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This is the manuscript of a chapter published in Democracy, Governance, and Law, edited by M. Deflem. Emerald Publishing, April 2025.
Also available as PDF file.
Please cite as: Brunson, Brandii, and Mathieu Deflem. 2025. "Racial Justice Activism and Democracy: The Deliberative Role of Black Women Athletes." Pp. 141-156 in Democracy, Governance, and Law, edited by M. Deflem. Leeds, UK: Emerald Publishing.
ABSTRACT
Purpose – This study examines the involvement of Black women athletes in racial justice activism. It seeks to uncover recent empirical trends and make theoretical sense of observed patterns and the motives and objectives of activists.
Methodology/Approach – The data include online media sources analyzed on the basis of an interpretive research design. Analysis relies on insights derived from Critical Race Theory and the sociology of celebrity to ponder on the intent and consequences of athlete activism.
Findings – The results of the study show that Black women athletes have made important contributions to racial justice activism, especially since the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are ebbs and flows in this activism that do not always relate neatly to racial justice concerns. As such, athlete activism, even among Black women, is caught between the limits of racial justice, on the one hand, and the realities of celebrity culture, on the other.
Originality/Value – Contemporary racial justice activism among Black women athletes has generally received much attention in the (news and sports) media and has also begun to be discussed among sociologists and other social-science scholars. Uncovering relevant empirical trends and making a theoretical contribution, this chapter hopes to raise pertinent questions and work towards an answer on the democratic role of athlete activism.
Keywords: Racial justice; democracy; activism; Critical Race Theory; celebrity; sport
INTRODUCTION
Both professional and amateur athletes have been protesting social justice issues at least since the counterculture days of the 1960s in order to raise awareness and bring about positive social change. Especially many Black Americans are among the athlete activists who have used their platforms, in various waves of more or less intensity, to expose ongoing social problems (Edwards, 1970). Racial justice has long been a prominent issue in American society and at least some athletes, especially those who represent (marginalized) minority groups and openly identify in terms of their oppressed identity as much as with their acquired status and accomplishments of athletic success and fame. In recent years, athletes are particularly aware of their broader role model status and how they can advocate for important causes beyond their sports activities.
This chapter examines sport activism in matters of racial justice, specifically focused on the contemporary role of Black women athletes. Extending from work on celebrity culture and activism (Deflem et al., 2023), this project applies the research focus to the rise of Black women athletes since the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement and the general increased move towards activism during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first instance, this chapter will uncover the observable movement and trends in racial justice activism among Black women athletes, focusing both on intentions and impact. Moving beyond the empirical patterns of relevant developments, this study also seeks to make a theoretically informed contribution to debates on the scholarship of racial (in)justice, especially with respect to questions and problems of law, policing, and criminal justice. To formulate some of the appropriate questions raised by racial justice activism among Black women athletes, especially in terms of its deliberative role in a democratic context, this study will rely on selected insights derived from Critical Race Theory as well as on the scholarship on celebrity culture. As such, this study is in most concrete terms focused on the implications of athlete activism initiated by those who, as women and Black Americans, share some of the conditions of injustice and marginality targeted in activism, but who also, as popular and successful athletes, benefit from existing conditions with respect to celebrity, wealth, and status.
RACIAL JUSTICE, SPORTS, AND CELEBRITY
The development of contemporary racial justice activism in the world of professional sports relates closely to conditions and problems that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic that started in the spring of 2020 and lasted until well into 2022 (officially ending in May 2023). Although the present focus is on the part played by Black women athletes who enjoy a relative high profile, it can be noted that athlete activism, especially on matters of race, has also developed in those parts of the sporting world that enjoy less visibility, including high school and college (Kluch et al., 2023; McCoy, 2022).
The centrality of the COVID-19 pandemic on many aspects of social life is impossible to ignore. The pandemic played a critical, often tragic role in the lives of many people of all walks of life. The first pandemic of a worldwide scope since the Swine Flu pandemic in 2009, most everyone in the world was negatively affected by the mental and physical toll that the spread of the coronavirus created. To alleviate those conditions, many high-profile people, including athletes, entertainers, and other celebrities, advocated for causes related closely to the health aspects of the pandemic, such as the promotion of face masks, observing social distancing rules, and acquiring vaccines. These attempts to create safe atmospheres for citizens appeared to come naturally to prominent individuals because they understood the weight of their impact on society, especially at a time when the world was in a vulnerable state.
