Glory Road also looks at the perception of
black athletes, which in the context of America in 1966, considers blacks
to be good athletes, but not as smart as whites. This is consistent with
the themes of whiteness, white privilege, stereotyping of athletes, and
racism. Even though Haskin's took his team to the title, 30 years later,
according to Harrison and Lawrence "notions of Black athletic superiority
and intellectual inferiority permeate the minds of... American citizens"
(2004). This means that not so much has changed within American sports
culture, and that racisms, negative stereotypes, and whiteness are still
prevalent. Even today, people fail to understand the issues of race in
sports and are selective, racist, and stereotypical in their perceptions of
blacks and whites in sports. By understanding the setting of Glory Road
and today's social perception of race in sports, one can see the evolution
of American sports but that while participation has evolved to incorporate
blacks, the issues which affected blacks in the movie still affect them
today. While Harrison and Lawrence acknowledge that "race should be
disregarded in judging individual performance," they also recognize that
"this is very seldom the case in today's society" (2004). Much like the
days in the 1960s, race is still an issue when it comes to sports in
American society. Stereotypes enforcing racial differences among athletes
are prevalent in today's society which helps to encourage the sense of
whiteness in sports existing in the Glory Road.
While Glory Road touches largely on racial stereotypes, there are
numerous other stereotypes which exist in sports. In Glory Road, Don
Haskins is laughed at both by his players and administration for coaching
girls basketball. This stereotype of athletes, in particular women
athletes, exists in the movie, in 1960s America, as well as in today's
public perception when considering feminism and masculinity within sports.
A study by Alley, for instance, looks at the issue and comes to the
conclusion that certain sports are viewed as for women and certain sports
are publicly perceived to be for men (2005). While this article touches on
different issues than Glory Road, is helps to show that the level of
stereotypes facing athletes. Even without racial issues and white
privilege and white dominance in sports, there exists stereotypes regarding
certain sports being for women and certain sports being for men.
These issues of stereotypes of men and women also are enforced by the
media, which is demonstrated by the media coverage of Wimbledon (Vincent
2004). Media coverage tends to focus on male achievements, and in
particular male journalists use racial stereotypes against women tennis
players (Vincent 2004). This combination of utilizing gender, racial, and
cultural stereotypes existing in the more recent media is suggestive of the
media practices of stereotyping. Much like women tennis players are
downplayed, so was Texas Western in 1966. Just like whites dominate, so do
men. This means that there are stereotypes in sports both in the media
among the general public that exist both in the past and the present. The
underlying issues present in Glory Road did not just disappear, but exist
today.
Whiteness is also an issue within even modern day sports as evidenced
by Erickson's 2005 report regarding rock climbers (2005). According to
Erickson, the 2000 North Face expedition in which four climbers were taken
hostage by an Islamic Organization is evidence that whiteness within sports
creates a sense of insecurity (2005). While this seemingly has nothing to
do with the themes of Glory Road, this is not the case as it is perhaps the
insecurities of whites who dominate sports, in particular college
basketball, who try to use their white privilege to prevent blacks from
taking over the sports. It is without a doubt that Rupp was aware of the
untapped talent of young African-Americans who saw no future in college
basketball, yet he did not utilize it. It was his whiteness and sense of
white privilege, racist tendencies, and social stereotypes which encouraged
Rupp to encourage white dominance in the sport. It is largely because
insecurities, a fear of losing the sport, that Rupp and others tried to
protect the status...
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