African Americans in Sport / Edition 1

by Gary A. Sailes

Overview

Research on African American athletes generally fo-cuses on negative stereotypes of physical prowess, and socially controversial themes. Most studies in-vestigate racism, prejudice, discrimination, and ex-ploitation experienced by African American athletes. Many studies contrast African American and white athletes on a number of variables that support pre-vailing elitist stereotypes and denigrate African Ameri-can athletes. But few studies investigate the diverse and complex cultural dichotomies within the infrastruc-ture of sport in the African American community. Gary Sailes maintains that it is crucial to develop a more eclectic and immersed cultural approach when investigating African American involvement in com-petitive sports. The contributors to 'African Americans in Sports'show that there are also intrinsic cultural paradigms that are evident, presenting an informa-tive and interesting narrative regarding African American athletes. The chapters that make up this volume were written by noted scholars who were selected based on their expertise in their specific academic areas. They write about different components of the experience of African American male athletes. Chapters and contributors include: "Race and Athletic Performance: A Physiological Review" by David W. Hunter; "The Athletic Dominance of African Americans—Is There a Genetic Basis?" by Vinay Harpalani; "African American Player Codes on Celebration, Taunting, and Sportsmanlike Conduct" by Vernon L. Andrews; and "Stacking in Major League Baseball" by Earl Smith and C. Keith Harrison. Many chapters were originally published as a special issue of the 'Journal of African American Men.' This volume should be read by all those involved in athletics, as well as by sports sociologists and African American studies scholars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765804402
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	04/01/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Gary A. Sailes teaches in the Department of Kinesiology at Indiana University, at Bloomington. He is the editor of the Journal of African American Men, published by Transaction.

Editorial Reviews

Sixteen contributions cover topics such as African American culture and sport, the representation of O.J. Simpson, the impact of Tiger Woods' success, a physiological review of race and athletic performance, the case against NCAA Proposition 48, racism and discrimination in sport, and African American male head coaches. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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