Sports broadcasters stereotype athletes based on race

Despite the strides made toward equality in this country, we still see undertones of racism in sports, especially in the words used to describe black athletes compared to white athletes on broadcasts.

Broadcasters are more likely to say positive comments regarding an African American's physical attributes 

While broadcasters have positive comments regarding an African American's athleticism and skillset, that changes when the topic switches to off-the-field activities. Justin Hudson, a graduate assistant at the University of Maryland who has spent time studying the topic, said a blind man in the 1970s first noticed this phenomenon.

The man began to noticed while listening to football games that any time he heard a broadcaster talk negatively about a player, that individual was most often black, Hudson said. But he added that he doesn't believe it is done intentionally.

"It's one of those things that the whole point of it is that it's nothing overt," Hudson said. "It's more subtle. The talk about athleticism is kind of a big one. Blacks are just labeled as more naturally athletic."

A study published in 2010 examined the racial descriptors used during broadcasted college sporting events and found that of all physical comments on African Americans looked at, 148 of 151 were positive. That compares to just seven positive comments on off-the-field intellect and 10 on African American's character.


When discussing white athletes, journalists bring up character and intellect

This graphic will only be valuable if my interviewees back it up, but my guess is that a large reason we see this stereotyping is because a majority of journalists are white. I'll have to see if my interviewees back up this sentiment.

Racial specific comments are most likely to occur at basketball games 

-- Possible photos/videos could be of Colin Cowherd, Don Imus or First Take with examples of times racial stereotyping in sports journalism