Like former talk-show host Arsenio Hall, Kenneth
L. Shropshire, in his excellent book, In Black and
White: Race and Sports in America, discusses
things that make you go “HMMMMM?”
Unlike
Hall, Shropshire not only makes you ponder,
he offer insightful history and provocative
analysis for why the sports world in America is
so Black and white. He also provides a decisive
course of action for narrowing the racial disparities
which permeate that world.
Indeed, Shropshire says his goal in writing the book “was
to focus on even-handed methods of addressing a continuing
problem that likely will not disappear.” But
he also makes a concerted effort to explain
why change is so important.
He sets up his case quite nicely with an
introduction that examines the realities of
racism and discrimination in this country,
conceding that both are as American as apple
pie. Shropshire deftly uses statistics to
support his case, but he also establishes
three key themes in his analysis of the
sports industry.
The first theme focuses on the impact of
color-blind policies and the failure of such
policies in addressing existing race problems.
The second looks at the need to recognize
that unconscious racism exists in all
America. And his final theme concerns the
permanence of that racism in America. Only
by understanding those concepts can reform
come about, declares Shropshire, who
emphasizes them throughout the hook
Take his historical perspective that examines the rise of
racism and discrimination in sports from its earliest
roots–from mixing of the races in most athletic events, to Jim
Crow segregation; from the breaking of the color barrier by
Jackie Robinson, to the “lawn jockey” mentality that
manifested itself in the racist comments of Al Campanis,
Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder and Marge Schott. According
to Shropshire, that history shows that overwhelming
change has not taken place and that for Blacks to have a
greater role in sports, white people will have to
relinquish power.
So, what would be the primary benefits of minority
ownership in professional sports? First, there is the social
value of diversity. Second, Shropshire writes, there is the
“financial value of diversity, in terms of allowing minorities
access to a piece of the lucrative sports ownership pie and
expanding the individual franchise revenues by attracting more
fan support and attendance from minorities and achieving
equity in player salaries without regard to race.”
