With all the different sports available today, one can wonder if there is one race that is better in sports then all other races. This question has come up in many of today's conversations. There are people that think that African Americans have more athletic abilities than other races. You can even see it on television. It may slip out of one of the ESPN SportsCenter anchors mouths with talking about a NBA or NFL player. Sports are not a new thing. There have been sports since Greek times. This is where the Olympic Games started. Sports may have had a long run in the world, but in the U.S African American didn't have the chance to play unless it was with an all black team.
As time past, there have been many sports created. The participation of Blacks in sports started with them playing sports against each other (Spivey, 2000).
Pie chart of religions of African Americans
Malcolm X
English: A racist drawing of blacks in the 1890s, ...There was no place for a black man, not to mention a black woman, in sports in the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century. The Jim Crow laws divided blacks and whites into two groups. It restricted the rights of and opportunities of African Americans (Coakley, 2001). Throughout the years, Blacks participation increased. This was a slow process. Blacks first made their mark in sports through individualized sports such as boxing (Spivey, 2000). Integration of teams and sports began in the late 1950's. This is when Whites began to notice the abilities that Blacks had in sports. Whites began to use the fact that these Blacks that were playing sports were so good at doing it, they had animal-like characteristics (Coakley, 2001). This is where it began. Could Blacks have better athletic abilities then other races? Many believed it and a lot of people today still...