Race is a touchy subject no matter what the context is. Sports and race combined can be particularly interesting. I’ve blogged about it and, as a result, have gotten not-so-nice comments. It was fascinating to hear what sociologist Scott Brooks had to say about the relationship between sports media and race.
He brought up questions and ideas that I’ve never really thought about before, such as what are the implications of media only looking at issues from a single lens? Or how there have been stories written that imply black athletes are dominating sports when in reality that only applies to basketball, football and track — and even then, the percentage of African Americans playing in the NBA has declined over the years.
Last summer I freelanced for a Japanese-American newspaper in Los Angeles, and that forced me to pay attention to Asians and sports. It was a subject that I had yet to tackle, but after writing stories and speaking to sources, it made me realize how important it is to cover and how little it is covered. To hear Brooks analyze everything from a researcher/academic point of view was refreshing. It inspired me to consider feature storylines from a more diverse set of angles.
--Alysha Tsuji
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