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Race and the NFL Draft: Views from the Auction Block

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Abstract

Previous research suggests that minorities are more likely to perceive racially-based discrimination in a variety of settings than are whites, in large part because of the ways their personal experiences with racism shape the lens they use to view the world. We examine a labor market that is typically considered an exception to patterns of racism in employment, the industry of professional football. We interview athletes who attempted to gain employment in the National Football League, a labor market where access to valued positions is heavily restricted by industry practices. Findings from field research and semi-structured interviews indicate that minority workers experience symbolic discrimination during the hiring process. Differential treatment of players reflects stereotypes about minority families and masculinity. Although minority and white players describe much of the actual content of their labor market experiences in similar fashion, their perceptions of these experiences differ sharply, with minority athletes identifying far more negative repercussions.

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Notes

  1. Cf. Price’s (1997) Sports Illustrated cover story entitled “Whatever Happened to the White Athlete?” or Gay’s (2007) response in the San Francisco Chronicle to Donavan McNabb’s claim that black quarterbacks face greater scrutiny for examples of the ways mainstream media dismiss the issue of minority status in modern sport. In addition, several scholarly examinations of mass media treatments of sport have identified racial signifiers and stereotypes in print and broadcast coverage of sporting events, as well as dismissive attitudes towards concerns about such cavalier use of race in those settings (cf. Billings 2004; Eastman and Billings 2001; Hardin et al. 2004; Hartmann 2007; Oates 2004; Rada 1996; Rada and Wulfemeyer 2005).

  2. While questions about family structure or examination of juvenile criminal records could potentially violate laws, such violations can be difficult to prove. The offices responsible for enforcing such laws are often overwhelmed, and the burden of proof lies with the worker whose rights were violated, including the fact that the complaints required to initiate investigation must be made by workers (Reskin 1998). Players who are unwilling to leave interviews or object to lines of questioning are even more unlikely to file Title IIV complaints about improper or illegal interviewing practices; in addition, because of their lack of previous labor market experience, these young workers may not be aware of such legal protections.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Glenn Tsunokai, Townsend Price-Spratlen, Stephen J. Scanlan, John P. Hoffmann, the journal editor, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, 2008 JFSB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Mikaela J. Dufur

  2. Department of Sociology, Western Washington University, 516 High Street MS 9081, Bellingham, WA, 98225-9081, USA

    Seth L. Feinberg

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  1. Mikaela J. Dufur
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  2. Seth L. Feinberg
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Correspondence to Mikaela J. Dufur.

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Dufur, M.J., Feinberg, S.L. Race and the NFL Draft: Views from the Auction Block. Qual Sociol 32, 53–73 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-008-9119-8

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