As the pandemic developed, other social problems were not placed on hold. On the contrary, as the state of the world grew more and more uncertain, various forms of inequality, violence, and injustice continued to happen or newly emerged. These problems also received more attention because of the world’s increased use of the internet and social media as a means for communication and interaction. Thus, it appeared that police violence and killings in the Black American community happened more frequently or, at least, received more attention. The most discussed and in this sense most impactful of these incidents was the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 (Deflem, 2022). Athletes (and others) who had already been advocating for racial justice prior to the pandemic now had even more work to do alongside of maintaining their primary careers and advocating for health and safety in response to COVID-19. The development of this activism in matters of racial justice is at the center of this chapter.
To formulate an appropriate sociological framework for this study, we position our work in relevant scholarship on racial justice, on the one hand, and athlete (and celebrity) activism, on the other, as the two key components of the subject matter. We begin with an uncontested but important observation. There is no doubt that there have been signs of a ‘racial reckoning’ in American society in recent years (Hammonds, 2021). In this cultural climate, prominent athletes and others with a high degree of visibility and fame have played an activist role in matters of racial justice, which has increasingly also been well received. For example, football player Colin Kaepernick initially faced at times rathe severe criticisms over his decision to take a knee during the national anthem at football games, even leading to accusations of a betrayal of Americanness (Dickerson & Hodler, 2021). More recently, however, the ballplayer has been shown to be received much more favorably (Allen & Williams, 2021). Kaepernick has thereby also been able to function as a role model for the activism of other athletes. Among them, Black women athletes have particularly been more engaged in advocacy, on matters of racial justice and other causes, recalling the days of Black sports activism during the civil rights era (and in contrast to the relative silence among successful Black athletes in the 1980s and 1990s) (Deflem, 2022).
Besides the objectives of activists to appeal to the public and inform relevant policy, what is to be examined more systematically is the social and cultural context in which athlete activism takes place and, relatedly, which theoretical model can best bring out relevant characteristics. This study therefore relies on Critical Race Theory and its relevance for a theory of activism in terms of its role in a democratic society. We hereby understand Critical Race Theory in its original meaning as a scholarly perspective in jurisprudence that questions the ideal of legal autonomy and neutrality in modern societies (Deflem, 2008, pp. 192-193). As an intellectual off-shoot of Critical Legal Studies, the scholarly focus is thus on racial inequalities in society at large and, especially, in and through law.
Specifically, following the work of Bruce Arrigo and Christopher Williams (2000), we investigate whether athlete activism can alter the condition that the advance of democracy in American society has not developed with even and equal benefits for minoritized groups. This condition especially applied to Black citizens of the United States inasmuch as they are still forced to deal with the life-altering legacies of slavery and segregation. Inasmuch as access is provided to the members of once oppressed and marginalized groups (e.g., by means of affirmative action policies), there is in the expansion of legal protections a reaffirmation embedded that it is the majority that is empowered to give, leaving the members of minorities groups in a passive position to receive. As such, constraints are posed on minority participants in the democratic arena and their potential to act in a meaningful deliberative role. Such participation is essential in view of the notion that democracy is an ongoing process of deliberation. In this sense, we follow the work of Jürgen Habermas –rather than the deconstructive philosophy of Jacques Derrida that informs Arrigo and Williams (2000)– to affirm the centrality of democracy as a debate, however informed or not (Habermas, 1996).
It will be useful to complement Critical Race Theory’s concern over the (im)possibilities of democratic justice for minorities on the basis of the reality that concrete advances have undeniably also been made in matters of racial justice and equality. In the case of athlete activism, therefore, it is relevant to consider the impact of the world of celebrity to which successful (professional) athletes belong. As such, a central question is whether Black women athletes engaging in racial justice activism should be understood primarily in terms of their own personal Black American experience or, instead and/or complementary thereto, whether they function as celebrities of great success and prestige whereby their activism is part of their platform and ‘brand’ (Calow, 2021; Deflem, 2023). It is the peculiar intersectional position of (often relatively young) successful Black women athletes that thus poses interesting issues on the aspired and realized impact of activism. Athlete activism is thereby understood not merely in relation to athletes’ right to speak (Park, 2022) but in terms of the democratic role of athlete activists to influence public opinion, policy, and law.
