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Throughout the 20th Century, the world was often divided deeply on the touchy and uncomfortable topic of race. No place showed this more and continues to show it better than the world of sports. From the 1920's when in most parts of the world it was unheard of for certain races to associate with other races, to the 1940's when Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier becoming the first African-American player to play in the Major Leagues. The world has made great strides in its acceptance and equality throughout the years, but there is still a long way to go.

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The world is full of racial and ethnic stereotypes about every kind of people. The sports world may represent this better than any type of sample you will be able to find. The common ones being African-Americans are faster, quicker, and can jump higher than competition, Dominicans and Hispanics are better at baseball, White people can't jump or run very fast, Asians are just not very good at sports or athletic at all. Obviously, I do not believe, condone, or spread these stereotypes in any way, but that is the way the sports world thinks about certain races. This has been going on since the early 20th century when the NBA was hesitant to allow African-Americans to participate in the league due to a fear of certain teams having more than others and gaining an "Athletic Advantage". All major sports leagues and Associations have been fighting long and hard for years for the stereotypes of their leagues to fade away, but with little success.

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Flag bearers at the 2017 WBC in Miami, Florida

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Major League Baseball might be the least susceptible to racial stereotypes throughout the league due to that fact that being a good baseball player might require the least amount of athletic ability of any of the 3 major sports. The World Baseball Classic, held every 4 years around the world might gather the most stereotypical comments and assumptions than any other baseball event around the world. Every 4 years the world public becomes dejected and somewhat unamused by the WBC because of the common preconceived notion that The Dominican Republic or Mexico or Cuba will win due to a long standing reputation for producing great baseball players and producing great WBC teams. Although this is not true, different countries win the WBC all the time, the stereotypes of cultures in baseball are here to stay and seemingly have shown no signs of stopping.

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This topic connects to the chapter because of the fact that it shows how sports and culture are all connected in the sense that over the course of history racism has been a prominent component and sadly a constant in American society but has gotten monumentally better throughout the past decades.

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Based on recent data compiled by the National Basketball Association, 74.3% of the payers in the league are African-American. How does that help fight stereotypes? It doesn't. With only around 25% of the population of the league being a race other than black, it shows more and more than anything else it is somewhat strange to see a white person on an NBA basketball court(Minus the usual 7-foot tall European that has seemingly made its way onto every team in the league). That being another stereotype, the white guys are always supposedly good shooters, not true. Tall people cant shoot free-throws, not true, proven wrong by Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, who is one of the leaders in career free-throw percentage throughout NBA history.

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ESPN, RICHARD LAPCHICK via.   "The Year in Racism and Sports." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.

Keith Parry Lecturer in Sport Management, Western Sydney University, and Lindiwe Dovey Senior Lecturer in African Film and Performance Arts, SOAS, University of London. "Racism in Sport News, Research and Analysis." The Conversation. N.p., 23 Aug. 2016. Web. 22 May 2017.

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Graph showing racial diversity in sports

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The National Football League has a reputation for being a predominantly black league, minus the quarterbacks. There are 5 black quarterbacks starting in the league right now, more than there ever has been in the past, but not as many where it gets to the point of it not being uncommon. Going back to the days of Randall Cunningham and Michael Vick, black quarterbacks have been referred to more as "running quarterbacks" or "athletes" rather than quarterbacks. The sheer athleticism of some quarterbacks perpetuates that stereotype while in comparison to other(white) quarterbacks throughout the league. The stereotypes go both ways though. White quarterbacks are often viewed as very unathletic, smarter football players along with being more fundamentally sound due to less reliance on athletic ability