There are many arenas of American society where racism is prevalent. The world of sports, however, is one where tolerance is extremely important because of its significant influence on people in America and as a platform in setting social standards.
Sadly, this tolerance can be forgotten.
Last week, when former ESPN editor Anthony Frederico referred to the New York Knicks new point guard Jeremy Lin as a “chink” in the team’s armor, he showed us racism in sports is a mainstream problem.
“Chink” is more commonly used as a derogatory racial term tat generally refers to someone of Asian descent and is the equivalent of terms such as, “cracker” and the N-word.
Racism is never funny. It’s wrong and should never be tolerated. The reality is that racism in sports fuels racism in other areas of society.
If we look at how many people tuned into to see the Super Bowl this year or how many children in our neighborhoods dream of becoming professional athletes, it is apparent how much of an effect sports has on people’s lives.
Racism in sports perpetuates stereotypes that unjustly categorize people, and this must be stopped.
What do these types of comments say about our media environment?
If we continue to tolerate and allow the use of racial terms in sports media, we must consider the potential message we are sending to society.
Media influences our perceptions and it normalizes racist attitudes.
Of course, Frederico apologized and was fired within 24 hours. Disciplinary action was taken against another reporter who used the term as well.
Five years ago, when radio host Don Imus called the women’s basketball team of Rutgers “nappy-headed hoes” it took a week before any serious actions were taken to correct the situation. While CBS originally planned to suspend Imus for two weeks without pay, the overwhelming complaints from the NAACP, civil rights and women’s groups, forced the decision to terminate him.
The worse part of the delay was not that the news outlet waivered in their commitment to fair coverage. The worst part was during the course of that week, thousands of media outlets played and replayed the clip and thereby facilitated even more awareness of the devastatingly racist phrase.
Some may call the speed of the redress progress, but the editors of The Pioneer say both examples of media sponsored racism are loathsome.
Racism in sports cannot be tolerated. While this is not a problem that can be solved overnight, as a society we must begin taking small steps to tackle the larger issue.
After much debate, the editors would like to put a solution forward.
Professional sports needs to create a special commission to monitor racism in sports media.
The commission would examine, review and resolve all issues pertaining to racism or other forms of bigotry. This would eliminate the bias among media outlets when it comes to disciplining their own staff and would create standardized punishments that are swift and severe.
With a commission watching, sports media outlets and personalities may finally focus more attention on racist statements, clichés or casual conversations that promote discrimination.
Media and sports reach millions of people around the world. With great exposure comes the responsibility to pay closer attention to the message spread by our media outlets. Racism is blight on a beautiful and competitive arena of society.
