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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Black and White is both a metaphor for the racial divide between athletes and owners in professional sports and an apt description for the author's dry, statistical writing. Whites, not surprisingly, have a 95% ownership stake in the three major professional sports?baseball, basketball, and football?in which black athletes dominate. So while the industry superficially looks egalitarian, it can actually be a chattel existence. Shropshire, a professor at the Wharton School of Business and author of The Sports Franchise Game, considers the racial makeup of the front office personnel; the climate of the NCAA; and preconceptions about the power and prestige of a white sports agent. Shropshire is informative, factual and even anecdotal, but still awfully bland. Even when he is at his best (discussing racial myths while allowing for his personal experience as a practicing sports law attorney), the flow is entirely disrupted by the overabundance of footnotes (143 in the 25-page second chapter alone). Shropshire clearly believes that athletes by have a duty to be race men and to work for change in an industry that routinely rejects them when they have passed their prime. It's rather optimistic of him to end with the image of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics as they "bowed their heads, listened to the U.S. national anthem, and raised black-gloved fists to the sky." But it's hard to imagine self-indulgent narcissists like Dennis Rodman or Deion Sanders standing up for anyone except themselves. Gestures are only so effective. The real question is whether high-priced athletes of today will use their money to buy into the front office.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A prominent sports-law specialist sends down an indictment of racism in sports that is occasionally dense and difficult to read but impossible to ignore. Noting that 95 percent of all sports team owners are white, while their teams' athletes are for the most part black, Shropshire (Legal Studies/Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania) reveals the many reasons why pro and college sports remain under the control of what is essentially a white old boys' network. These include prevailing racial images and myths, white racism, black apathy, athletes' and owners' self-interest. In addition to identifying the problem, Shropshire proposes several remedies. Some, such as reforming college sports admission policies (by dropping the use of standardized aptitude tests as a means of judging students for admission and eliminating freshman eligibility) seem simple, bordering on the obvious, and they have been raised before, but decision makers have yet to embrace them. Other proposals seem less probable, including the boycott by athletes of some major sports events, the utilization of additional resources to improve America's high schools, and a program to wean society away from the creation and worship of sports heroes: ``A white kid tries to become President,'' Shropshire writes, ``and the skills and knowledge he picks up on the way can be used in a thousand different jobs. A black kid tries to become Willie Mays and all the tools he picks up are useless to him if he doesn't become Willie Mays.'' Despite the author's conjecturing and frequent overreliance on obscure legal examples, this is a solid, well-argued, and important study. Anyone desiring to be informed about race issues and sports should read it. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
See all Editorial Reviews
In Black and White is both a metaphor for the racial divide between athletes and owners in professional sports and an apt description for the author's dry, statistical writing. Whites, not surprisingly, have a 95% ownership stake in the three major professional sports?baseball, basketball, and football?in which black athletes dominate. So while the industry superficially looks egalitarian, it can actually be a chattel existence. Shropshire, a professor at the Wharton School of Business and author of The Sports Franchise Game, considers the racial makeup of the front office personnel; the climate of the NCAA; and preconceptions about the power and prestige of a white sports agent. Shropshire is informative, factual and even anecdotal, but still awfully bland. Even when he is at his best (discussing racial myths while allowing for his personal experience as a practicing sports law attorney), the flow is entirely disrupted by the overabundance of footnotes (143 in the 25-page second chapter alone). Shropshire clearly believes that athletes by have a duty to be race men and to work for change in an industry that routinely rejects them when they have passed their prime. It's rather optimistic of him to end with the image of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics as they "bowed their heads, listened to the U.S. national anthem, and raised black-gloved fists to the sky." But it's hard to imagine self-indulgent narcissists like Dennis Rodman or Deion Sanders standing up for anyone except themselves. Gestures are only so effective. The real question is whether high-priced athletes of today will use their money to buy into the front office.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A prominent sports-law specialist sends down an indictment of racism in sports that is occasionally dense and difficult to read but impossible to ignore. Noting that 95 percent of all sports team owners are white, while their teams' athletes are for the most part black, Shropshire (Legal Studies/Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania) reveals the many reasons why pro and college sports remain under the control of what is essentially a white old boys' network. These include prevailing racial images and myths, white racism, black apathy, athletes' and owners' self-interest. In addition to identifying the problem, Shropshire proposes several remedies. Some, such as reforming college sports admission policies (by dropping the use of standardized aptitude tests as a means of judging students for admission and eliminating freshman eligibility) seem simple, bordering on the obvious, and they have been raised before, but decision makers have yet to embrace them. Other proposals seem less probable, including the boycott by athletes of some major sports events, the utilization of additional resources to improve America's high schools, and a program to wean society away from the creation and worship of sports heroes: ``A white kid tries to become President,'' Shropshire writes, ``and the skills and knowledge he picks up on the way can be used in a thousand different jobs. A black kid tries to become Willie Mays and all the tools he picks up are useless to him if he doesn't become Willie Mays.'' Despite the author's conjecturing and frequent overreliance on obscure legal examples, this is a solid, well-argued, and important study. Anyone desiring to be informed about race issues and sports should read it. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
See all Editorial Reviews
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8
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- Contesting Identities: Sports in American Film by Aaron Baker on page 23, and Back Matter
- The Business of Sports Agents by Kenneth L. Shropshire in Front Matter
- Bodymakers: A Cultural Anatomy of Women's Body Building by Leslie Heywood in Back Matter
- Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation (Archaeology, Culture, and Society) by Jr., Charles E. Orser in Back Matter
- Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It by Jon Entine in Back Matter
See all 8 books citing this book
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
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59% buy the item featured on this page: In Black and White: Race and Sports in America $70.00 |
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24% buy Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race $14.35 |
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16% buy Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It $14.78 |
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