Sport, Dissent, and Representation during the 1970s

Session Submission Type: Paper Session: Talk Format

Abstract

Historians have shown that the Seventies was a watershed moment in United States history, a crucial time in the development of modern America. An ethos of dissent and personal liberation pervaded American culture. As Thomas Borstelmann observed, the U.S. experienced “a spirit of egalitarianism and inclusiveness that rejected traditional hierarchies and lines of authority.” Increasingly, Americans questioned core institutions: government, military, church, corporations, even sports organizations. The growing disrespect for the Establishment created a sense of uncertainty and friction over debates about race, religion, sexual behavior, and gender roles. Nowhere was this more evident than in American entertainment. “Seventies popular culture,” Bruce Schulman wrote, “revealed a contempt for authority, a sense that the powers that be had rotted to the core.”

Schulman’s survey of the Seventies remains one of the most impressive works about the era. Yet, his discussion about the intersection between popular culture and political culture excludes the role of sports. Undoubtedly, as our panel demonstrates, sports were at the very center of the cultural battles confronting the country. The Seventies represented a turning point in the history of American sports because the critics of the “SportsWorld” included a significant number of athletes, men and women, black and white, professional and amateur. These athletes rejected the traditional restraints imposed upon them by the sports Establishment. They embraced new freedoms and challenged the conservative sports ideology.

In a teaching format, this diverse panel will talk about the origins, expressions, and consequences of dissent in American sports during the 1970s. These papers focus on the related themes of race, gender, and representation, with particular emphasis on how the Black Power Movement and the Women’s Liberation Movement cracked the consensus in American sports. Jaime Schultz and Eric Allen Hall reveal how women entered spaces and competitions traditionally closed to women. Schultz’s study examines the unprecedented manner in which women runners “crashed” men’s marathons and gained wider access to sport. Studying a familiar story, Hall’s paper breaks new ground framing the “Battle of the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs as a generational clash as much as a match about gender. Aram Goudsouzian and Johnny Smith explore the import of three prominent personalities who shaped the professional sports landscape and complicated the image of black athletes. The cultural politics of basketball legends Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Goudsouzian argues, demonstrates the tension between celebrity, blackness, and self-determination. Smith contends that during the “Me Decade” baseball star Reggie Jackson earned a reputation for being egotistical and selfish, defying the expectation that a famous black athlete must voice the concerns and aspirations of the black community. In his quest for empowerment Jackson defined manhood on his own terms, embracing a politics of style more than one of substance. Together, these presentations advance our understanding of the relationship between the politics of dissent, sports, and American culture.

Sub Unit

• American Studies Association Annual Meeting

Chair

• Randy Roberts, Purdue University

Individual Presentations

• It’s A Man’s World: Baseball, Black Power, and the Meaning of Reggie Jackson - Johnny Smith

• Rooting for Goliath: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Cultural Politics of Black Giants - Aram Goudsouzian, University of Memphis

• The Old Man and Billie Jean: The 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” Tennis Match Reexamined - Eric A Hall, Northern Illinois University

• Crashing the Marathon: Women’s Distance Running as Feminist Activism, 1959-1972 - Jaime Schultz, Penn State University

Comment

• David K. Wiggins, George Mason University