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As the U.S. population becomes more racially diverse and different groups move in to previously White-dominated spaces, new techniques of exclusion and marginalization are being employed in an effort to regulate the opportunities and progress available to racialized minority groups. In this article, the author argues that mass media’s preoccupation with the Williams sisters’ “on-court” play and “off-court” activities constitutes a form of surveillance that is used by Whites to identify, observe, and ultimately, limit the range of available representations of Venus and Serena Williams. The author also suggests that this kind of public scrutiny produces racialized images and narratives constitutive of “race talk,” a key manifestation of the new racism(s) characteristic of the politics of this sociohistorical moment.

This essay positions sport as a pedagogical social institution from which people learn about race, gender, power, and privilege. The National Basketball Association is examined closely with a critical race lens with regard to the commodification of Black masculinity. A critical race analysis reveals the sharp contradictions between the league’s progressive image as an “industry leader” of racial diversity (Lapchick, Bustamante, & Ruiz, 2007, p.1) and the actualization of league discourse, policy, and practice.

Scholars have noted that an elevated level of sports socialization in the family, neighborhood, and media exists within the African American community, creating an overrepresentation of African American males in certain sports. As a result, African American males may face consequences that are distinctly different from the consequences of those who are not socialized as intensively toward athletics, such as lower levels of academic achievement, higher expectations for professional sports careers as a means to upward mobility, and lower levels of career maturity. This study examines the sport socialization of African American male former collegiate athletes through in-depth ethnographic interviews. The results show that the respondents' perceptions were that their socializing agents and socializing environment emphasized athletics above other roles, other talents, and the development of other skills.