Burdened with Glorious Purpose:
Racialized performance expectations for African American student-athletes at predominantly white colleges and universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33043/zra4599zKeywords:
African American, student-athlete, sport social work, performance, college athletes, NILAbstract
The current discussion highlights particular circumstances and certain dynamics that shape attitude and performance expectations of African American student-athletes at PWI’s. Research on the topic is limited, but some suggest that African American male student-athletes competing in revenue producing sports like football and basketball at the NCAA Division 1 level may experience greater athletic performance expectations than do their non-African American counterparts. Implications for sport social work are discussed and culturally competent sport social work practice is highlighted as instrumental in assisting African American student-athletes effectively cope with the external pressures and demands associated with college athletics at PWI’s including racialized performance expectations.
Downloads
References
Ash, E., Cranmer, G. A., & Pool, R. N. (2023). Activating stereotypes through sports media: effects of racialized athlete portrayals on subsequent social judgments. Communication Research Reports, 40(2), 89-99.
Ballesteros, J., Capielo, C., Blom, L. C., Buckman, L., & Kroot, A. (2023). Block and tackle or interfere: Student-athletes’ identities and well-being. Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education, 17(3), 211-235.
Bartlett, D. (2022). The Seal Has Been Lifted: NCAA and Predominantly White Colleges Must Soon Stop Exploiting Their Black Athletes. American University Business Law Review., 11, 185.
Beamon, K. (2014). Racism and stereotyping on campus: Experiences of African American male student-athletes. The Journal of Negro Education, 83(2), 121-134.
Bennett, M.D. (2023) When the Game Stands Tall: Social Work in an Athletic Context. Sport Social Work Journal 3(1) 32-49.
Bullock, J. L., Lockspeiser, T., del Pino-Jones, A., Richards, R., Teherani, A., & Hauer, K. E. (2020). They don’t see a lot of people my color: a mixed methods study of racial/ethnic stereotype threat among medical students on core clerkships. Academic Medicine, 95(11S), S58-S66.
Caballero, C., Aspinall, P.J. (2018). ‘Disharmony of Physical, Mental and Temperamental Qualities’: Race Crossing, Miscegenation and the Eugenics Movement. In: Mixed Race Britain in The Twentieth Century. Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-33928-7_2
Clopton, A. W., & Bourke, B. (2011). Big-time college sport in black and white: Perceptions of the impact of athletics on campus. College Student Affairs Journal, 30(1), 31.
Cooper, J. N., & Dougherty, S. (2015). Does Race Still Matter?: A Post Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Era Examination of Student Athletes' Experiences at a Division I Historically Black College/University (HBCU) and Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 8.
Cougle, J. R., & Grubaugh, A. L. (2022). Do psychosocial treatment outcomes vary by race or ethnicity? A review of meta-analyses. Clinical Psychology Review, 102192.
Davis, T. (2007). Race and sports in America: An historical overview. Virginia. Sports & Entertainment. Law Journal, 7, 291-311.
Demas, L. (2007). Beyond Jackie Robinson: Racial integration in American college football and new directions in sport history. History Compass, 5(2), 675-690.
Edwards, H. (1971). The sources of the Black athlete's superiority. The Black Scholar, 3(3), 32-41.
English, J., & Kruger, A.C. (2020). I am not only a Student-Athlete: Investigating social identity complexity as a stereotype threat mitigation strategy to reduce barriers to academic engagement. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 29-55.
Fothergill, A., Maestas, E. G., & Darlington, J. D. (1999). Race, ethnicity and disasters in the United States: A review of the literature. Disasters, 23(2), 156-173.
Freedman, S. G. (2013). Breaking the line: the season in Black college football that transformed the sport and changed the course of civil rights. Simon and Schuster.
Fresh, K.G. (2022). Blood, sweat, tears: A re-examination of the exploitation of college athletes. Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, 28(1), 163–206.
Fridley, A., Springer, D., Stokowski, S., & Anderson, A. (2023). Athlete–Student–Influencer: How the Introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness in Intercollegiate Athletics Further Complicates Applications of Role Theory. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1(aop), 1-9.
Grant, M. (1916). The passing of the great race. C. Scribner's sons.
Hall, R. E. (2001). The ball curve: Calculated racism and the stereotype of African American men. Journal of Black Studies, 32(1), 104-119.
Harrison, K. C., & Lawrence, S. M. (2004). College students' perceptions, myths, and stereotypes about African American athleticism: A qualitative investigation. Sport, Education and Society, 9(1), 33-52.
Harrison, L., Bimper, A. Y., Smith, M. P., & Logan, A. D. (2017). The mis-education of the African American student-athlete. Kinesiology Review, 6(1), 60-69.
Haslerig, S. J., Vue, R., & Grummert, S. E. (2020). Invincible bodies: American sport media’s racialization of Black and white college football players. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 55(3), 272-290.
