Racism in sport

Racism in sports is a problem which is manifest around the world. It has led to a wide range of controversial incidents which have been reported in the media.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) released a report claiming that racial abuse and vilification is commonplace in Australian sport.

Controversial incidents of racism in sport

The following incidents of alleged racism in sport received significant attention in the media.

1936 Summer Olympics

Further information: 1936 Summer Olympics

The bidding for the 1936 Olympic Games was the first to be contested by IOC members, who cast their votes for their favorite host city. The vote occurred in 1931 during the Weimar Republic era, before Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933. By allowing only members of the "Aryan race" to compete for Nazi-controlled Germany, Hitler further promoted his ideological belief of racial supremacy.

Other nations debated boycotting, with Spain and the Soviet Union going through with a full boycott. The Amateur Athletic Union led newspaper editors and anti-Nazi groups to protest against American participation, contesting that racial discrimination was a violation of Olympic rules and that participation in the Games was tantamount to support for the Third Reich. Most African-American newspapers supported participation in the Olympics. The Philadelphia Tribune and the Chicago Defender both agreed that black victories would undermine Nazi views of Aryan supremacy and spark renewed African-American pride. American Jewish organizations, meanwhile, largely opposed the Olympics. The American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee staged rallies and supported the boycott of German goods to show their disdain for American participation. The 1936 Summer Olympics ultimately boasted the largest number of participating nations of any Olympics to that point. However, some individual athletes, including Jewish Americans Milton Green and Norman Cahners, chose to boycott the Games.

• American sprinters Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, the only two Jews on the U.S. Olympic team, were pulled from the 4 × 100 relay team on the day of the competition, leading to speculation that U.S. Olympic committee did not want to add to the embarrassment of Hitler by having two Jews win gold medals.

• Hitler called for a rematch of the quarterfinals match to discount Peru's 4–2 win over Austria. The Peruvian national Olympic team refused to play the match again and withdrew from the games.

• During the games, the Nazis demoted Captain Wolfgang Fürstner, the half-Jewish commandant of the Olympic Village, and replaced him with Werner von Gilsa. After the games' conclusion, Fürstner, a career officer, committed suicide when he learned that the Nuremberg Laws classified him as a Jew, and, as such, he was to be expelled from the Wehrmacht.

Association Football

For Racism in Association Football (also known as soccer), see Racism in association football.

Association Football has a history of racism events. Some players may be targeted because of their association with an opposing team. However, there have been instances of individuals being targeted by their own fans.

Some significant policies aimed at reducing racism in Association Football include Football Against Racism in Europe, Show Racism The Red Card, Rasismul strică fotbalul in Romania not all passed.

Australian Football

Further information: Australian rules football culture#Racial vilification

Australian Football has a history of racism, including some significant events, however the Australian Football League's racial vilification code has gone some way to reducing racism in the sport.

Cricket

Further information: Sledging (cricket)

• 17 October - Indian crowds of up to 40,000 people at a cricket match in Vadodara and Nagpur threw racist taunts at Andrew Symonds resulting in official complaints to the International Cricket Council.

Golf

2008

• Broadcaster Kelly Tilghman is suspended from The Golf Channel after joking about Tiger Woods being "lynched in a back alley" during final round coverage of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
• In 1997, when Tiger Woods was twenty one years old, he shot a record 18 under par, and won the tournament, making him the first African American to win a major professional golf tournament. Fuzzy Zoeller made comments congratulating on how well Tiger Woods was playing in the tournament. Then went on to refer to Woods as a little boy, and made a comment for him not to order fried chicken or collard greens for the Champions Diner the following year. Zoeller says that his comments were misconstrued. Eventually Woods and Zoeller gathered for lunch, where Woods accepted Zoeller’s apologies for the racially derogatory remarks.

Rugby League

2007

• Anthony Mundine made publicity by claiming that New South Wales as racist state in terms of the sport of rugby league and that it is one of the reasons he quit the sport to take up boxing.

2010

• News.com.au reports that television commentator and former rugby league great Andrew Johns had been banned for allegedly calling Greg Inglis a "black cunt" while addressing the New South Wales rugby league team. Additionally it was alleged that Johns had referred to Timana Tahu as a "black cunt, "Abo", "coon", "nigger" and "monkey".

Basketball

• Radio talk show host Don Imus was suspended for two weeks then fired by CBS after allegedlly racially disparaging comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. This incident occurred on April 11, 2007, with remarks calling the team "nappy headed hos" the day following the team losing in the NCAA Women's National Championship game against the University of Tennessee.

External links

• Racism in Sports TheSportsCampus.com
• Crossing the Boundary: a study of the nature and extent of racism in local league cricket

Leeds Metropolitan University

• What’s the Difference: A study of the nature and extent of racism in Rugby League

Leeds Metropolitan University