The data of this research are drawn from media sources publicly available on the internet. These sources are appropriate for this study because the very theme of sports activism pertains to interactions between athletes and the public. Sources were retrieved by means of searches in Google and Google News, using keywords identifying actors (‘athletes’, ‘sports’, ‘celebrities’) and their relevant conduct (‘activism’, ‘advocacy’, ‘racial justice’, ‘BLM’, and the like), with a focus on American-based news and sports media. Because many stories across media are duplicated, major news sources are favored for analysis. Also specially considered are sources containing interviews with athletes that reveal the intent of their activism in their own words and those that discuss the impact of activism in terms of its wider reception.
Analysis of the data is not pre-structured in terms of a specific hypothesis. Instead, this research relies on the qualitative strategy of a sensitizing conceptual framework in order to reveal the Black women athletes engaged in activism and the means through which they have done so. Also examined are the motives and objectives of activism and its reception in the media in more or less favorable terms. In the following section, we present the findings of our study.
RACIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM AMONG BLACK WOMEN ATHLETES
As this review will show, the conditions and characteristics of contemporary racial justice activism among Black women athletes were greatly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic should thereby not primarily be understood in terms of the spread of a virus, but as a period of great societal upheaval. Although this development is situated in a longer history of athlete activism (Agyemang, Singer, & Weems, 2020), especially among Black women athletes (Calow, 2023), the pandemic was clearly a transformative event, as this review will show.
Pandemic Justice: The Rise of Black Women Athletes
In the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, athlete activism had already been on the rise, mostly from men in professional sports who rallied against police violence against (fellow) Black Americans. Following the police killing of Black American Eric Garner on July 17, 2014, for instance, basketball stars Kyrie Irving and LeBron James spoke out publicly and visibly, wearing shirts with the slogan “I Can’t Breathe,” the words spoken by Garner during his confrontation with police (Deitsch, 2014). Occasionally, such racial justice activism would also extend to (Black) women athletes, albeit mostly in the form of singular acts by individual athletes with specific motives and objectives. In 2019, for example, WNBA player Maya Moore decided to sit out of the WNBA’s 23rd season to help with the release of a wrongfully convicted Black man, Johnathan Irons (Smith, 2019). Also protesting racial injustice, hammer thrower Gwen Berry held up her first when she stood on the podium and the star-spangled banner was being played at the Pan American Games in Lima in 2019 (Heroux, 2020). While receiving some attention, both favorable and otherwise, such sporadic actions could not foresee the extensive and intensive development of racial justice activism among Black women athletes in 2020.
In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made its way to the United States and affected society in many, often devastating ways. The isolation, decline in economic stability, and disruptions to daily activities brought about by the pandemic left the nation (and much of the world) in a profoundly depressed mood. Athletes were among the workers who had to find new ways to continue their career. They were required to take COVID tests, wear masks, and take extra safety precautions while still executing professional athletic performance. Many athletes also used their platforms to encourage people to socially distance and follow safety protocols. Not only did professional athletes (and other famous people) promote health and well-being, they also sought to create a sense of normality and excitement in uncertain times. Despite the pandemic, for example, the WNBA continued on in the form of a shortened season with all games held in a singular location, the so-called ‘wubble’, in Bradenton, Florida (Bailey, 2020b).
The efforts by athletes and entertainers to maintain positivity amid the pandemic would come to a rather abrupt halt following certain incidents of police killings that received much attention (Deflem, 2022). On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky when police officers forced entry and shot her. Then, on May 25, 2020, Georg Floyd died after a police officer has been kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes. Although the killing of Breonna Taylor brought about a resurgence of the #SayHerName movement that focused on women victims of police violence, it was the video-taped police killing of George Floyd that sparked a notable increase in racial justice activism.
