Ethnic Education: A Clash of Cultures in Progressive Chicago

The City of Chicago recently embarked upon a pioneering effort to transform the quality of its public school system. The concept of decentralization that allows for neighborhood councils, greater decision-making at the local level, and increased parental involvement in the schools is not a new one. Similar governance structures of a century ago fell victim to class and ethnic factionalism. The progressive vision of a homogenous society assumed a passive clientele and a consensus culture. Particular educational programs brought diverse groups closer to the mainstream, but the resultant mass culture accommodated pluralistic values rather than the sought-after homogeneity

Before Jackie Robinson

While the accomplishments and influence of Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali are doubtless impressive solely on their merits, these luminaries of the black sporting experience did not emerge spontaneously. Their rise was part of a gradual evolution in social and power relations in American culture between the 1890s and 1940s that included athletes such as jockey Isaac Murphy, barnstorming pilot Bessie Coleman, and golfer Teddy Rhodes. The contributions of these early athletes to our broader collective history, and their heroic confrontations with the entrenched racism of their times, helped bring about the incremental changes that after 1945 allowed for sports to be more fully integrated.Before Jackie Robinson details and analyzes the lives of these lesser-known but important athletes within the broader history of black liberation. These figures not only excelled in their given sports but also transcended class and racial divides in making inroads into popular culture despite the societal restrictions placed on them. They were also among the first athletes to blur the line between athletics, entertainment, and celebrity culture. This volume presents a more nuanced account of early African American athletes’ lives and their ongoing struggle for acceptance, relevance, and personal and group identity

The political uses of sport by the United States

Artiklen giver historiske eksempler fra USA, som illustrerer idræt som et korrelat til diplomati, hvordan kroppen er blevet brugt som en praksis af social kontrol, en praksis til at assimilere indvandrergrupper eller en måde at tvinge koloniserede folk ind i et foreskrevet værdisystem.

Before Jackie Robinson

While the accomplishments and influence of Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali are doubtless impressive solely on their merits, these luminaries of the black sporting experience did not emerge spontaneously. Their rise was part of a gradual evolution in social and power relations in American culture between the 1890s and 1940s that included athletes such as jockey Isaac Murphy, barnstorming pilot Bessie Coleman, and golfer Teddy Rhodes. The contributions of these early athletes to our broader collective history, and their heroic confrontations with the entrenched racism of their times, helped bring about the incremental changes that after 1945 allowed for sports to be more fully integrated.Before Jackie Robinson details and analyzes the lives of these lesser-known but important athletes within the broader history of black liberation. These figures not only excelled in their given sports but also transcended class and racial divides in making inroads into popular culture despite the societal restrictions placed on them. They were also among the first athletes to blur the line between athletics, entertainment, and celebrity culture. This volume presents a more nuanced account of early African American athletes’ lives and their ongoing struggle for acceptance, relevance, and personal and group identity

The Construction, Negotiation, and Transformation of Racial Identity in American Football: A Study of Native and African Americans

INTRODUCTION This study assumes that its subjects have multiple identities: as men, football players, members of distinct racial and socio-economic groups, Americans, sons, fathers, and husbands. It attempts to analyze only some of these roles in relation to the subjects' sporting experiences, which generated meanings that were interpreted by themselves and others. Furthermore, such meanings changed over time, and proved negotiable through human agency, Racial identity, a problematic construct, assumed physiological differences during the period of this study, which extends from 1890 to the 1960s. The practices of the dominant white culture defined the boundaries of racial interaction, and attempted to define the meanings of a collective racial identity. To that extent, non-white groups such as Native Americans and African Americans underwent similar experiences in their exclusion, then limited inclusion in the dominant society and in white construction of alternative groups' identity

The Athletic crusade : sport and colonialism in the Philippines

Dans la période coloniale du début du 20e siècle, les Etats-Unis s'emparent des Philippines et tentent d'y imposer leur culture. L'introduction du sport dans un pays colonisé est un bon moyen, mais pose des questions de race, de genre et de religion. La pratique de sports américains (baseball, basketball, boxe, entre autres) a permis au peuple philippin de s'affirmer et d'y trouver un moyen de reconnaissance, contrairement à la religion, qui a vu l'échec de l'évangélisation américaine. On retiendra les exemples du YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) et de Pancho Villa, comme réussite sportive

A Response to “Playing Indian”

I offer a response rather than a rebuttal to King and Springwood’s critique of my recent article in “The Construction, Negotiation, and Transformation of Racial Identity in American Football,”for I agree with much of what they state in their discussion. They contend that my study, though “useful,” does not “offer a complete interpretation of the significance of playing football for marginalized groups.” No one, limited study can purport to do so and I did not make such a claim. King and Springwood are also correct in calling for greater examination of the symbolic and ritual uses of Indian mascots to elicit a more complete understanding of the dynamics between dominant and subordinate groups. The truth of such matters will be determined by interdisciplinary insights culled from sociology, anthropology, communication theory, and semiotics, in addition to historical studies like mine, which can only be a small piece of the much larger puzzle. My study is admittedly limited in both its scope and research, and the authors of “Playing Indian” find fault with my singular reference to a retaliatory act when the Carlisle Indians shot arrows in the Dickinson team dummy; but neither I, nor any historian, should draw conclusions unsupported by the evidence. To do so is mere speculation. Certainly the accounts of the Indians’ actions in their games against Army, Harvard, and the University of Chicago (pp. 141-142), lend support to an alternative cultural adaptation of football. The more specific study of images and mascots that King and Springwood call for is certainly a worthy one and warranted, but not one that I had enough evidence to conduct beyond what I stated

Sport, colonialism, and United States imperialism

Sport et impérialisme culturel : étude sur la diffusion de pratiques sportives (baseball, basket-ball, volley-ball) par les Etats-Unis dans leurs colonies acquises après la guerre hispano-américaine et dans leurs zones d'influence (Hawai, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Philippines...). Contrôle social des colonisés par des formes sportives imposées, influence 'civilisatrice', aspects religieux (rôle de l'YMCA)..