JRLC 3800 Notes-2nd Half of Semester PDF

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Teacher: David W. Suggs...

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10/10/18 (Wednesday) Religion & Sports Outside Class Notes The Passion of the Tebow (Butterworth) ● Tim Tebow ○ NFL QB for Denver Broncos ○ Mimicked on SNL & Jimmy Fallon for Christianity ○ “Cultural phenomenon” ○ “Sports media have mistaken Tebow for Christ himself.” ● Racial norms ○ White→ masculine character & leadership ○ Quarterbacks are figures for white athletic character fantasies ● Tragic framing: label of choice for extremes of rhetorical appeal ○ Absolutism (all or nothing) ■ Lebron James left Cleveland ○ Media frames & “terministic screens” ○ Two frames: ■ Tebow as QB ● Leadership & competitiveness created his greatness ■ Tebow as missionary ● More influential frame ● “Tebowing” ● Christianity & whiteness ● SOLUTION: Re-frame in terms of comedy ○ No winners or losers ○ Rewrite in sociable ways If Tim Tebow Were Muslim… ● He is not the first to be vocal about his faith in football ○ Most teams say the Lord’s prayer in the locker room ● He is both an underdog & a winner ● Would he make the Muslims feel the same way that Christians do watching him? Increasingly, Footballs Playbooks Call For Prayer ● Coach football increasingly a visible home for the Gospel ○ Coach provides voluntary Church visits ■ Does not violate Constitution ○ Lord’s prayer in the lock room ○ FCA ● Concerns of separation of church & state ○ Lawsuit waiting to happen ○ Officially sponsored prayer is illegal

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■ Violates 1st amendment Player-coach relationship ○ Coach holds all the power ○ Players are concerned about their position on the team ■ Don’t want to be second string ○ No one wants to alienate a coach More about boosting team morale & unity ○ Religious values can develop better players, and students, fathers, and husbands

“Who Am I” Video ● A daughter, a sister, a fighter, a woman, a athlete, a basketball player ○ These things make her complete Tim Tebow & Jason Collins: A Tale of Two Athletes ● Jason Collins (outcast-praised) ○ Washington Wizards backup ○ Announced in Sports Illustrated cover story-he was gay ○ Lauded for courage, not necessarily athleticism; Overnight celebrity ● Tim Tebow (cultural orthodoxy-chased off field) ○ New York Jets cut him after a year ○ Media focused on what he did with his knees, rather than what he could do with his arm ○ Appeared in Super Bowl Commercial talk about abortion ○ Treated like a circus freak in NY b/c of Christianity ● Contrast (with time..) ○ Gays get cultural acceptance ○ Christians treated like invaders ○ Evidence of a double standard The Brandon Davies Dilemma: Can Religion and College Sports Co-exist? ● Brandon Davies ○ Kicked off BYU basketball team ○ Violated school’s honor code ○ He had sex. ● Can big time college athletics exists at schools with moral guidelines stricture than society? ○ A rise in schools without these strict policies ○ Colleges with religious traditions have seen their athletic programs decline ○ Cripple championship by following the rules; Commendable A Marriage Gone Bad Struggles for Redemption ● McCartney head coach of UC Boulder ○ Leader of Promise Keepers’

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■ Makes men more spiritual fathers, husbands ■ Racial reconciliation a priority ○ Drinking issues in college, kicked off Mizzou football team ○ Football was technically first in his mind Mrs. McCartney ○ Struggled with bulimia ■ Represented how dangerously out of touch Bill was with his family ○ Referred to her husband as “same as plumber” ■ Didn’t fix anything at their OWN home ○ Herbalist cured her eating disorder Both did not confront problems ○ Bill turned to the Lord, she turned toward their children ○ Admitted to adultery right before a game Change in marriage ○ They began to see a Christian counselor ○ Bill left UC Boulder to spend more time with his family in 1994

The Gospel According To Mac (30 for 30) Religions & Sports in the Classroom ● Top of constitutional law ○ Natural fit for sports & religion ● Supreme Court Cases ○ Lemon Test ■ “Excessive entanglement” ■ Total separation of Church & state is note required, but a lower court must invalidate a statute if it lacks a “secular legislative purpose” ○ Coercion Test ■ Government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise. ○ Endorsement Test ■ Government cannot favor, endorse any religious practice ● Establishment Clause ○ Prohibits the government from establishing religion ● Free exercise clause ○ Guarantees the individual right to practice religion ● Intercollegiate ○ Students don’t feel uncomfortable saying team prayer, even if not religious, because it is a team building experience 1. Christianity generally 2. Islamic Issues 3. Mormonism 4. Team Chaplains

