Sports Studies

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Armstrong, K. L., & Jennings, M. A. (2018).听.听Journal of Black Studies, 49(4), 349鈥369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934718760721

  • This study鈥檚 data came from a purposeful case selection of three Black male student-athletes enrolled in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 collegiate football program. Through the lenses of social-cognitive theory and CRT, 鈥渢he results elucidated (a) the impact of race as a psychological, cultural, and social anchor of 鈥榩lace鈥 for Black male student-athletes on a predominantly White college/university campus, and (b) race intersectionality with age, gender, social class, and environment to influence their educational experience.鈥

Bimper, A. Y., Jr. (2017).听.听Sport, Education and Society, 22(2), 175鈥193. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2015.1022524

  • Drawing upon CRT, this case study investigates a student-athlete mentoring program at an American institution of higher education to illuminate how Black student-athletes (N = 15) make sense of the role of race and racism in their lived experiences. Findings suggest that student-athletes were 鈥渃hallenged and encouraged by their mentors to critically consider the presence and impacts of Whiteness, to elevate their sociocultural consciousness of how race manifested in their experiences,鈥 and to develop their social capital and become greater self-advocates.

Bimper, A. Y., Jr. & Harrison, L., Jr. (2017).听.听International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 52(6), 675鈥692. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690215616270

  • This study employs CRT in a critical discourse analysis of intercollegiate athletic departmental directives for high-profile National Collegiate Athletic Association member programs. It investigates 鈥渢he implicit function and perpetuation of contemporary racism in intercollegiate athletic organizations as they strategically address institutional integrity.鈥 Two themes emerged from the findings: (a) Little skin in the game; and (b) Run-of-the-mill colorblindness.

Borland, J. F., & Bruening, J. E. (2010).听.听Sport Management Review, 13(4), 407鈥420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2010.05.002

  • This study, framed by intersectionality, identifies barriers contributing to the under-representation of Black women in head coaching jobs in Division I women's basketball in the U.S. The assistant coaches 鈥渃ited access discrimination, lack of support, and prevalent stereotypes as barriers. In negotiating these barriers, the women discussed the importance of networking, mentoring and presenting 鈥榓 proper image鈥 for big-time athletics.鈥

Burden, J. W., Jr., Harrison, L., Jr., & Hodge, S. R. (2005).听.听Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76(2), 224鈥237. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2005.10599283

  • Guided by CRT, this study examines the perceptions of African American tenure-track faculty (N = 9) on their organizational socialization in kinesiology-based programs at predominantly White institutions. Findings revealed four major themes: 鈥(a) resources, opportunities, and power structures; (b) programmatic neglects and faculty mentoring needs; (c) social isolation, disengagement, and intellectual inferiority issues; and (d) double standards, marginalization, and scholarship biases.鈥

Clark, L., Harrison, L., Jr., & Bimper, A. Y. (2015).听.听Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 86(3), 281鈥291. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2015.1009529

  • Using qualitative critical race methodology, the authors conducted and analyzed interviews with the first African American to play basketball at a prominent university located in the Deep South and his two sons who attended the same university a generation later. They present 鈥渁 counterstory to the dominant historical rendering of the Civil Rights Movement, the integration of athletics, and the experiences and outcomes of contemporary African American athletes.鈥

Cooper, J. N., Macaulay, C., & Rodriguez, S. H. (2019).听.听International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 54(2), 151鈥181. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690217718170

  • African American athletes, sport scholar activists, sport institutions, and entrepreneurs have engaged in actions to promote social justice within and beyond sporting spaces. This article presents 鈥渁 typology that delineates different forms of African American sport activism. The proposed typology outlines five categories: (1) symbolic activism; (2) scholarly activism; (3) grassroots activism; (4) sport-based activism; and (5) economic activism.鈥

Frederick, E. L., Pegoraro, A., & Sanderson, J. (2019).听.听Sport in Society, 22(12), 1919鈥1936. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2018.1530220

  • This study examines the framing and re-framing of activism efforts enacted by LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony during the 2016 ESPYS through the CRT lens. The authors analyzed comments (N = 10,658) made to the three posts on ESPN鈥檚 Facebook page pertaining to calls for activism. The four primary themes that emerged include: 鈥(a) discussing race; (b) law enforcement accountability; (c) realities of violence; and (d) debating crime.鈥 Findings reveal the persistence of deeply ingrained cultural stereotypes in the U.S., and the beliefs that are often left unshaken by athlete activism.

Harrison, C. K., Fuller, R., Griffin, W., Bukstein, S., McArdle, D., & Barnhart, S. (2020).听.听Sociology of Sport Journal, 37(3), 207鈥219. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2020-0019

  • The authors discuss specific lyrics of the late Tupac Shakur (1971鈥1996; stage name 2PAC) to 鈥渕ap constructs of identity, race, social class, and black masculinity in the context of sport and the black male athlete experience in America.鈥

Hawkins, B. J., Carter-Francique, A. R., & Cooper, J. N. (Eds.). (2016).听. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60038-7

  • This book examines the role of race in athletic programs in the U.S. Through the CRT lens, this volume 鈥渁nalyzes sport as the platform that reflects and reinforces ideas about race within American culture, as well as the platform where resistance is forged against dominant racial ideologies.鈥

Hylton, K. (2005).听.听Leisure Studies, 24(1), 81鈥98. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614360412331313494

  • Hylton presents and explores CRT as an ontological starting point for the study of sport and leisure. Hylton argues that 鈥渞esearchers and writers need urgently to centralize 鈥榬ace鈥 and racism as core factors in the study of social relations in sport if Birrell's optimism in the development of sport (and leisure) theory is to be realized.鈥

Lawrence, S. (2016).听.听International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 51(7), 777鈥799. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690214555347

  • Lawrence uses CRT to guide a semiotic analysis of a year鈥檚 worth of Men鈥檚 Health magazine. He observes that 鈥渨hite male athletic bodies are represented as idealized masculine types, possessing both the virtues of body and mind, while their black male counterparts, to varying degrees, are depicted as spectacular, violent and hyper-masculine.鈥 He argues that 鈥渢he idealization of the white male athletic body is a reaction to broader social and cultural transformations, indicative of late-modern societies.鈥

Love, A., Deeb, A., & Waller, S. N. (2019).听.听Quest (National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education), 71(2), 227鈥238. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2019.1608268

  • Drawing from CRT, the authors 鈥渁rticulate a vision of social justice oriented toward illuminating and addressing issues of racial injustice in sport and recreation.鈥 In particular, they 鈥渉ighlight pressing matters of racial injustice in sport at the elite, competitive levels, as well as community and recreational settings.鈥 They also discuss contemporary examples and strategies for resisting racial injustice, noting the challenges and difficulties associated with various approaches.

Simon, M., & Azzarito, L. (2019).听.听Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 38(4), 367鈥376. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2018-0138

  • Using CRT and critical Whiteness studies as theoretical frameworks, this study examines how ethnic minority female physical education teachers make sense of their identity in relation to race within predominantly White schools. It also explores how these teachers negotiate racial inequalities in their daily lives within predominantly White schools.

Singer, J. N. (2009).听.听Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 80(1), 102鈥116. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2009.10599534

  • This qualitative case study uses CRT tenets and a single focus group and individual interviews with 4 African American football athletes at a predominantly White institution. It seeks to 鈥渂ring the voices of this marginalized group into the dialogue on issues concerning institutional integrity in college sport.鈥