Open AccessRacial Ideology and Discourse in the NBA
Author(s) -
Peter Hogarth
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
stream
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1916-5897
DOI - 10.21810/strm.v1i1.5
Subject(s) - basketball , ideology , covert , white (mutation) , athletes , idealization , psychology , sociology , social psychology , aesthetics , gender studies , media studies , politics , political science , art , linguistics , history , law , medicine , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , gene , physical therapy
This paper examines white spectatorship of the black athlete's body through an analysis of NBA basketball player Ron Artest's 2004 suspension. In examining the discourse surrounding the event, there emerges a covert ideology of simultaneous idealization and denigration of black athletes. While most in the sports world would claim to be colour-blind when evaluating talent or watching a game, the discourse surrounding Artest and the NBA in general seems to suggest that the invisible lens of white superiority shapes the perceptions of sports fans when viewing a predominantly black sport such as professional basketball.