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Interscholastic (high school) ○ Prayers related to sports practice & competition ○ “Religious” exercises conducted at high school graduation ceremonies ● Professional ○ Big Difference: Participants are usually adults & employees 1. God Bless America a. “Compelled patriotism” 2. Star Spangled Banner a. National anthem b. Lyrics describe using war & military to defend the country 3. Judaism a. Holiday observance In-Class Work: Religion & Sports ● McCartney film~The Gospel According to Mac ○ Father figure ○ Make connection through personal fatih with players ○ 5th down play ■ Did not forfeit game ● Religion & community ● Mutually reinforcing This is not all about Tim Tebow, but… ● From Butterworth article: ○ Feelings about Tebow divisive: ■ Believers/fans inspired by his principles ■ Non-fans/non-believers think his public displays of faith are self-promotional ○ The tragic frame ■ Elevates beliefs about absolute good and evil ■ Good people sacrifice themselves for their ideals ■ Sports gives Tebow a platform to perform heroism--idealism even in defeat Byproducts of tragic framing (also from Butterworth) 1. Identification of absolutes: Tebow frames followers of his faith as those who are right/winners, everyone else as losers/enemies 2. Failure can result in backlash (Tebow and Jets) 3. Heroic language results in hero being labeled villain by those who don’t share salient characteristic The antidote: humility ● Framing has constituted Tebow as heroic figure

○ A perfect leader, an embodiment of faithful dedication Tragic framing of his persona requires that critics, fans, and media alike learn to recognize the tendencies of language that risk driving us further apart Most Often, sports frames reinforce dominant culture ● Christian/Protestant examples like Tebow & Mark Richt ● High schools/Lord’s prayer ● Faith, morality, and recruiting ○ Mr. Bowden believes the prayer and faith are part of the American way. ●

But... ● ...People of other faiths can feel excluded/alienated ○ Coach says she was fired over faith; UGA cites retaliation to Jewish cheerleader who filed complaint; coach to fight for job ● ...Other faiths are not acknowledged to the same degree ○ If Tim Tebow were Muslim, would America still love him So, we take steps to rein it in ● First Amendment (Establishment Clause) of the Constitution case law (Epstein article): ○ US and states can’t pass religious laws ○ Government (i.e. public schools) can’t force you to participate in religious moments (prayers before games) ○ Government can’t endorse or promote particular religion Sports can be a platform to expand our understanding of other traditions ● Video Examples where religion in sports can be ● Unifying? ● Divisive? 10/15/18 (Wednesday) Race, sports, and spectacle Outside Class Notes Texas Western’s 1966 Title Left Lasting Legacy ● NCAA Championship ○ Texas Western v Kentucky ○ Started at 10 pm ○ Not carried by major network ○ Televised on tape-delayed basis in America ● All white people (on Kentucky side) ○ Crowd ○ Kentucky Players

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○ Coaches ○ Referees ○ Cheerleaders Kentucky fans wave Confederate flag ○ Then, 5 black players from Texas Western walk up Height of Civil Rights era ○ No team had ever started 5 black people at NCAA Championship ○ ...Or in a general game “Nigg** ball” ○ Needed at least one white with a black on the court ○ Blacks revert to native impulses; Chaos Texas Western ○ White-oriented ○ Surprisingly great defense ○ Called “loose-jointed ragamuffins” ○ All earned degrees ○ Haskins-head coach, hero ■ Asked to have at least one white Kentucky ○ Run-and-gun team ○ ⅘ starters did not earn degrees ○ Rupp-head coach, villain ■ Loss haunted him ■ Blamed everyone & everything but the team ■ Asked to have blacks on team 1966-1967 Season ○ Every southern conference, even SEC, had integrated basketball teams “No one will remember him [Rupp] without remembering us.” -Harry (Texas Western)

Jeremy Lin is not just a Knicks hero-He’s an Asian American hero ● “Classic underdog” ○ Cut by two other NBA teams ○ Played out of desperation one day ■ Scored 25 points ● Racism ○ Easy target because he’s Asian ○ “Only” gets hyped up because he’s Asian; Black players are just as good ○ Lin embodies Asian stereotypes while exploding them ■ Nerd ■ Scored more in first 6 starting games than Shaq and Michael Jordan ■ “Superhuman” Tiger Woods on Racism

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Loves competition, pressure Doesn’t show too many emotions on the outside ○ Like Dad Watched father play, rather than other famous players on TV Feels racism at all major country clubs ○ People always staring ○ Texas, Florida feel it (Slavery locations) Believes he can change this ○ Might be bigger than Jack Nicklaus ○ Like “Michael Jordan” in basketball Competitiveness ○ Brings him through everything ○ Drops into another zone Masters catches his imagination ○ Because the way blacks are treated there ○ Winning tournament would be big there

