Male Media Plight
Similar to Black Male Media Plight (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Black Male Media Plight
- 1. Black Males in the Media: And the Plight of Perpetual Possibility A Critical Perspective Marques R. Dexter Dr. jepkorir-Rose Chepyator-Thomson University of Georgia
- 2. • Media representations of Black males • Reality of Athletic Success • Crisis of Black Athletes & TripleTragedy • Last Chance U • Plight of Perpetual Possibility • Progressing Black Males Forward Overview:
- 3. Visual Representations: Deficient & ambivalent
- 4. Black [heterosexual] masculinity is figured in the popular imagination as the basis of masculine hero worship in the case of rappers; as naturalized and commodified bodies in the case of athletes; as symbols of menace and threat in the case of black gang members; and as noble warriors in the case of Afrocentric nationalists and Fruit of Islam. (Gray, 1995, p. 402) Intersection of Black Males & Masculinity
- 5. Black males are over- identifying with athletes as a result of their over- representation in the media. Moreover, lauding physical performance over academic performance (Beamon and Bell, 2006)
- 6. Sport is more than an activity, it’s a means of defining self (Bimper & Harrison, 2011) Historically, sport is an arena where boys can express their manliness and become men (Hawkins, 2010)
- 7. Pipe Dreams
- 8. Probability of Competing Beyond High School Figures (NCAA, 2017)
- 9. Probability of Competing Beyond High School Figures (NCAA, 2017)
- 10. Crisis of Black Athletes Long-standing, widely held racist, and ill-informed presumption of innate, race-linked Black athletic superiority and intellectual deficiency Media narratives portraying sports as a broadly accessible route to Black social and economic mobility Lack of comparably visible, high- prestige Black role models beyond the sports arena (Edwards, 2000)
- 11. Triple Tragedy 1. Obsessive pursuit of sports goals that most will never obtain 2. Personal and cultural under-development afflicting many successful and unsuccessful Black sport aspirants 3. Cultural and institutional underdevelopment throughout Black society, partially in consequence to the drain in talent potential towards athletics and away from vital occupational and career emphasis (medicine, law, economics, politics, education, and technical fields) (Edwards, 2000)
- 13. Racial Stacking
- 14. Athletic Superiority & Intellectual Deficiency
- 16. The White Savior
- 17. NO Plan B
- 18. Fragile Black Masculinity Self-representations of Black masculinity within Western society have been structured throughout history by and against prevailing and dominating conversations surrounding masculinity and race (Gray, 1995, p. 401).
- 19. Inabilitytoactualizetheirinnatepotential InternalizationofFalseconceptionsofself & self-worth Hinderedbya lackofOpportunitiesfor success beyondathletics Adoptionofdangerousandproblematichabits Ascriptiontohegemonic & toxicmasculinitytraits Lackofownershipover their circumstancesin life
- 20. How can institutions of power Progress Black Males Forward?
- 21. Redefine & Reimagine Black Masculinity
- 24. THANK YOU
- 25. Works Cited Beamon, K., & Bell, P. A. (2006). Academics versus athletics: An examination of the effects of background and socialization on African American male student athletes. Social Science Journal, 43(3), 393-403. doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2006.04.009 Bimper, A. Y., Jr., & Harrison, L., Jr. (2011). Meet Me at the Crossroads: African American Athletic and Racial Identity. Quest, 63(3), 275-288. Brown, D. D. (2017). The Portrayal of Black Masculinity in the NFL: Critical Race Theory and the Images of Black Males. In B. J. Hawkins, A. R. Carter-Francique ,& J. N. Cooper (Eds.), Critical Race Theory: Black Athletic Sporting Experiences in the United States (pp. 217-246). New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. Edwards, H. (2000). Crisis of black athletes on the eve of the 21st century. Society, 37(3), 9-13. Ford, K. A. (2011). Doing Fake Masculinity, Being Real Men: Present and Future Constructions of Self among Black College Men. Symbolic Interaction, 34(1), 38-62. doi:10.1525/si.2011.34.1.38 Gray, H. (1995). Black Masculinity and Visual Culture. Callaloo, 18(2), 401-405. Hawkins, B. (2010). The new plantation: Black athletes, college sports, and predominantly white NCAA institutions: Palgrave Macmillan. Hughey, M. W. (2010). The white savior film and reviewers' reception. Symbolic Interaction, 33(3), 475-496. NCAA. (2017). 2017 Probability of Competing Beyond High School Figures and Methodology. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-college-athletics Satterfield, J. W., & Croft, J. C. (2015). The Athletic Casting Call: Factors Contributing to the Social Construction of the Black Male College Athlete. In Black Males and Intercollegiate Athletics: An Exploration of Problems and Solutions (pp. 21-43): Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Editor's Notes
- Media representations of Black masculinity operate within the cultural politics of Blackness…it marks the racial and cultural boundaries of a counter-hegemonic Blackness which stands for the Black nation, the Black family, and the authentic Black (male) self (Gray, 1995)
- Contemporary images of Black masculinity challenge hegemonic constructions of whiteness (Gray, 1995) Contemporary expressions of Black masculinity work symbolically in a number of directions at once; they challenge and disturb racial and class construction of Blackness; they also rewrite and re-inscribe the patriarchal and heterosexual basis of masculine privilege (and domination) based on gender and sexuality (Gray, 1995) The social and cultural norms associated with American culture are also firmly rooted in American sports culture
