Racism in contemporary American institutions: a critical, color-blind discourse analysis of sport

This research examines the prevalence of the “new” or contemporary form of racism that exists in post-Civil Rights American society. Since the 1960s, racial ideologies and racism have shifted from “traditional” or overt to a “new” form that is covert and dialectical in nature. This study explores the ways in which the “new” form of racism manifests in discussions about sports and race in an internet environment that is very public yet seemingly private for commenters because of the ability to make comments anonymously. A thematic analysis of 545 comments in relation to two race-related sports articles that appeared on ESPN.com was performed using a critical race theory perspective and Bonilla-Silva’s colorblind framework. The discussions surrounding these race-related incidents and subsequent articles included the racialized frames of (a) abstract liberalism, (b) naturalization, (c) cultural racism, and (d) minimization of racism as means of explaining racial injustice and maintaining the racial hierarchy in modern society. This analysis revealed that not all individuals conform to the predominant ideology of racism in sports and society, these individuals are known as racial progressives. The findings revealed that racism is cultural, socially constructed and present within contemporary society and sports even though individuals and groups would like to believe otherwise. Moreover, the results indicated that sports and the internet are important domains to examine how racism is continually endorsed and reproduced in contemporary American society.