Over the course of the summer and fall of 2020, Black women athletes took a commanding role in racial justice activism. Many examples can be mentioned. Tennis star Naomi Osaka quickly reacted to the George Floyd killing and openly showed her dismay, especially through social media, over the racial disparities she attributed to the criminal justice system (Deflem, 2023). Osaka was not the only tennis player who spoke out, with Coco Gauff also being active in the form of a TikTok video in which she proclaimed her “voice to fight against racism” (Man, 2020). Many other Black athletes similarly went to social media to express their anger with police brutality, in no small part because of its toll on their own mental health as fellow Black Americans. “Whenever you watch the news,” WNBA player Brianna Turner despondently said, “it’s going to be death either way” (Kleen, 2020). Black professional golfer Cheyenne Woods in an interview with Golfweek likewise revealed her need to engage in activism, saying “there comes a point where you have to have a voice” (Nichols, 2020).
Black women athletes not only encouraged others to speak up, but also criticized those who remained silent. For example, WNBA Player Chloe Jackson called out Kim Mulkey, the Baylor Lady Bears head coach, who silence she called “loud” and “heartbreaking” (Ariail, 2020). Likewise, WNBA player Natasha Cloud wrote an op-ed in the Players’ Tribune under the revealing title, “Your Silence Is a Knee on My Neck” (Cloud, 2020). Former basketball player and current (highly celebrated) college basketball coach Dawn Staley of the University of South Carolina wrote in the Players’ Tribune to express her frustrations with police brutality and racial inequality in America. In an essay entitled “Black People Are Tired,” Staley took police violence personal in view of her racial identity, arguing that police brutality “could happen to any one of us” (Staley, 2020). Staley’s bold statement shows how although Black sports people are aware of their social status, they understand that they inevitably exist at an intersection with race and that race is felt to create uncertainty with the privilege their social status grants them.
Sports organizations also reacted to the increase in athlete activism, mostly by being sympathetic to stated causes, something which in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic had not always been the case. At the same time, athletes expressed that this change in reception to their activism was a long time coming. As Naomi Osaka observed, “Colin [Kaepernick] has been putting this message out since 2016. It took a pandemic, an economic crisis, and torturous murder on camera, all at the same time, for people to really hear him” (McMurtry, 2020).
Athletes practiced their activism not only through social media, but also expanded to other activities. They organized fundraisers, marches, and released social justice platforms, while continuing earlier ways of protest such as through wearing signs on their uniforms and kneeling before games. Black athletes, in particular, placed a strong focus on getting everyone, including nonblack people, to understand the depth of racial injustice and police brutality and the harm it creates. Shortly after the George Floyd killing, Coco Gauff, who at that time was just 16, attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Delray Beach, Florida and delivered a powerful message to the crowd expressing the need to have uncomfortable conversations. She urged people to take action and use their voice, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King’s words that “The silence of the good people is worse than the brutality of the bad people” (Bailey, 2020a).
Some Black WNBA players were engaged in activism to the point, as in the case of Renee Montgomery, LaToya Sanders, and Natasha Cloud, of opting out of sports altogether (Church & York, 2020). This experience as Black women at times extended beyond the borders of the United States, such as in the case of British athlete Dina Asher-Smith who spoke in an interview about the mental toll that the George Floyd incident had taken on her. “In the weeks immediately after George Floyd’s murder,” Asher-Smith said, “it was hard. Hard to focus. Hard to sleep. Tiring, exhausting, and emotionally draining. It was heartbreaking” (Netherton, 2020).
The activism in the WNBA also reached other women’s sports, such as the women’s national soccer team. At a friendly (non-competition match) against The Netherlands in November of 2020, the team players wore “Black Lives Matter” shirts and took a knee before the game (Palermo, 2020). In gymnastics, Simone Biles was among the most vocal to call for racial justice reform. “We need change,” Biles said, “we need justice for the Black community” (Gardner, 2020). Biles’ call for social change echoes Natasha Cloud’s sentiment that activism should strive towards real political reform for all Black Americans (Church & York, 2020). In swimming, Simone Manuel took on an activist role after having initially remained quiet. Manual said that she had, as a Black woman in a predominantly white sport, often spoken about race issues privately with her parents, but she had not yet fully used her platform to speak out publicly about such matters (Forde, 2020).
Generally, racial justice among Black women athletes, as among athletes and others more generally, was favorably discussed in the media and most often embraced, or at least tolerated, by the public at large. There was however, also some resistance, such as when some (republican) politicians spoke out against the alleged divisive nature of some forms of activism (Cash, 2020). But such reactions typically only fueled further activism. By the fall of 2020, athletes of all races and nationalities displayed their solidarity with the Black American community and the Black Lives Matter movement. If an athlete had not joined a march, they publicly spoke about the issues. If they had not started an organization to support racial equality, they donated to one. Athletes also used fresh strategies for raising awareness while retaining elements of pre-COVID activism such as by using their voice through social media and interviews. In the second half of 2020, the athlete activist movement had seemingly become unstoppable.
