ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the centrality of race to sport. It deals with a discussion of race as it is defined by scholars, identifies several key ‘themes’ that illustrate the ways that race and racism appear in sports, followed by a focused discussion of the experiences of African Americans in the US. The chapter also deals with recommendations for addressing the kinds of racism that exist in SportsWorld. In the 2000 census, for the first time since the mid-1800s, individuals could choose more than one race. Race has impacted sports participation of African Americans in two fundamental ways: by restricting, either formally or informally, the sports they could participate in, and by shaping the ideological beliefs about African Americans’ intellectual and physical abilities in terms of sport participation and post-sport experiences. One form of structured racism in team sports that has died a natural death is ‘stacking’. Stacking was the most pernicious form of racism in team sports.
