Commodified and Criminalized

Commodified and Criminalized examines the centrality of sport to discussions of racial ideologies and racist practices in the 21st century. It disputes familiar refrains of racial progress, arguing that athletes sit in a contradictory position masked by the logics of new racism and dominant white racial frames. Contributors discuss athletes ranging from Tiger Woods and Serena Williams to Freddy Adu and Shani Davis. Through dynamic case studies, Commodified and Criminalized unpacks the conversation between black athletes and colorblind discourse, while challenging the assumptions of contemporary sports culture. The contributors in this provocative collection push the conversation beyond the playing field and beyond the racial landscape of sports culture to explore the connections between sports representations and a broader history of racialized violence.

David J. Leonard is associate professor of critical culture, gender, and race studies at Washington State University. C. Richard King is professor and chair of critical culture, gender, and race studies at Washington State University.

Acknowledgments Introduction: Celebrities, Commodities, and Criminals: African American Athletes and the Racial Politics of Culture Chapter 1: America's New Son: Tiger Woods and America's Multiculturalism Chapter 2: Sister Act VI: Venus and Serena Williams at Indian Wells: "Sincere Fictions" and White Racism Chapter 3: Ghettocentrism and the Essentialized Black Male Athlete Chapter 4: Why Can't Kobe Pass (the Ball)? Race and the NBA in an Age of Neoliberalism Chapter 5: One Nation Under a Hoop: Race, Meritocracy, and Messiahs in the NBA Chapter 6: Much Adu About Nothing? Freddy Adu and Neoliberal Racism in New Millennium America Chapter 7: Me and Bonnie Blair: Shani Davis, Racial Myths, and the Reiteration of the Facts of Blackness Chapter 8: The Dennis Rodman of Hockey: Ray Emery and the Policing of Blackness in the Great White North Chapter 9: Contesting the Closet: Sheryl Swoopes, Racialized Sexuality, and Media Culture Chapter 10: "Life with no hoop": Black Pride, State Power Postscript: Ameri