Lapchick, Richard B.
Description
Product Description
The author recounts how he was personally attacked for his stand against racism in sports, explains how today's Black athletes ar
...
e exploited, and looks back at the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Rens, an all Black team
From Publishers Weekly
Lapchick has expanded his earlier, disturbing examination, Broken Promises: Racism in American Sport, published in 1984. The current volume (about half of of which consists of new material) begins with Lapchick's recounting of a vicious assault by white racists he suffered in 1978 p. 3 while organizing against a South African Davis Cup team visit to Nashvillep. 16 . Ironically, in spite of the Reagan-era attacks on people of color, Lapchick says he is more optimistic than he was in '84: "I have shed my cynical edge about sport. While hardly perfect, sport has made major improvements while society seems to have embarked on a self-destructive course." The most compelling new material outlines the problems of barnstorming pro basketballers of the '20s and '30s, as recalled by his famous father, hoops great Joe Lapchick. This section puts the author's experiences into a larger historical context, giving the new volume a more coherent structure than its predecessor. The last third of the book surveys changes in the status of black athletes at all levels of sport and proposes necessary reforms, a list that should be read by administrators, educators and parents.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Lapchick, whose racial activism focused on sport issues and led to his current work as director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, does an outstanding job of tracing racism as it has existed in sport. There is plenty of sports history, including the early years of pro basketball and racial injustices, as well as Lapchick's own experiences. Statistical information on issues such as front office and coaching opportunities for black athletes and sport positions played by race further enhances this book. The first 11 chapters are taken from the author's 1984 book, Broken Promises: Racism in American Sports ( LJ 7/84). The six new chapters dovetail well with a minimum of repetition. These are issues we must address. Highly recommended.
- Kenneth Tillman, Trenton State Coll., N.J.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Read more