The role of challenges and supports in engaging white athletes in activism for racial justice.

Abstract

The last several years have been met with increased instances of athlete activism among college athletes. Little research, though, has investigated athlete activism among white college athletes. The present study adopted an interpretive-constructivist approach to conduct semistructured interviews with 12 white college athletes engaging in racial justice activism. Interviews aimed to develop a heightened understanding of the challenges and supports they experienced in their activism. White college athletes cited several challenges to and supports for engaging in racial justice activism. Challenges included resource deficits (e.g., lack of support), intrapersonal concerns (e.g., lack of confidence), and other external threats (e.g., difficulty balancing social justice with preexisting relationships with loved ones). Supports included individual-level support (e.g., advice from others) and institutional-level support (e.g., resources from university administrators). Findings show participants experienced more challenges than supports. Further, some challenges are unique to white athletes including struggles in engaging in racial justice activism with ingroup members (i.e., other white people). Meanwhile, support from universities, mentors, and family members was important to encouraging racial justice activism among the participants. Higher education administrators, sport psychology consultants, and other sport leaders can use this information to empower white college athletes to navigate the challenges associated with engaging in racial justice activism.

College coaches’ engagement in advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQIA+) rights and racial justice: Experiences, facilitators, and barriers.

“…Vanessa also acknowledged that many coaches and administrators are concerned about losing donors as a result of engaging in advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights and racial justice. This compares with recent research that similarly noted a lack of confidence as a challenge to advocacy among White college athletes (Martin et al, 2022). Also, several coaches in the present study shared how regional locations and political affiliations influenced not only their engagement in advocacy but also their safety as coaches who identify as LGBTQIA+ individuals.…”

“…Leaders of collegiate sport have opportunities not only to invest in coaches, by developing relationships, but also to help them to craft their advocacy efforts in ways that benefit their athletes, institutions, and communities. Other scholars have demonstrated how social support is important for advocacy among Black college athletes (Fuller & Agyemang, 2018) and White advocates for racial justice (Fingerhut & Hardy, 2020; Martin et al, 2022), but other scholars have noted how a lack of social support and resources acts as barriers to advocacy among college students (Linder, 2019; Martin et al, 2022). Ensuring that athletic departments provide training, guidance, and resources related to diversity also appears to be critically important to help coaches authentically speak out and engage in advocacy efforts.…”

“…Indeed, potential threats of losing endorsement deals have hindered some college athletes from engaging in advocacy (Cunningham & Regan, 2012; Frederick et al, 2017; Litchfield et al, 2018). Martin et al (2022) highlighted how many White college athlete activists lack institutional support and self-confidence and also experience pushback from others, challenging their abilities to be effective change agents for racial justice.…”

“…On the contrary, Martin et al (2022) also identified facilitators of racial justice advocacy among college athletes, which included advice and acceptance from others, resources from university administrators, and social support. Other studies also have recognized social support as an important facilitator of racial justice advocacy (Fingerhut & Hardy, 2020; Fuller & Agyemang, 2018).…”

“We Need to Wake Our World up”: Collegiate Athletes’ Communicative Constitution of Activism

“…Specifically, scholars have focused on collegiate athletes’ attitudes toward social justice efforts (Agyemang et al, 2010; Mac Intosh et al, 2020), access to resources (Yan et al, 2018), motivations (Kluch, 2022) and barriers to participation (Kluch, 2023), and social media engagement (Black et al, 2022; Bunch & Cianfrone, 2022). Identity-centric experiences with activism have also been examined, highlighting the role of Black collegiate athletes (e.g., Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in legitimizing sport activism (Ruffin, 2014; Smith, 2009) and the challenges and supports to activism experienced by white collegiate athletes (Martin et al, 2022). Recently, scholars have called for research examining the structures exerting power over athletes’ activist expression, such as the NCAA, universities, athletic departments, and coaching staffs (Agyemang et al, 2020; Kluch, 2023; Weems & Kluch, 2023).…”