The Misrepresentations of Black, Male Student-Athletes
Introduction
Coach Carter (Carter, 2005) is a film based on a true story that takes place in a poor suburb of Richmond, California during the 1999 high school basketball season. The story begins when Coach Ken Carter accepts the head basketball coach position at his alma mater, Richmond High School. Upon taking over the coaching position, Coach Carter becomes dismayed by the poor attitude and poor academic performance of his players. Carter seeks to change both, while attempting to win basketball games; something the team had not done the previous season. He imposes a strict team culture, with new expectations such as a dress code, respectful behavior, and a 2.3 GPA; all of which must be agreed upon in a signed contract by athletes and their guardians. As expected, there is resistance from players and the community, but all of that goes away once the team begins to win basketball games. However, once Coach Carter finds out that many players on his team are not upholding their end of the contract by maintaining a 2.3 GPA, he locks them out of the gym until they are all eligible to play. Facing backlash from his players and the community, Carter fights to keep his methods in order to show his athletes that they need good values if they are going to be successful in the future (Chisholm, 2005). Although this film was made to be a feel-good story of young men overcoming adversity, it actually misrepresents poor, black male student athletes in a number of ways. Additionally, it perpetuates many harmful stereotypes of black male student athletes. The film represents poor, black male student athletes as apathetic when it comes to their academics. Second, the film represents these same poor, black male student athletes as delinquents. These are harmful representations and stereotypes, both of which have implications on how society views and treats young men like these student athletes portrayed in Coach Carter (Carter, 2005).
Claim One: In this film, poor, black male student-athletes are represented as apathetic towards academics.
We see numerous scenes in the movie where this claim is proven correct. For example, in one of the opening scenes of Coach Carter (Carter, 2005), we see Ken Carter introduced as the head basketball coach at Richmond High School. This scene is one of the more famous scenes in the movie; however, the scene also begins a cycle of misrepresentations of poor, black male student athletes in terms of representing them as apathetic towards academics. Coach Carter hands out a contract, requiring students to maintain a 2.3 GPA in order to play in the games. Nearly all the players are dismayed by this, resulting in two players to quit the team. Most notably, Timo Cruz and Worm openly criticize Coach Carter about this policy, referring to him as, “an uppity church nigger.” (Carter, 2005). Of course, these types of misrepresentations in the media have real world consequences. As Hall states, “this outcome is highly problematic, as media is a major power in shaping our understandings of truth/meaning (Hall, 1997a). The consequences of misrepresentations, such as shown in Coach Carter (Carter, 2005), can be seen in society today, just as Hall warned. As Dr. Shaun Harper says, Provost of Race and Equity at the University of Southern California, “perhaps nowhere… is the disenfranchisement of black male student athletes more insidious than in college athletics” (Harper, 2018).
These media misrepresentations of poor, black male student athletes allows for disenfranchisement of this same subgroup today, because society has found truth and meaning in these misrepresentations. Additionally, there is another scene that shows this misrepresentation. Coach Carter suspends all basketball activities when he finds out that the students are not maintaining a 2.3 GPA, as he required in the contract. The community, players, and school leaders are all outraged by this.
This also is a harmful misrepresentation, not only to poor, black male student athletes, but poor communities as well. When the community, and even school leaders, don’t support academics is sends the message that academics aren’t important in poorer communities, which sets students in those areas up for failure or low expectations. As Sensoy and DiAngelo say, misrepresentations like this, “lack of critical awareness around the symbolic power (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). The symbolism in this case are the numerous scenes where the players, community, and school leaders are outraged by the high academic standards set by Coach Carter.
Claim Two: In this film, poor, black male student-athletes are represented as delinquents.
In the same opening scene, as referenced above, we see these same student-athletes represented as delinquents. The scene can be seen below:
In the scene, Timo and Worm are using profane language towards Coach Carter. Then, when Coach Carter dismisses Timo from the gym, Timo tries to punch Coach Carter in the face. This scene represents these poor, black male athletes as delinquents; willing to disrespect and even strike their basketball coach. Reynolds discusses how misrepresentations can be harmful to society. These misrepresentations are perpetuated through media, like movies, which teach, “individuals how to behave and what to think, feel, believe, fear and desire — and what not to” (Reynolds, 2014). As Reynolds states, this misrepresentation sends the message to society that this is how poor, black male student athletes behave, even though it is not accurate or correct. As a result, society could treat poor, black male student athletes differently, or even discriminate against them. This scene was not the only scene that depicted these young men as delinquents, you can see another scene below:
There is a lot going on in that scene; all of which represents poor, black male student athletes in a negative light. For example, Junior, Lyles, and Worm engage in a fight with another group of men. Then, Timo, who deals drugs throughout the film, comes to scene to break-up the fight by showing his gun. All of these misrepresentations are problematic. Some critics may argue that all of these misrepresentations are simply for cinematic effect. However, there are still consequences. As viewers, we have the tendency to forgive misrepresentations for the sake of entertainment value (Samsel 2013). This becomes particularly worrisome when we neglect to recognize that the misrepresentations also shape our practices (Samsel, 2013, pg. 140), in this case practices could simply be beliefs about certain communities or subgroups of people. Regardless, these misrepresentations have numerous negative effects on the real world.
Conclusion
There are numerous implications of the representations by the media in multicultural education. It is the goal of multicultural education to correct these misrepresentations, although correcting all of society’s beliefs and biases may be impossible. Inaction cannot be an option, as Gorski has stated, “a social justice educator knows that inaction supports the existing order of power and oppression (Gorski, 2008). As these poor, black male student athletes are misrepresented as non-academic and delinquent, it becomes the responsibility of multicultural educators to ensure academic success for this specific subgroup of people. Educators must be inclusive, promote diversity, and advocate for minority groups in order to change how society interacts with them. [#1194]
References
Carter, T. (Director). (2005). Coach Carter [Video file]. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
Gorski, P. (2008). Good intentions are not enough: A decolonizing intercultural education. Intercultural Education, 19(6), 515–525
Hall, S. Representation and the media [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.mediaed.org/transcripts/Stuart-Hall-Representation-and-the-Media-Transcript.pdf
Reynolds, P.J. (2014c). Ch. 4: Running “U”: Administrators in Popular Culture. (pp. 43–51)
Samsel, M. & Perepa, P. (2013). The impact of media representation of disabilities on teachers’ perceptions.Support for Learning, 28(4), 138–145.
Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. J. (2017). Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education (2nd ed.).New York, NY: Teachers College Press.