Blog 3- In Defence of Race-based Rooting

Gary Kamiya claims in his article “In Defense of Race-based Rooting” that it is okay to be racist about the sports and the Olympics particularly. He emphasizes this kind of racism is different from being prejudiced. He talks about different examples which are from various races, different colors and genetic groups as his evidences to prove his ideas. My feelings on this issue are mixed. I do concede that sports- racism exists and many people engage in it without admitting it. However I cannot agree with him when he claims “It is a completely harmless, benign racism.” Because I think there is no such a thing as the harmless racism.
In my opinion, the athlete’s ability, performance, manners and attitude should be noticed and judged regardless of the skin color or the race. Kamiya contradicts himself. In one hand, he admits that the racism is a sensitive subject for everybody. On the other hand, he claims that “Race is not that big a deal. I am not obsessed with what race an athlete is, most of the time I scarcely notice it, and race is not the reason I root for most competitors.” These contradicts make the readers confused, perhaps he needs to clarify his position more accurate.
Overall, racism is a very sensitive issue not only for sports, but also in other aspects of people’s lives as Kamiya talks about President Barack Obama. He states “It was hard not to think of Barak Obama, and his historic challenge to America’s racial orthodoxies, and for this Democrat, to devoutly pray that he will have better luck than Jones.” Unfortunately during the recent congressional recess and the TV coverage of so called town hall meetings, there were many displays of extreme emotion and anger about President Obama. Why did it happen? As former President Jimmy Carter said “an underlying factor behind some of the protests is racism. Some people cannot accept that we have an African-American as president, and they will do anything to prevent him from being successful.”