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International Review for the Sociology of Sport
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`White Men Can't Jump'

Race, Gender and Natural Athleticism

Laura Azzarito

Loughborough University, UK, l.azzarito{at}lboro.ac.uk

Louis Harrison, Jr

University of Texas at Austin, USA, lharrison{at}mail.utexas.edu

This study examined the ways young people negotiate, take up and/or resist dominant discourses of race, athleticism and sport in school physical education contexts in the southeastern United States. The participants in this performance ethnography study were 28 high school students and one physical education teacher/coach. Data from multiple sources were collected, including field notes, and formal and informal interviews with each participant. The results of this study show that white boys complied with the notion of blacks' `natural' physical superiority, and black boys occupied an ambiguous position within dominant discourses of race and natural athleticism; while girls, in general, rejected racialized discourses of the body, instead adopting a liberal humanistic position. Considering these findings, we advocate for sport educators' and physical education teachers' adoption of critical media pedagogy to promote a democratic consciousness among young people in sport and physical education settings.

Key Words: critical pedagogy • discourse • gender • race • sport

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 43, No. 4, 347-364 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1012690208099871
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