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Social Synthesis Essay: The Role Of Social Class In Sports

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Sports and Social Class Social stratification is a universal norm that has been used by distinct societies to define their values and belief systems. Seemingly, the impacts of social stratification are evident in aspects such as technology, sports, and employment rates among others. This has instigated societies to form principles that are the root cause of prejudice, inequality and segregation. With the world, emphasizing individuals’ physical difference and socioeconomic world, sports has become a subject of segregation. Instead of being a unifying factor, it has been identified as a symbol of racial divide with certain sports been linked to specific ethnic groups. The racial divide in sports has spread to high school and colleges; evidently, it begins earlier in elementary and middle school. Unfortunately, students have labeled some sports as white sports and other black sports and few would dare to cross this divide for fear of underperforming. Presumably, the white sports include swimming, golfing, and soccer while the black sports include American football, basketball, and track events. This notion explains the participation barriers and sports performance depicted in …show more content…

However, a close analysis was indicating that the actual divide was based on social class. Evidently, social class is the key determinant to the nature of sports that individuals from distinct ethnic groups undertake. According to the Marxist theory, society is a system of structures and relationships shaped by the economic status of individuals. In regards to sports, the theory argues that a sport promotes perpetual power of the elite groups in the society. In this respect, the elite group refers to the whites. The theory also implies that the society is arranged in layers. The layers produced by social stratification are labelled as upper class, middle class and working

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It is hard to believe at one point in time that African Americans were not allowed to participate in all the same activities as whites were. Something as simple as drinking out of a drinking fountain wasn’t quite as simple for someone of color and African Americans playing baseball, America’s sport, was not even thought of. Well, not until Jackie Robinson came along that is. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American successful in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. To do so, Robinson presented with a few of the characteristics that Malcolm Gladwell introduced us to in his book “Outliers.”

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College football, as an “amateur” sport, produces nearly $3.5 billion dollars a year, but the young men who play the game, primarily African American, don’t see a penny of revenue. Yes, student athletes get tuition, room and board, and lots of Nike, Adidas or Under Armour gear, but they’re really free labor. The world refers to them as “student athletes,”. There are three different levels of competition under the NCAA. Division I, Division II and Division III are the three levels associated with the NCAA.

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With the advancements in things people are able to improves their health goals to living a longer a better life, however, there is still the issues of how social class can affect their status for them to participate in a sport of any kind. When reading “In the Paradox of Social Class and Sports Involvement” written by Thomas C. Wilson, it first introduces of a paradox that people in a higher social class will be greater when being involved in some sort of sport if played with only the higher class, but if the sport is involved with the lower class, the higher class will less likely be involved with that certain sport. This was proven by Wilson has given example of the higher ones would usually play tennis or golf and will less likely play football

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Sage, George H. "High School and College Sports in the United States. " Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 61.2 (1990): 59. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

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Social Theories provides us with insights and explanations as to why people act the way they do. Sports is a human activity that involves physical skill and hard work. Sports is also governed by a set of rules and it is taken competitively. It is said that sports is taken seriously and is very important for athletes and even for the fans, some even say it is like a religion for them. Though not everyone in the society follow any sport, because they see that it has no relation to their lives.

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