Racism and black male student-athlete experiences in a Canadian University

ABSTRACT

This study investigates anti-Black racism and the experiences of Black male student-athletes. Specifically, using counter-stories we examine Teshawn’s experiences as a Black male former student-athlete on the varsity football team. In doing so, we also draw on the experiences of other Black student-athletes through a publicly commissioned report detailing incidents of anti-Black racism at the same university. The first composite counter-story ‘Get Out of the Drill!’ highlights racism by the white coaches and the implications for Black student-athletes in their current and future athletic opportunities. The second story, ‘Don’t Listen to Them. Block the Noise!’ highlights racism by the white coaches and white teammates and the negative implications it has on the Black male student-athletes’ academic success. Finally, the third story ‘Racist Jokes and Slurs are Never-ending’ emphasizes the declining mental health and fatigue of Black male student-athletes as reports of racism are ignored and mishandled by the institution.

Résumé

Cette étude porte sur le racisme anti Noirs et les expériences des étudiants-athlètes noirs. Plus précisément, en utilisant des contre-récits, nous examinons les expériences de Teshawn en tant qu’ancien étudiant-athlète noir dans l’équipe de football universitaire. Ce faisant, nous nous appuyons également sur les expériences d’autres étudiants-athlètes noirs dans le cadre d’un rapport commandé par le public et détaillant les incidents de racisme anti Noirs dans la même université. Le premier contre-récit composite « Get Out of the Drill! » met en évidence le racisme des entraîneurs blancs et les implications pour les étudiants-athlètes noirs en ce qui concerne leurs possibilités sportives actuelles et futures. Le deuxième récit, « Don’t Listen to Them. Block the Noise! » met en lumière le racisme des entraîneurs et des coéquipiers blancs et les conséquences néfastes qu’il a sur la réussite scolaire des étudiants-athlètes masculins noirs. Enfin, le troisième récit, intitulé « Racist Jokes and Slurs are Never-ending » met l’accent sur le déclin de la santé mentale et de la fatigue des étudiants-athlètes noirs masculins, alors que les cas de racisme sont ignorés et mal gérés par l’institution.

KEYWORDS:

• Black
• racism
• sport
• student-athlete

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Noir
• racisme
• sport
• étudiant athlète

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of the article.

Notes

1. Dr. Ivan Joseph (2020) was an external lead reviewer for this study guided by a qualitative research design integrating concepts of ethnography. The review involved over two dozen individual and group interviews with current and former Black student-athletes (40 participants with 97% identifying as male and only 3% identifying as female), and staff and coaches (32 participants with 10 self-identifying as Black) from a variety of sports. Participants’ insights and comments were conveyed in their own words throughout the report with direct quotations layered into the composite stories that were constructed in this manuscript.

2. In a recent report commissioned by the Ontario University Athletics it was reported that there was a disproportionate hiring of white coaches (78.5%) and white administrators (80.1%) (Joseph et al., 2021).

3. When Teshawn played on the football team there were two coaches who were people of colour; however, he had little to no interaction with either of them. As Joseph et al. (2021) point out racialized coaches often experience feelings of loneliness, ‘tokenism’, the burden to be the spokesperson for anti-racism efforts, support person for racialized athletes, and a fear of taking risks related to job security.

4. The Canadian League Football (CFL) Combine is an annual three-day program in which athletes from Canadian universities and Canadians in the NCAA are scouted by coaches, general managers, and player personnel with the hope of being drafted.

5. Jane and Finch is arguably described in the media as one of Canada’s most toughest neighborhoods with statistically high rates of violent crime (Kurek, 2019). It is a high density, visible minority-concentrated and low-income community in Toronto, Canada.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teshawn Smikle

Teshawn Smikle completed his MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies at Brock University, Canada. His research interests focus on youth justice, anti-Black racism, and student-athletes success. Teshawn is one of the first recipients of The Horizon Scholarship at Brock University which provides funds to high-achieving BIPOC graduate students. Teshawn has experience in the child welfare system and continues to advocate for marginalized groups in his professional role.

Dawn E. Trussell

Dawn E. Trussell (PhD) is a professor in the Department of Sport Management at Brock University, Canada. Her research focuses on leisure and sport culture in the lives of individuals, families, and communities. She is the Past-President of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies and is a Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence at Brock University.