Racial barriers in eurocentric sport(ing) institutions countering the white racial frame

Abstract

The authors combine their sociological understanding of systemic racism and their disciplinary expertise in the field of Sport Management to critically assess the sport industry. Drawing on the racialized framing of elite sport, they demonstrate how sport systemically serves the interests of the white American elite male. An examination of the history of US football shows how this particular sport responded to a white masculine desire to display superiority in the late 1800s. In addition to the racist framing of elite sport, the authors draw from a conference session at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport to discuss contemporary resistance to this dominant framing through a discussion of counter-framed efforts in research. They also explore how counter-framing manifests in the organizational setting.