This Here’s What A Football Player Looks Like ● Bryant of Alabama ○ Went into USC locker room and asked to borrow a player ○ Sam Cunningham ■ Black USC player ■ Black is beautiful ■ Symbol of football to the pride of the South ■ Distanced himself from USC ● Faded in memory as Trojan legend ■ Actually memory vs. post-historical editing ■ A vessel of God’s ■ “Sam Cunningham did more to integrate Alabama in 60 minutes than MLK did in 20 years.” ○ He said “Raise your hands and open your eyes because this right here’s what a football player looks like.” to his team ○ Cage-driven game ■ Began to recruit black players ■ Desegregation ■ “You won’t be able to tell Alabama by the color of their skin anymore.” ● REAL change ○ Players grew up in the 60s ○ White players could not relate to racism, but football connected them ● Did the situation really happen? ○ Players say no ○ Sam says kind of ● John McKay repeated story for years, but was not in the room

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○ Story became a fact ○ Speed and skill game None of this really matters because “It should have happened.” 1970 USC-Alabama Game ○ The game of the century ○ Blacks yelling on the outside ○ Whites silent on the inside ○ Alabama represented segregation ○ USC had all black blackfield at the time “The State of Alabama joined the Union.”

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord ● American politics in the South mirrored the USC/Alabama game ○ Symbolic victory for African Americans ○ REAL change ● Truth is what happened on the field ○ Witnessed and understood ● University of Alabama in the heart of Dixie ○ Bear Bryant walking on water while drinking Coca-Cola ● Desegregated Alabama football team and…Southern society ○ Schoolhouses ○ Grocery stores ○ Office buildings ● Sam started the “quiet revolution” ○ Right men in the right place at the right time Fists of Fury ● Smith & Carlos ○ Gold & bronze medalists on US team ○ Stood on podium ○ Raise fist ○ Black gloves & socks (no shoes) ○ “Oil and water.” ■ Never been close friends ■ Besides being two fastest men in world, very little in common. ● Protest racial equality in 1968 Mexico City Olympics ○ Like Colin Kaepernick kneeling ○ “Many struggles are not final victories.” ● Smith ○ Never interviews ■ Because, does not want to talk about country NOW ■ Rather, his belief in what he WAS doing ○ Thinks present is better and worse than 60s

■ Less black folks with leadership ■ Moving in positive direction Won the race; held record for 11 years

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○ Carlos ○ “Throws rocks” ○ Speaks his mind on social media (Smith does not) Boycott of Olympics ‘68 ○ Hoped it did good, not chaos ○ Lost steam b/c players wanted to win medals Boycott talk → Protest talk ○ No roles ○ Jesse Owens spoke to black athletes and told them they would “never get jobs” if they protested ○ Didn’t shake hands with opponents Moment on podium ○ Bare feet: poverty ○ Beads: lynching of black men ○ Black scarf: deep identity with race ○ The gloves/fists: defiance and unity Post protest ○ Might have it all, but can’t eat gold medals, kids at home can’t eat that ○ Proud to Black American ○ Suspended by USOC ○ Reaction at home ■ Negative ○ “Struggles that are not victories do not direct change.” ○ Contributed the most? ■ Imaging ○ They would do it again ■ Regardless of poverty & struggles Carlos announced he left Smith win it ○ Calves were pulling hard ○ If he thought Smith couldn’t of won it, he would’ve tried harder to win ○ Called Smith’s injury fake

Return to Mexico City (Video) In-Class Work Social Identity Theory: Can sport break down barriers? ● Individuals derive their identity from place in society ● Positive social identity is often based on favorable comparisons between membership in a particular in-group as opposed to out-group

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Those who share a salient characteristics with the subject-are members of common in group ● Observation and definition of an out-group can have negative outcomes Social identity theory part 2: the contact hypothesis ● Avoiding such outcomes can be done by exposing individuals to out-groups ● Repeated exposure to out-groups can reduce the salience of the characteristics ● Media can have the same de-categorizing effect ○ Reducing anxiety and increasing comfort levels toward out-groups Broadening our ideas of athletes...broadening our ideas of people? ● Example-Jeremy Lin Decategorization ● Within sports ○ Integration of teams ○ Integration of positions ○ Creating bonds within teams ● Within society ○ Destroying stereotypes ○ Changing understanding of individual capabilities But sometimes it doesn’t work… in the short term 10/23/18 (Wednesday) Race, sports, and integration In search of the glue that holds the South together ● Derek Dooley- “High priest who schooled his calling congregation in call-and-response” ○ 40 years he was in charge of the most powerful myth machine ■ Has an ability to create belief systems ○ Speak of football as a kind of religion ○ Came to UGA in 1964 ■ Football remained segregated ■ Up to high schools to pave the pipeline ○ Signed first African Americans in 1970s ■ Became one of the first Southern schools to shed Confederate flag ■ Dixie Redcoat → Redcoat marching band ● Joined effort to remove the Confederate battle emblem on GA’s state flag Ghosts of Mississippi Chapter 1: The Battle ● Parents raised them to leave prejudice behind