Haywood Jr, J. L., & Payne, T. B. (2017). Meritocracy or hypocrisy: Microaggressive perceptions of Black athletes at predominately White institutions. Race, Gender & Class, 24(3-4), 132-144.
Heitzeg, N. A. (2016). The school-to-prison pipeline: Education, discipline, and racialized double standards. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Henderson, D. X., Jabar Joseph, J., Martin, P., Mburi, M., Stanley, M., McField, A., Irsheid, S., Lee, A., & Corneille, M. (2021). An investigation of coping in response to different race-related stressor experiences in school among racially diverse participants. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(2), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000529
Hoberman, J. M. (1997). Darwin's athletes: How sport has damaged Black America and preserved the myth of race. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Hollabaugh, W. L., Jeckell, A. S., & Diamond, A. B. (2023). Name, Image, and Likeness and the Health of the Young Athlete: A Call to Action for Sports Medicine Providers and the Athletic Healthcare Network. Sports Health, 19417381231212645.
Howe, J. (2020). Manifestations of athletic identity in Black male collegiate student-athletes: Introduction of a model. Journal of Amateur Sport, 6(2), 107-135.
Jackson, T. F. (2013). From civil rights to human rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the struggle for economic justice. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Kerr, I. B. (2010). The myth of racial superiority in sports. The Hilltop Review, 4(1), 4.
Lewis, J. A., Mendenhall, R., Ojiemwen, A., Thomas, M., Riopelle, C., Harwood, S. A., & Browne Huntt, M. (2021). Racial microaggressions and sense of belonging at a historically white university. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(8), 1049-1071.
Lewis, M., Bell, T. R., Billings, A. C., & Brown, K. A. (2020). White sportscasters, Black athletes: Race and ESPN’s coverage of college football’s national signing day. Howard Journal of Communications, 31(4), 337-350.
Moskowitz, G. B., & Carter, D. (2018). Confirmation bias and the stereotype of the black athlete. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 36, 139-146.
Nwadike, A. (2020). “The Main Thing I Would Want Somebody Who's to Ever Read My Story to Understand is…”: Using Narrative Inquiry to Advocate for Systemic Changes for High-Profile Black Athletes.
Olsen, J. (2020). The black athlete: A shameful story: The myth of integration in American sport. Crime Rant Books.
Runstedtler, T. (2018). More than just play: Unmasking Black child labor in the athletic industrial complex. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 42(3), 152-169.
Sadberry, S., & Mobley, M. (2013). Sociocultural and mental health adjustment of Black student-athletes: Within-group differences and institutional setting. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 7(1), 1-21.
Sailes, G. A. (2017). Social myths and stereotypes. In G.A. Sailes (Eds) African Americans in Sports: Contemporary Themes (pp.183-197). Routledge.
Sangree, S. (1999). Title IX and the Contact Sports Exemption: Gender Stereotypes in a Civil Rights Statute. Connecticut Law Review, 32(2), 381.
Smedley, A., & Smedley, B. D. (2005). Race as biology is fiction, racism as a social problem is real: Anthropological and historical perspectives on the social construction of race. American Psychologist, 60(1), 16.
Stone, J., Lynch, C. I., Sjomeling, M., & Darley, J. M. (1999). Stereotype threat effects on Black and White athletic performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1213.
Tran, A. G. T. T., Holzapfel, J., Lam, C. K., & Eustice, K. L. (2023). Race and student-athlete status: Peer appraisals of academic skills, intelligence, and favorability. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16(3), 346–355. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000339
Van Rheenen, D. (2019). Race logic in American college sports: Athletic exploitation, privilege and institutional resentment. In ‘Race’, Youth Sport, Physical Activity and Health (pp. 87-99). Routledge.
White, G. B. (2015). Black workers really do need to be twice as good. The Atlantic, 7.
Wiggins, D. K. (1997). Glory bound: Black athletes in a White America. Syracuse University Press.
Wiggins, D. K. (1989). Great Speed But Little Stamina: The Historical Debate Over Black Athletic Superiority. Journal of Sport History, 16(2), 158-185.
Wilkerson, T. A., Fridley, A., Arthur-Banning, S., Aicher, T. J., & Stokowski, S. (2022). " Gonna Mess with Your Head": The Role of Mental Health in the Lived Experiences of Black Male Football College Athletes. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.
Wilkerson, T. A., Stokowski, S., Fridley, A., Dittmore, S. W., & Bell, C. A. (2020). Black Football Student-Athletes' Perceived Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Services. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.
Winston, S. A. (2019). A Collective Case Study Investigating the Effect of Stereotypes and Stereotype Threat on the Academic Success of African American Male Student-Athletes (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University)
Xanthopoulos, M. S., Benton, T., Lewis, J., Case, J. A., & Master, C. L. (2020). Mental health in the young athlete. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22, 1-15.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 M Daniel Bennett

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
