Transracial Ideal Analysis

On September 26th 2014, Derek Jeter took his final swing at the most prestigious Yankees Stadium in front of thousands and millions of baseball fans and ended up winning his final home game. The crowd went ballistic over the RBI and chanted “Derek Jeter” while raising signs that read “Salute to the Captain”. At that very moment, people viewed Derek Jeter not for what race he fell under or for what kind of person he was or for the ladies he slept with, but the athlete who electrified the diamond every time he stepped on it. Roberta Newman wrote an article on (Branding Derek Jeter, Redefining Race) companies such as Movado and Avon on how they showcase Derek Jeter “as neither black nor white and so can relate to everyone” (Newman) as a turning

I believe that the “transracial ideal” is not attainable because athletes of different race are continually scrutinized even after achieving great accolades as shown by athletes in the NFL, MLB, and the NBA. As of 2015, the NFL consists of more than two thirds of African American and almost 90 percent of penalties were received by players of color. The league continually make racist comments towards certain athletes of different race. When looking at the case between Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Quarterback Michael Vick, we see how racism is portrayed through these two powerhouse Quarterbacks. Michael Vick (QB for Atlanta Falcons) was convicted on the terms of animal cruelty and was sentenced to 22 months in Prison. Ben Roethlisberger (QB for Pittsburgh Steelers) was found guilty for sexual harassment and was suspended for 6 games (later brought down to 4). Looking at the article “Race and Crime in Media Sports” we can see the clear cut definition of

Even after 68 years, racism feels like there still is a barrier between white and colored athletes. The article “I’m the King of the World”, by Lisa Doris Alexander gives an insight on the aggressive racial comments geared towards Barry Bonds. On August 7th, 2007 Bonds broke the all-time home run record with fans being more hostile than jubilant. People believed that Bonds breaking the record was a taint to the legend who held the record, Hank Aaron (who was also threatened for breaking Babe Ruth’s Record). ESPN reporter John Seibel made the following remarks: “If [Bonds used steroids], hang him. Now I’m not saying hang him, I’m saying hang him from a tree. I’m not saying strap him to a gurney and inject poison in his vein” (Alexander). The reporters comment was hinting back to how African American’s were treated during segregation (lynching done by KKK). The general public opposed Barry Bonds record due to the influence of media giving out tampered information. Racial profiling became evident when the talk of Aaron Rodriguez was on pace to break Bonds record. Aaron Rodriguez and Barry Bonds have many things in common such as using performance enhancing drugs (AKA steroids) and having a strong batting arm. But the only thing that seemed to be different was their color. And like the author states “Race permeates