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“The South during the 60s was like the cross in our front yard: something they experienced but wanted to shield their kids from.” 1962 Ole Miss football team ○ Near self-destruction over integration ○ Most remarkable team despite ○ Black community feels under siege Ross Barnett ○ Segregationist governor of Mississippi ○ Mississippi threatens to secede ○ Decides James Meredith will never be enrolled after hearing new song Mississippi hails Confederate flag ○ Band dressed in it ○ Fans hold the flag ○ No blacks ○ Hard to forget South lost in War… Feds head to Mississippi after Barnett says NO deal ○ Kennedy sends them The Mob @ Lyceum ○ Some players involved ○ Fighting ○ Marshals: troopers ○ Barnett goes on speaker to announce: ■ Meredith brough to MS by force ■ Marshals are violating the Constitution ○ Attorney general, Robert Kennedy, alerts President they are using tear gas Buck Randall ○ “Nothing on earth scared that guy, but that night did.” U.S. Army Invades ○ First time in century

Chapter Two: Reconstruction ● Segregation: The Old Mississippi ● Honest-to-God-War Zone: The New Mississippi ○ Physical manifestation of hate and fear ● Troops camped out on Vaught’s practice fields ○ Every car that entered is screened ○ Meredith goes to class with armed guards ● Many want to shut down the school ○ One reason not to: the highly ranked Rebels ○ Even if school remains open, pressure might cancel the Houston game ○ Game set for Jackson, MS ● Meredith still receiving attention ○ Football player knocks out marshal

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○ No one can even sit next to him in the cafeteria Ole Miss keeps winning ○ Drops in the polls b/c of weak schedule ○ Mississippians wonder if there are other reasons for the continuous dropping in the polls ○ Blame chaos on campus on playing LSU ■ Fliers about Kennedy ○ Beating LSU was the happiest thing on campus since the riots started ■ Jumps to 4th in poll ○ Gone through the entire season unbeaten and untied ■ Close games, regardless ○ No Natty (USC v. Wisconsin) ■ FInal game: Played for pride Forced tolerance of Meredith (By December) ○ Football team winds down too ■ Waiting for Sugar Bowl ■ Beat Arkansas ■ Undefeated season

Chapter 3: Catching Up ● James Meredith graduates ○ Wears Barnett Never pin upside down ○ Commencement speaker tells the crowd the South is changing ● Realization of Ole Miss falling apart ○ Haven’t won a SEC Championship since ○ Rebels refusing to recruit African American players ■ Dynasty fading ○ People won’t remember Ole Miss for the dominant teams, BUT rather the night in 1962 ○ Vaught leaves ■ Becomes sick after a loss to Southern Mississippi ■ He never will recruit an African American player ● Riot in the ‘80s out front Hawkins fraternity house ○ Similar to one by parents in the 60s ○ Mad the male cheerleader won’t carry the Confederate flag ○ Chancellor announces the end of the flag at the school ● Mississippi votes to keep the Confederate flag ○ Stars and bars ○ 65% vs. 35% ○ MS is 61% white, 37% black A Tribute to Jack Robinson ● First African American baseball player

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Opened doors for lots of African Americans People pursuing the “American Dream” after War 4 sports @ UCLA for College Brooklyn Dodgers summoned him to be 2nd base ■ “Trial by fire” ■ Had to endure racial slurs from fans, teammates, opposing teams ● Separate hotel rooms ● Pitcher tried hitting him in the face ○ “I am a MLB player, not a freak.” ○ Kept rage buried ○ Named rookie of the year 1st season ○ Won 6 penents; Beat Yankees in 1955 ○ Inducted into Hall of Fame ■ First year of eligibility No African Americans in ANY major league sport (1947) ○ Paved the way for minorities ○ 1959 ALL major league clubs integrated ○ Blacks remained conspicuous as managers in MLB ○ Devotion to cause of equality First line of argument in Civil Rights Movement ○ Pro integration b/c of Jackie Money & endorsements do not bring you dignity ○ On negro teams Jackie Robinson died from heart attack ○ Wife chose a man who shared her husbands concern of inequality ○ Not one of his friends to talk at his funeral ○ Deserves to be made into an icon (few people do)

In-Class Work The hero’s journey in desegregating sports ● De-categorizing--allowing people to broaden their ideas of who is acceptable in their social groups ● Walking into teams, leagues, and organizations built by and for white people ● What happens when they try to change those structures or exercise some autonomy? Is this the hero’s journey? ● Colin Kaepernick ● Carlos & Smith ● Who gets to decide when they’ve “gone too far”? ● Is there a difference between what the two did? ○ Colin was paid ○ Smith & Carlos were not

Opening the gym doors: How integrated are sports? ● Representation ...