While more and more athletes had taken action on racial justice during the first pandemic year, documented instances of police brutality and other injustices remained a disturbing reality thereafter. Realizing the continued societal realities addressed in their activism, some athletes stuck with their dedication to call for racial justice reform, at least for some time over the course of 2021. When in February that year, police office Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd, many athletes and other prominent figures celebrated the moment as they felt relief or even victorious in the battle for racial justice. The WNBA released a statement acknowledging the guilty verdict and mentioned how uncommon it is for Black people to receive justice, promising to continue to push for equality (Terada, 2021). Naomi Osaka also spoke about her satisfaction of the verdict, while she also admitted that the Black community’s uncertainty of the verdict proved how often racial injustices happen in America (Deflem, 2023).
Racial justice activism was also still a central issue in the runup to the Tokyo Olympics that had been postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During preparations for the Tokyo games, which eventually took place in July and August of 2021, Gwen Berry turned her back against the flag during the national anthem at the U.S. trials in June. At the end of the anthem, Berry displayed a t-shirt with the words “Activist Athlete.” The hammer thrower even downplayed her upcoming athletic efforts in Tokyo. “I don’t need to do anything sport-wise,’” she said, “What I need to do is speak for my community, to represent my community and to help my community. Because that’s more important than sports” (ESPN, 2021).
At the games in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned participating athletes from raising their fists, taking a knee, and wearing Black Lives Matter gear. Athletes like Dina Asher-Smith spoke out against the policies and urged athletes to speak out, saying “protesting and expressing yourself is a fundamental right” (Ingle, 2021). When the IOC eased some of its restrictions against athlete activism, many athletes were happy with the decision and did indeed engage in activism at the games. For example, the players of New Zealand women’s football team kneeled to show alliance before their opening match. Gymnast Luciana Alvarado incorporated a raised fist into her gymnastics routine to show support for the BLM movement. Black American shot putter Raven Saunders at the medal podium raised her hands to form an X, which she said represented the “intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet” (Madani, 2021). There were numerous such demonstrations at the Tokyo Olympics in various sports, showing that many athletes had not lost the need to honor the victims of racial oppression.
Post-COVID Athlete Activism: The New Normal
The COVID-19 pandemic would not be slowed down sufficiently for social life to resume until the spring of 2022, after vaccines had been widely administered across the world. Mask mandates ad other restrictions were gradually lifted throughout 2022. This gradual normalization of social life would also affect athlete activism. This (relative) decline of racial justice activism was already set in over the course of 2021 when Black women athletes joined other athletes and celebrities in embracing advocacy on a wide range of issues. Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, for instance, began to turn away from racial justice activism in favor of mental health advocacy. Tennis star Osaka withdrew from many of her scheduled tennis matches after she had initially withdrawn from the 2020 French Open (Deflem, 2022). Gymnast Simone Biles forwent her opportunity to win another medal at the Tokyo Olympics by forfeiting amid the competition, explaining her decision, “I have to focus on my mental health” (Gerald, 2021). Swimmer Simone Manuel brought awareness to the burnout that many Black women athletes face because of fatigue and physical strain (Blackstone, 2021). Burnout can be more prevalent among Black women athletes inasmuch as they have to deal with microaggressions, health disparities, and, as in Manuel’s case, pressures resulting from exclusivity (Carter-Francique, Hawkins, & Crowley, 2018). Given the intersection of race and gender, the actions by Biles, Osaka, and others helped spark a broader conversation about mental health among Black women in sports.
In line with the move from racial justice to mental health advocacy, from 2022 on athletes advocated for a wider range of causes. The issues now addressed also include sexual identity rights, gun laws, mental health, and problems associated with a variety of institutions such as education and the criminal justice system. In the spring of 2022, for example, tennis player Coco Gauff voiced her opposition against the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual identity and orientation. “I think that these conversations are important,” Gauff said, “and for me, who has friends in the LGBTQ+ community, I couldn’t imagine not being able to talk about your identity” (Roscher, 2022). Following the mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, whereby 19 children and 2 teachers lost their lives, Gauff also spoke out about gun control. When she had won her semifinal match at the French Open in Roland-Garros, the rising tennis star wrote the slogan “Peace. End Gun Violence” on a camera lens (Cash, 2022).
