Weaponized Patriotism and Racial Subtext in Kaepernick’s Aftermath: The Anti-politics of American Sports Fandom

Serazio, Michael; Thorson, Emily

doi:10.1177/1527476419879917

Cited by 27 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…They voiced a desire for (White) fans and owners and managers to be able to control and sanction protesting players, revealing a feeling of entitlement to Black athletes' labor without having to know or care about their concerns. Similarly, Michael Serazio and Emily Thorson (2019) reported on a nationally representative survey of Americans that included an open-ended question about what is good or bad about the mixing of sports and politics. Qualitative comments illustrated a "common sense racism" that players, who are predominately Black, are "…threatening to society; that players are not intellectually equipped to engage them [debates about politics]; and that players are illegitimate as leaders" (p. 162).…”

Section: Salience Of Racial/ethnic Identities Racial Attitudes and Political Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinions About Paying College Athletes and Athletes Protesting During the National Anthem

Allison¹,

Knoester²,

Ridpath³

2021

Du Bois Rev.

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Drawing on insights from Critical Race Theory and framing theory, as well as previous research, this study ties together and analyzes public opinions about two racialized and politicized sports-related issues: (1) the financial compensation of college athletes, and (2) athlete protests during the national anthem. Consequently, we highlight racial/ethnic identities, racial attitudes, and political identities as predictors of these public opinions. Data for our analyses come from a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults who were surveyed just prior to the 2016 presidential election. Descriptive results suggest that well over half of U.S. adults opposed having the NCAA pay college athletes; also, about two-thirds of adults viewed athlete protests during the national anthem as unacceptable. Regression results reveal that Black and Latinx adults were more supportive of paying college athletes and athlete protests during the national anthem than White adults. Other people of color were also more likely than White adults to support paying college athletes. Racial attitudes such as a lack of recognition of racial/ethnic inequalities in education and support for Black Lives Matter also shaped public opinions about these issues in expected ways. Finally, we find that political identities were linked to public opinions about these issues even after accounting for racial/ethnic identities and racial attitudes. Overall, this study documents public opinions about these prominent sports-related issues just prior to the 2016 election of a President who particularly racialized and politicized sports issues. Even then, these sports-related issues had been similarly filtered through both a White racial frame that encourages colorblind racism and a counter frame that promotes antiracist activism. Altogether, the present study offers further evidence of how sports provide cultural terrain for individuals to enact and negotiate racialized and politicized views of sports and society and illustrates how these processes were reflected in public opinions in 2016.

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Section: Salience Of Racial/ethnic Identities Racial Attitudes and Political Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinions About Paying College Athletes and Athletes Protesting During the National Anthem

Allison¹,

Knoester²,

Ridpath³

2021

Du Bois Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is about respect for our country, flag and national anthem, (the) NFL must respect this" (Beauchamp, 2017, p. 2;Bryant, 2018;Butterworth, 2020). In contrast, others have offered support for Kaepernick, been activated by his calls for reform, and viewed athlete protest actions during the national anthem as a social justice and human rights issue (Boykoff & Carrington, 2020;Intravia et al, 2018;Montez de Oca & Suh, 2020;Serazio & Thorson, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Should Athletes Be Allowed to Protest During the National Anthem? An Analysis of Public Opinions Among U.S. Adults

Knoester

Ridpath

Allison

2022

Sociology of Sport Journal

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Using descriptive and multiple regression analyses of data from the National Sports and Society Survey (N = 3,993), this study examines public opinions about athletes’ right to protest during the national anthem. Results suggest that public opinion is now more supportive of athletes being allowed to protest during the anthem, although considerable opposition persists. Black individuals and those who recognize racial/ethnic discrimination in society are especially likely to support athletes’ right to protest. Heterosexual, Christian, sports fan, and military identities seem to encourage opposition to the right to protest. Indicators of traditionalism and sports nationalism attitudes are also negatively associated with support for athlete protests.

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“…It has been noted that individuals who watch sport, whether avid fans or not, wish to segregate sport from politics (Serazio & Thorson, 2019). But as Thorson and Serazio (2018) suggest, eliminating politics from sport is wishful thinking.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

United We Stand, Divided We Kneel: Examining Perceptions of the NFL Anthem Protest on Organizational Reputation

Anderson

2019

Communication & Sport

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During a 2016 National Football League (NFL) preseason game, former San Francisco 49er quarterback, Colin Kaepernick sat during the playing of the national anthem in protest of police brutality. His actions prompted national outrage: ultimately calling into question his national identity and patriotism towards the United States. The anthem protest continued throughout the 2016 and through the 2017 season. Consequently, the NFL decided to implement a national anthem policy to discipline players who continued to protest. Thus, this study examined individuals’ perceptions of the NFL’s crisis responsibility in handling the anthem protest and how it affected their reputation. Further, this study examined national identity and patriotism as mediators between crisis responsibility and organizational reputation. Results indicated that national identity did not serve as a mediator and that only one level of patriotism mediated the relationship. A discussion was also forwarded.

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Weaponized Patriotism and Racial Subtext in Kaepernick’s Aftermath: The Anti-politics of American Sports Fandom

Cited by 27 publications

References 27 publications

Public Opinions About Paying College Athletes and Athletes Protesting During the National Anthem

Public Opinions About Paying College Athletes and Athletes Protesting During the National Anthem

Should Athletes Be Allowed to Protest During the National Anthem? An Analysis of Public Opinions Among U.S. Adults

United We Stand, Divided We Kneel: Examining Perceptions of the NFL Anthem Protest on Organizational Reputation

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