How To Overcome Racial Barriers In Sports Today

African American athletes today are mostly loved and appreciated in American sports, but this has not always been the case in the past and this is not always the case today. Black athletes struggled to survive in a world where they were “different” and where they were rejected. Athletes such as Michael Jordan, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Jack Johnson and Muhammad Ali are only a few that are on the list of great athletes that have been captured as the greatest achievements in sports history. Each of them fighting their own battle in a world where they are not accepted. We, as a society, have come a long way from racial discrimination. African Americans have been treated very poorly in the past and they had to overcome all racial barriers in order to play the sport that they most enjoy. Although we have surpassed severe racial discrimination, we must not be blind to racism today. Discrimination and prejudice were heavily present during the time of these great athletes. Each one of these great sports legends went down in history because of their amazing talent and ability to overcome the racial walls that were put in front of them. Jesse Owens, being a prime example, achieved four gold medals at the Olympics in Hitler’s Germany. According to Wiggins (2008), although four gold medals are an outstanding accomplishment, his …show more content…
A message needs to be sent to every player, in every sport, that racism is not acceptable under any conditions. If a player racially abuses another player, he/she needs to be punished severely, either financially or by being suspended. Once it is clear that racist actions are not acceptable in our society, racism in sports will be eliminated in the long-run. We, as a society, should not get comfortable with the way things are right now. We should strive for