BFS142 - Raising a Fist and Taking a Knee: Race, Resistance and the Black Athlete

Subject Title
Raising a Fist and Taking a Knee: Race, Resistance and the Black Athlete

Subject Description
The sporting world is sometimes read as a microcosm of the world, where social, cultural, and political realities play out symbolically in arenas dedicated to entertainment. For Black athletes, they are often told by non-Black arbiters that their energies should be put into playing the game, and that they should avoid temptations to speak out and to protest issues of racism and inequality; in short, they should ?shut up and dribble.? The athlete should ignore historical abuses of the Black body, such as ones that promoted scientifically mandated ideas of its superior brawn over brain, segregated it and restricted it from competing with White athletes, robbed it of equal financial compensation, and denigrates it for ingratitude to the generosity of its owners/masters. Many laud Black athletic performance for its aesthetic brilliance, and improvisatory invention, but fail to see the mental and physical toll that the athletes pay for their achievements, including violence, sexism, racism, and other forms of oppression. Whether we consider the silent and powerful resistance of Jackie Robinson, the powerfully visual statements of John Carlos and Tommie Smith, Colin Kaepernick?s Civil-Rights-inflected gesture, and the WNBA?s ?Voice for the Voiceless? BLM campaign, the course will analyze the complexities of Black athletic involvement where the game becomes more than a game.

Credit Status
One General Education Credit

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this subject the student will be able to:

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