Sports and race

I enjoyed Dr. Scott Brooks' Sociology of Sport class when I enrolled in it at MU in the Fall 2015 semester. But I enjoyed his talk with my SJI classmates and me as much if not more than any lecture I'd heard from him before.Hearing Professor Brooks focus specifically on the media's role in society's general perception of black athletes was fascinating. We discussed how the media likes athletes to fit into certain narratives — and how those narratives differ between athletes of different races. It was eye-opening to hear some of my classmates, who identify with many different ethnicities, admit these sorts of bias narratives can creep into their own minds. I walked away from the talk thinking about how journalists must never be lazy. They must always admit when stories seem too simple — because, as the talk reminded me, we often make them too simple. -- Aaron Reiss