The Articulation of Difference: White Preoccupation with the Question of Racially Linked Genetic Differences among Athletes

Abstract

This paper focuses on the contemporary white public and scientific preoccupation with the question of racially linked genetic differences between black and white male athletes. It is argued that the preoccupation itself is racist because it is founded on and naturalizes racial categories as fixed and unambiguous biological realities, thus obscuring the political processes of racial formation. The biological determinism underlying the preoccupation conceals both human agency and sociopolitical forces, including racism. NBC Television, by legitimating the preoccupation itself, helped to produce consent for the racial status quo. Strategies that are used to naturalize the preoccupation are exposed.