How Systemic Racism Shapes Access to Interscholastic Sports and Why It Matters

ABSTRACT

Interscholastic sports are an important resource that provides access to social, cultural, and economic capital; however, not all students have equal access to sports in public high schools. Utilizing theories of systemic racism, this study shows how racism affects housing and property taxes, which shapes resources provided in public schools. The authors use the example of interscholastic sports as a school resource to highlight another form of resource inequality in public schools. Findings reveal that public schools with more White students have more sports while schools with more Black students have fewer sports. Findings also reveal that public schools with more students on free lunch have fewer sports than schools with fewer students on free lunch. The authors argue that the lack of access to interscholastic sports is another way in which racial and class inequality is perpetuated in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kaitlin Pericak

Kaitlin Pericak is an assistant professor of sociology at North Carolina Wesleyan College. She earned her PhD in sociology from the University of Miami. Her research examines sport, race, and health. She has published in the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology.

Brandon P. Martinez

Brandon P. Martinez is a research associate at the City University of New York Institute for State and Local Governance. He earned his PhD in sociology at the University of Miami. His published work examines racial-ethnic inequalities in the housing outcomes and criminal justice system and appears in Socius, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Critical Sociology, and Sociological Forum.