Is "athleticism" thinly veiled racism?

It's racism if you accept that blacks are just naturally better athletes and white are naturally scrappier and smarter.

I think it's rarely used is a racist way, but code words can be.

When some folks talk of Caddy driving welfare moms, we know they aren't talking about some white woman living in a trailer in Tennessee.

 

In the NBA, the Spurs never seem to have an easy time with the Philadelphia 76ers, even when Philly is record-wise terrible. Why? Because the Spurs have typically been a younger team, and the 76ers have been young and athletic.

I don't think it's racist to point that out. If it eases one's white guilt to come up with a synonym for athletic in that instance, fine. But I don't think it's mandatory.

 

You are supposed to call the 6-10, 330-pound guy a "physical specimen."

Don't you get the memos?

 

He was the state's player of the year in football, basketball and track. I probably used every description you could think of and still ran out of stuff to write pretty easily.

 

This begs the question by using the term to define the term. What does "athletic" mean in either of your citations?

 

You didn't accept "general physical ability." You don't accept a description of size, strength and agility. I'm not sure what you would accept at this point.

 

That's why "athleticism" is a terrible crutch for sports journalists. It means whatever we elect it to mean. Worse yet, it means nothing.

 

Journalists should use more specific terms to describe a player's physical skills: He's a quick-footed defender. She has quick hands that lead to steals and easy baskets. He's a strong, broad-shouldered post player.

Of course, I recently covered a playoff game where a coach continued to say how one of his players was "the best athlete in the gym" and "I put my best athlete" on Podunk High's star scorer.

BTW, the kid the coach was referring to was white. And this team had some Latinos and a black kid. So no, "athleticism" doesn't always imply race.

 

It's useful on a limited basis when doing recruiting and Draft stories, generally preceded by an adverb, preferably attributed to someone else. High school football and basketball coaches only know so many words to describe a guy, draft geeks, too, and I wasn't one to belabor the point to draw out an interview with a total wonk.

Once you see a guy in person, you should be able to describe their talent more clearly.

 

Great discussion.

One point: In the specific case that started me on this, the word was describing an entire team, not an individual.

 

Like Ace said, "athletic" is code for "black" in high school athletics. Coaches with predominantly white rosters will invariably say a predominantly black team is "athletic."

 

I think it's weird when anyone who receives an athletic scholarship is referred to as "athletic."