The lessening of the focus on racial justice in athlete activism in 2022 was soon followed by a general decline in activism, along with a return to the new normal following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. This normal, however, is not as before, with activism now more readily accepted as a factor of sports and celebrity. This general awareness for advocacy can at times be activated in concrete ways, such as in the case of Britney Griner. On February 17, 2022, the Black American basketball player was arrested and detained in Russia for carrying an illegal substance inside an airport in Moscow. Fearing that the arrest of Griner could be abused by Russian authorities for political purposes, people in the sports world, celebrities, and politicians took various steps to ensure Griner’s safe return home. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said contacts had been made for Griner’s release “with the White House, the State Department, hostage negotiators, every level of our government and also through the private sector as well” (Rudder, 2022). Griner was eventually held in Russian custody for 10 months and was not released until December 8, 2022, in a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. Following her release, Griner expressed her gratitude for the support and effort put in place by the nation for her freedom (Feinberg, 2022).
ATHLETE ACTIVISM BETWEEN JUSTICE AND CELEBRITY
The quest for racial justice is in part shaped by celebrity activism, including advocacy by professional athletes. In the contemporary world of professional sports, the findings of this study revealed, a notable upsurge of activism has taken place that has garnered much attention in the media and among the public at large. This increased move towards sports activism has involved important discussions of racial justice, particularly in relation to police and criminal justice, and was increasingly practiced by a new generation of Black women athletes. Along with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Black women athletes have distinctly contributed to the now more generally accepted notion that professional athletes are also activists.
The steady progression of athlete activism since and during COVID-19 has received much media attention, but it has also begun to be recognized among scholars (see overview in O’Neill et al., 2023). Special attention has thereby gone to the role of Black athletes (Brown & Foxx, 2022), especially Black women, such as Simon Biles (McDermott, 2024) and Naomi Osaka (Deflem, 2023), with the WNBA emerging as a leader among sports organizations supportive of athlete activism (Brown et al., 2024). Theoretical models to account for observed trends in athlete activism, however, are still underdeveloped, as much research tends to be expressive of racial justice demands, rather than scholarly reflections thereof.
To make sense of relevant developments, we rely, first of all, on the work in Critical Race Theory by Arrigo and Williams (2000) regarding the (im)possibility of justice for all. Applied to activism on racial justice among Black women athletes, the value of this perspective is that it builds on the idea that policies oriented at racial justice coming from the traditional majority, or from members in the upper echelons of society, are presented as ‘gifts’ towards those less fortunate. The case of affirmative action programs initiated in the 1960s is prototypical in this respect. Regardless of underlying motives and objectives, such programs reaffirm the hegemony of the gift-giving (white) majority, while the minority beneficiaries of this generosity (especially Black Americans) are re-affirmed as recipients who are not only passive but also expected to show gratitude. In the case of racial justice activism among athletes, this idea would reveal that professional athletes and celebrities present themselves as generous towards those less fortunate and, regardless of stated objectives, engage in activism that is most often not practically consequential. The publicity and rewards athletes receive from activism, for instance in the form of lucrative endorsements, as well as the conditions of the relative decline of activism unconnected to the state of advocacy causes underscores this interpretation.
The skeptical lens of Critical Race Theory in terms of the ideals of equality and justice for all finds an interesting corollary in scholarship on celebrity culture and activism. Because successful athletes rely on a high level of visibility and prestige, it might be assumed that their actions in advocacy causes will have beneficial effects. However, celebrities and successful entertainers and athletes are also rich and privileged people who, it can be argued, have benefited from existing institutions that have also contributed to conditions of injustice. These dual forces especially pertain to Black women athletes as they are positioned in between their identity as minority women and as revered stars in the world of sport. As such, these athletes occupy a special place because of the peculiar intersectional nature of their position in terms of race and gender, on the one hand, and professional sports culture, on the other.
