Racial Conflict in American Football and National Pride

• In Event: 366 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session II
  In Refereed Roundtable: B. Table 06. Race II

Abstract

Scholars from diverse disciplines have consistently emphasized the role of sport institutions and rituals in expressing, reflecting, or producing national sentiments. In addition, numerous studies have illustrated the dominance of racialized and gendered forms of discourse in both the sphere of sports and in the construction of national identities. In this paper we test empirically some of the hypotheses derived from merging these scholarly fields. We analyze a series of public opinion polls to examine whether being a fan of American football is associated with national pride and how this association may vary across racial and gender categories. After controlling for many of the ‘usual suspects’ known to predict national pride, including a conservative world view, our findings suggest a close affinity between football fandom and American patriotic sentiments, especially among men. However, while among white Americans being a football fan predicts high national pride, among black Americans we found an inverse relationship. We speculate that both white and black male football fans identify American patriotism with whiteness. Symbols of American national pride which are so visible in the football sphere, allows white fans to experience congruence between their national sentiments and the fandom experience. For black fans, the successes of African American players presents an opportunity to imagine black collective prowess, underscoring the great distance to achieving the ideals represented in American national pride. The fact that the racial differences are more extreme among men illustrates the interdependency of masculinity, national pride, sport, and racial identity.

Authors

• Tamir Sorek, University of Florida

• Robert G. White, University of Florida