"Darwin's Athletes": Sports and Ethnicity

Sport has become an integral part of African American culture. Sports provide an opportunity for poor children to go to school and get out of low income areas. Many inner city African American children wouldn't be able to afford to go to school without scholarship funds. Sports are also a way to make copious amounts of money so they can support themselves and give back to their families. Without the structure of sports, many African American children turn to less productive activities due to the confines of poverty.

Hollywood films like The Blind Side, Coach Carter, and Glory Road tell uplifting stories of unprivileged African American young overcoming diversity to be successful in sports. While these movies might be based around true stories, they do not really accurately epitomize the role of sports in African American culture. Hoop Dreams depicts the daily struggle of living in less affluent locations while trying to achieve the ultimate dream of going to the NBA. In reality, the majority of children aren't good enough in their given sport to use it as an outlet. The athletes that are good enough often face pressures from their community and family that are too overwhelming to handle. Pressure of that magnitude can be damaging to a young, fragile mind.

While I believe sport is a great way for unprivileged children to succeed in life, I think too many kids rely on sport. I understand many low income areas don't have the funding for school, but I think their needs to be a bigger emphasis put on education as a means of overcoming adversity. If African American children think the only way out is through sport or music, they have no reason to make education important.