Racism in Today’s Sports
Francisco Reyes
Professor Fleischer
English 1A
Textual interpretations of a theme
vary based on the genre utilized to convey a message. For example, videos,
pictures, articles, newspapers, pamphlets, and many other genres may all
pertain to a similar theme, but the different genres approach the theme from
whole different perspectives. All of these genres have one thing in common;
they all are of the two-dimensional realm. While relevant to a similar theme, a
three-dimensional genre is extremely different with regards to the texture,
shape, colors, and various aspects of a three-dimensional object. A
two-dimensional genre such as the picture was useful; however, it lacked
something that the three-dimensional object had. The three-dimensional material
was able to provide room for creativity and individual interpretation of a
theme’s message that two-dimensional genres could not provide. I was able to
demonstrate my own idea and opinion about the theme that I chose by making it
myself while the other genres were preexisting and I had to analyze and make
sense of them.
The theme that I initially wrote
about was the racism that exists in sports today. Athletes, fans, and coaches
all have proven to play a part in the racism that exists in sports despite the
leagues’ efforts to suppress such bizarre behavior. These leagues that advocate
the end of racism exist in different sports and countries, which unfortunately signifies
that this is a global issue rather than a league issue. With that said, I have
created a model of a three-dimensional athlete that has been portrayed as this
primitive male with stereotypical features of people of African descent.
Hopefully the features that I have given this model will capture the audience’s
attention and allow them to conclude that these are invalid and exaggerated
features of other beings like themselves.
Black athletes are often viewed as
beastlike people with stereotypical appearances by sports’ fans globally. Offensive
acts of fans include the hoisting of a banana towards the black athletes and monkey
noises every time the athlete touches the ball. Because of this, my model has exaggerated
and dramatized stereotypes. I have given the black athlete ridiculously large
lips to represent one of the many types of black people. The lips are intended
to stand out because of how disproportional to the head they are and because of
how bright the lips are in comparison to the skin. The skin of the athlete also
is dramatized because of how black and unrealistically dark the skin is
compared to a person of African descent’s real skin tone. Other offensive
features that go along with the athlete are a banana. The player is holding a
banana in one hand to show that that’s how select fans view black players. The
view is that they see them as primates running around fields and arenas.
Continuing the trend of profiling black athletes, I geared the athlete with
baggy clothes to give him a poor or ghetto tone.
Materials were a key part of the
three-dimensional model. These materials should allow the audience to get a
further sense of how unrealistic this model is compared to real life athletes. Fabric
was used in the making of the skin for this project to present a laughable
tone. Being able to laugh at my project is understandable because I imagine
that along with my own ideology many people will find this to be extremely inaccurate
in comparison to actual athletes or black people in general. However, I may
find it slightly uncomfortable if there are any of my peers that find this
accurate and agree with these bizarre parts of the project. There were
realistic materials needed in the making of the object. I took an old mesh jersey
and took it apart to make it fit the overall theme which includes sports.
To further demonstrate the
stereotypes and misunderstandings of black athletes I was even exact with the
sport I chose the athlete to be a part of. Initially I was going to make the
athlete a soccer or baseball player, but after more thought I realized that isn’t
a stereotypical sport. I made the athlete a basketball player to show the
stereotype that all black people like or play basketball instead of other
sports. The basketball on the model is in the hand of the basketball player to
show the ignorant assumption that all black people are suitable to play
basketball.
Most people would have a general
idea of what this model is about, but more specifically this image is intended
for anyone against the promotion of racism and racial stereotypes. This should
appeal to anyone against racism because while this is a playful and laughable
piece, the audience should be able to connect the real problem of profiling to
this comical doll. Persuasive appeals used by the model are both emotional and
logical to the. The project may appeal to the emotions of the audience because
of how laughable the doll is while simultaneously appealing to their logic and addressing
that this is a serious matter in the world. Stereotypes and racist gestures
should be collectively discarded in the world of sports as a whole because typically
racism isn’t tolerated in society in general. Because of how joyous yet serious
the artistic piece is, I feel that it would be appropriate for this model to be
placed within a place similar to a library. The reasoning for this is because
the model cannot only be a symbol for racism in sports but for racism in
society. I feel that is appropriate for older and more mature ages so as to be
reminded of the faults of the world’s past.
Looking at the piece I constructed wouldn’t
take much figuring out, but it does have many elements that contribute to the
overall message. The message: racism in sports should be something the world strives
to overcome so that athletes can participate in an activity intended for all. The
message in the model is effective in my opinion because anyone that observes
the piece I constructed will compare real life scenarios to this and come to
the realization that both are morally unsound.
Making the project was by no means a
simple task. I had to get creative with the limited budget I had and use the
materials around me to their fullest potential. Some challenges I endured were figuring
out what materials, shapes, and colors I would use to create a specific tone
and message. Other challenges included changing the medium of my project.
Initially I planned on using air-dry clay for the body of the artifact, but
upon my arrival at target I could not find any more clay because ironically my
peers purchased it all. However, I also had successes in constructing the
object. Because all of the materials were made by scratch, it gave me a sense
of accomplishment due to the fact that I didn’t need to purchase many materials
after all. Despite the duration of time needed to assemble the body and clothes
I succeeded in doing so by using methods I have never utilized before such as
sewing the body together.
After looking at the rubric and
sizing up my visual rhetoric I feel that I deserve no lower than a B. The
reason for this grade in my opinion is that I feel I hit all aspects of the
rubric for both the paper portion and the object portion. I am not an artistically
gifted individual, but I did devote a lot of time, critical thinking, and
effort into this assignment. Optimistically, I feel that my effort and creative
made up for lack of artistic ability.