The sociology of celebrity has addressed the inherent tension in celebrity activism in terms of a process of celebritization (Driessens, 2012). Whereas celebrification refers to the transformation of once unknown persons into celebrities (becoming famous), celebritization refers to certain concerns and causes becoming discussed in terms shaped by celebrity culture (becoming subject to fame). As such, it is clear that during and since the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial unrests of those days, a celebritization of race has taken place (Deflem, 2022). Concerns regarding race and racial justice themselves are thereby ‘celebrated’ in the sense of having turned, at least partly, into a matter celebrities discuss and engage with, along with whatever other factors that relate to their prestige and success. Like other causes embraced by celebrities, the promotion of racial justice can then become a fashionable accessory advancing the prestige of the activist rather than altering the conditions of injustice targeted in activism.
Taken together, the limits of deliberative democracy, on the one hand, and the reach of celebrity culture, on the other, bring about that the activism of Black women athletes developed along an essentially ambivalent path. As minorities with respect to race and/or gender who have acquired a distinct measure of success and fame, Black women athletes experience greater limits to the deliberative power of their activism and, at the same time, are also and additionally subject to the foils of celebrity privilege. They are more likely to embrace racial justice activism but also as likely as other celebrities to abandon activism. As such, our study findings suggest that sports (and celebrity) activism, even among Black women athletes, is relatively limited in terms of its role to foster greater racial justice. This finding harmonizes with research that shows that celebrities engage in political action, such as increasing voter participation, because of its presumed benefits for democracy as well as for their own “brand positioning” (Spillane, 2024). Even to the extent that athlete activism might influence public opinion and thereby (indirectly) bring about policy changes (Towler, Crawford, & Bennett, 2020), the deliberative role of Black women athletes might still re-affirm, rather than fundamentally challenge, the existing structures of political power and celebrity culture. Should Black women athletes wish their activism to reach its democratic potential, they face a special challenge to navigate their dual identities with respect to race/gender and celebrity/prestige.
CONCLUSION
As has been the case for celebrities in general, activism has become an essential part of many contemporary athletes’ careers. For Black women athletes, racial equality has clearly been a top priority in recent years, revealing a peculiar new wave of athlete activism (Calow, 2023). Analyzing the media sources in this study has revealed that the racially charged events that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic caused racial justice activism among athletes to greatly increase at a rapid rate. This increased activism was also impacted by the altered social conditions of the pandemic that compelled high usage of the internet along with the mental strains. This growth of activism created solidarity amongst athletes of different racial groups, which helped normalize the merger of politics and sports since 2020. While the idea of the athlete activist was historically not always embraced and, instead, could lead to a backlash, recent years have witnessed racial consciousness becoming an acceptable reality.
The spread of racial justice activism among athletes did not develop evenly but exposes a dialectical process. Despite the general normalization of athlete activism since 2020, sport committees and organizations at times attempted to silence athletes by enforcing strict rules to avoid political repercussions. Yet, activism more often than not prevailed as athletes remained dedicated to using their voices. Athletes engaging in activism were, and are, at times still viewed as villains, involving criticisms against the very idea of athlete activism. Yet, athlete activists are also, often in direct response to such criticisms, heralded as heroes worthy of respect and praise. In the years since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice activism clearly became much less prominent than it had been before, but the idea of activism among professional athletes (and other celebrities) has persisted.
In terms of the broader impact of this study, the themes of racial justice and (celebrity) sports activism are widely recognized as relevant among large segments of the public and among policymakers. Sociologists and other social scientists should therefore accordingly devote attention to these matters as well. In the sports world and in celebrity culture, racial narratives and practices are a reality aspiring to influence public discourse and social movement actions. Revealing trends in racial justice activism among Black women athletes and making theoretical sense thereof, this study as such also touches on a matter of great social urgency. Such processes need to be examined in view of scholarly objectives of social science precisely in order to inform efforts to promote racial justice and equity, not least of all in the context of a democratic society.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Emma Calow and Cary Federman for their comments on an earlier draft. Research support was provided by the College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina, by means of a Faculty Research and Creative Scholarship Grant (#23R-3022, Summer–Fall 2023) and from the University’s Office of the Vice President for Research through its Racial Justice and Equity Research Fund (#135300-22-59455, Summer–Fall 2022). Both grants were awarded to the second author for projects in which the first author served as research assistant. Data collection and a first draft of this chapter was completed by the first author, while the second author developed the framework and finalized the writing.
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