- Individuals providing the standards of behavior and ways of enactment relating to the socially constructed gender roles for Black males are entertainers and sports figures. Frightening, it has been discovered that more and more young Black children are being socialized into sports, often specializing in one before they can adequately read and write. But what we have discovered is sport is one of the most consistently pervasive aspects of contemporary culture, emerging as a significant barometer of defining masculinity (Moss, 2011)
- Many of the images of Black masculinity in mainstream media are based on stereotypical exaggerations and blatant falsehoods of White imagination…strengthened specifically in the world of sports…even more specifically in the visual images of the NFL, which are the most pervasive portrayals of Black masculinity (Brown, 2017, pp. 217-218)
- Dr. Harry Edwards
- Tragedy 1: Black youths in obsessive pursuit of sports goals that most will never obtain Tragedy 2: Personal and cultural under-development that afflicts many successful and unsuccessful Black sport aspirants Tragedy 3: Cultural and institutional underdevelopment throughout Black society partially in consequence to the drain in talent potential towards athletics and away from vital occupational and career emphasis (medicine, law, economics, politics, education, and technical fields)
- First episode date: July 29, 2016 Location(s): Scooba, Mississippi, United States Stars: Head Coach Buddy Stephens DT Ron Ollie RB DJ Law QB John Franklin III QB Wyatt Roberts Academic Advisor Brittany Wagner
- Unlike their White counterparts, Black males--especially athletes--historically lack opportunities to visualize themselves in positions of power. This salient representation of White leadership produces a heightened association with an athletic identity (Bimper, 2015). Understandably, the social environment of athletics places the coach as a paternal replacement for many Black male athletes who come from single-parent households (Satterfield & Croft, 2015, p. 24). Comparable to the demographics of many football programs throughout the professional and intercollegiate realms, a clear majority of the players are Black, while the bulk of the coaching and support staff are White. Only one White and one Black coach are featured in the show. With such a gross lack of representation throughout society, it is no surprise that Black families foster their young males who show athletic promise toward athletic careers, neglecting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) or educational professions.
- With these characteristics coupled with the dominant narrative of troubled Blacks who come to a predominately White institution to gain redemption, Last Chance U blatantly perpetuates the White Savior trope. Here, Blacks are depicted as individuals lacking agency to foster success and lack resilience; any success is resultant from the involvement of a White person, whose actions redeem the failure of the person of color (Charise & Sarah, 2015). These representations are severely damaging for young Blacks. Since racial groups form images of themselves and others throughout the media (Hughey, 2010), a subconscious belief of inferiority is adopted among Black male athletes, ensuing from a White player will save them. A prime example of the White Savior trope can be found in episode two, where Wyatt, a White quarterback, is presented to the audience as the tenured player within his position group. Things shake up when John Franklin III, a Black, Florida State University transfer, comes in and is lauded by the coaches for his speed and agility. Frequently throughout Wyatt is depicted as a team’s savior, being brought into the game several times to take over and help the team to victory, as John consistently fails to capitalize on plays, causing the team to progress further away from actualizing victory.
- Within American culture, sports and athletics are embedded into the culture, where daily habits are established around notable teams and athletes (Satterfield & Croft, 2015, p. 22). Representations of such is shown throughout the series with the athletes, even in their spare time, are either discussing sports, playing sports video games, wearing athletic gear—whether it's school-issued, from their previous institution, or of a professional team—as well as using their athletic social status to swoon members of the opposite sex.
- The problematic representations of Black athletic success, saturation of White Savior tropes, and false images of Black masculinity displayed within Last Chance U embody Edwards' triple tragedy crisis and perpetuate the adoption of false meaning institutionalized and naturalized within the minds of contemporary Black society. Even though the experiences of these young men are common amongst many contemporary Black males, replicating malicious and misleading messages throughout the media glorifies a destructive route to success and upward mobility.
- As said best by Dr. Frank Harris during the recent Black Minds Matter livestream, we need to stop looking at Black masculinity singularly. It is important to look at it pluralistically. By doing so, we can then give Black males permission to be their authentic selves.
- With so many salient representations of Black males and their deficiencies, it’s pivotal to provide counter-narratives, especially ones highlighting Black males’ lived experiences; helping them to understand that high-levels of academics and athletics can go hand-in-hand
- And if successful, we will then provide additional pathways to success for Black males. Recognizing that athletics is just one avenue.