Lecture 11/Discussion Questions

045:030: Introduction to African American Culture

Lecture 11 Exercises: Sporting Blackness & the Commodification of the Black Body in Sports

Caponi, 373-387

(Whaley)

Note: This week’s lecture consists of film clips and discussion questions.

Jumpstart One: A commodity is a good that is bought and sold in the marketplace and used as a form of consumption. Watch the clip from the film “O.” In what ways does the drug dealer suggest to the basketball player that he is a commodity? What other issues concerning race, capitalism, and class does he raise?

Jumpstart Two: Watch the basketball scenes from the film “O.” Drawing from your reading of Caponi, do you recognize a particular aesthetic form that the players use?

Discussion Questions: Caponi, 373-387; “O”

1. What is the relationship between sports and capitalism?

2. Can organized sports act as a vehicle to overcome preconceived notions of gender, race, and class? If so, how so, if not, why not?

3. Greenfield writes that the differences in playing basketball are cultural, and not biological (or about chromosomes). What does he mean by this? What examples does he provide (374)?

4. African American athletes, according to Greenfield, do not benefit from speaking engagements and endorsements. He wrote this essay in the 1970s, and arguably, things have changed for the better, in that African American athletes do quite a bit of commercial advertising. What are the strengths and drawbacks of being a spokesperson for “capital?”

5. According to Greenfield, there is “white” ball and “black” ball. How does he define the two? Do you think he is making essentialist statements? Why does he say at the end of the essay that these are slippery categories? What does the fusion of the two styles bring forth? Greenfield’s discussion remains within a white/black binary. Are there styles of playing for other racial-ethnic groups?

6. Why were groups initially skeptical about Joe Louis? Why did he end up becoming a hero to African Americans and other Americans?

7. Early says that Louis was in many ways “used” by his managers and by the boxing field, but that “perhaps he was not used more than any hero is used by the society that creates him and needs him.” What do you think Early means by this statement?

8. What does it mean to be a “blues hero?” In other words, how is the blues hero connected to class, the musical field of blues, and the cultural and political formations that gave rise to blues?

9. Early writes, in reference to Louis and Ali, that it is “shocking to think that the victims of our order should be the beautiful princes of our disorder.” What does he mean by this? How are athletes victims and a prince of our social order? Does this only pertain to athletes who are minorities? Can you provide examples of other athletes that fit this idea?

Discussion for “O”:

In this class, we have discussed the disjuncture between appreciating Black culture and consuming Black culture, yet being threatened by Black people or holding preconceived notions about them, even among those with the best intentions. In addition, we have discussed how the larger society has at times dealt with Black success from the days of reconstruction to current times. The readings for this week discuss the Black athlete as a commodity, as a site of scorn, as someone who is revered, as someone who is feared, as someone sought after sexually and financially, as someone who is allowed material success within a limited realm, and as someone who draws upon Black expressive culture as a means of survival and as a means to create a particular “style” of playing sports. How do all of the aforementioned issues cohere in the film “O?” Does the film provide anything more than dangerous stereotypes? Why do you think an African American athlete would choose to rewrite Othello in this way? Be prepared to discuss this matter in essay form for your next quiz and possibly, for your final exam.

Watch the trailer below: