The last decade has seen growth in athletes using their public profiles to raise awareness over social justice-related issues such as police violence and racial injustice and to create change. In new research, Elizabeth Seagroves, Betina Cutaia Wilkinson, and Lisa Kiang examine what drives peoples’ reactions to sports activism, finding that those who support it are more likely to favor disrupting the racial status quo and to approve of athletes acting as role models and activists. They write that those who are white, male, and politically conservative are more likely to oppose racial justice sports activism. 

As we near the start of what will soon be the chaos of the 2024 elections, it is inevitable to consider the role that professional athletes will play in mobilizing potential voters, raising awareness of political issues and campaigning in favor of political candidates throughout 2024.

While athletes making use of their platforms to raise awareness on issues of social justice dates to the 1900s, the most recent wave of sports activism sets itself apart from previous movements in several ways. What began with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players in 2016 protesting issues of racial injustice and WNBA player Maya Moore stepping away for two seasons to help exonerate an innocent man has grown into a worldwide phenomenon wherein players across a wide variety of sports with differing racial, gender identities use their positions to raise awareness of social injustices, mobilize voters, and bring about policy change. Professional athletes have even propelled national sports associations to cancel games, adopt diversity initiatives and create diversity reports. One way to determine whether players’ activism is influential is to uncover the public’s approval of sports activism along with the factors that can relate to their support, which we do in new research.

“Maya Moore (23) dribbles around Alex Ben” (CC BY 2.0) by Lorie Shaull

The long history of sports and racial politics in the US

Issues of race and politics are at the core of the development of sports in the US. ​​The US has a long history of social and political leaders using sports to maintain a fixed racial hierarchy with Black Americans at the bottom. After the Civil War, when enslaved people, formerly enslaved people, and poor whites were more likely to interact, laws were passed barring the three groups from engaging in sports for fear that they would fraternize and then retaliate against the white wealthy ruling class. As Black people advanced in athletic achievements in several sports such as baseball and horse racing, clubs and associations were formed to bar them from joining. Given how the sports context has long been used to reinforce and create social stratification, it is particularly meaningful to examine how athletes and sports figures today are using their celebrity to speak out against inequity and in support of racial justice.

Although research on sports activism is relatively new, what we know so far is that support for professional athletes and coaches expressing their political stances is mixed. Those who are white, Republican, and older are more opposed to professional athletes using their platforms to bring about social change than their counterparts. In our research, we went beyond asking individuals what they thought about sports activism with survey questions, in-person interviews, and open-ended surveys to obtain an in-depth understanding of the scope and intensity of individuals’ sentiments toward professional athletes voicing their opinions on and off the field. Unlike previous studies, we exposed individuals to specific statements by professional athletes who differ by race, sport, and gender. The very nature of the latest wave of sports activism centers around athletes raising awareness of racial injustices and disrupting the racial status quo of white supremacy. Yet, most past research has neglected to ground studies on reactions to sports activism in critical race theory and racial resentment. As such, our study is one of the first to adopt a race lens to examine how prejudice, racial resentment and adherence to strict order relates to individuals’ approval of sports activism.

Support for sports activism is linked to how people feel about athletes

Our research reveals several important findings. First, we find that individuals associate sports activism with messages that center on raising awareness of racial injustices such as police brutality and institutional racism. Second, approval of sports activism is related to support for professional athletes stepping out of their rigid social arrangement, highlighting racial injustices, and generating socio-political change. Those who support sports activism express significantly greater approval of athletes serving as more than entertainers and as role models and activists whose activism is critical to address the grave social injustices facing our country. Those who view sports activism favorably support disrupting the racial status quo, especially when racially minoritized athletes make influential political assertions.

Those who disapprove of sports activism express deep opposition to athletes stepping out of line and often disparage their character and intelligence. According to previous studies as well as our own data, those who are white, male, and politically conservative are more likely to oppose racial justice sports activism. While there are certainly individual exceptions to this trend, these identifiers can help us shed light on the potential influence of members of the public experiencing a sense of racial threat. In addition, our results suggest that some African Americans hold concerns of athletes serving as strong role models, as well as some hesitation in completely endorsing professional athletes’ political statements.

So, what does all this mean? Our results suggest that the more one feels a sense of threat related to their race and status, the less likely they are to support sports activism. Racial resentment can shape public opinion on sports activism. While athletes taking a stand on issues of social justice and racial inequality can have positive effects on some, they can have neutral or even negative effects on others. Our hope is that our work helps us better understand how race, racial resentment, and racial threat contribute to the public’s level of support for athletes’ statements on socio-political issues. It is critical that we continue to explore how race, class, and political attitudes affect the ways in which sports activism is received by the public. Doing so is crucial to how we analyze, create, and market these statements moving forward, and research like ours can help us understand how to create more effective messages to promote social change.

• This article is based on a paper forthcoming in Politics, Groups, and Identities. 
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• Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USAPP – American Politics and Policy, nor the London School of Economics.
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