An Analysis of Racial Bias in Fences, a Book by August Wilson

Colour is a major concern of concentrate in discussions about America’s dynamics, because an individual’s colour can influence his experiences in numerous realms of life which includes participation in sports and success. Abdelsamie and Abdallah write-up “The Image of the Afro-American in Fences” opines that throughout the 70s and 80s, black footballers in America had been often subjected to many instances of racial abuse. It was not unusual to see bananas being thrown at the players a practice that continues to this day in America and mainland European nations with footballers nevertheless bearing the brunt of this archaic practice.

The discussion about race is evident in the context of August Wilson’s book “Fences” that shows how main league baseball is employed to limit the protagonist’s, by the name Troy, capacity to achieve success or the American Dream simply because he was black. Especially, Wilson writes that although Troy was a talented man, who played in the Negro baseball leagues, he had to move from town to town as the only way to obtain accomplishment as a black baseball player. This signifies that Troy skilled financial deprivation due to his exclusion from the significant baseball league.

According to August Wilson, “sports can be utilized as a tool for driving change and make a huge difference in the lives of the men and women by unifying various communities, specifically in terms of national good results stories.” Nevertheless, it can also trigger conflict and produce tensions based on race. Wilson chooses to focus on baseball since the sport had grow to be a symbol of all that was excellent in American life: “Fair play, the rule of law, equal opportunity and the brotherhood of man” (Wilson). In Wilson’s book, Troy was denied all these great American experiences, since he was limited to Negro baseball leagues. In fact, he practically despaired but reconsidered his ambitions and decided to continue pursuing his dreams as he is observed saying “I stood on first base for eighteen years and I thought…well, goddamn it…go on for it!” due to the racism that he faced in the league, Troy developed Fences about his life which he believed would maintain his household and himself secure but the reader finds that these fences to some extent overwhelms him. (Abdelsamie and Abdallah).

According to the New York Instances, “one of the most famous instances of racism circumstances in sports includes the racism incident where Majak Daw, a Sudanese-born player in the AFL was abused from across the fence.” Most observers believe the act of racism reduces the targeted person to the status of becoming a second class citizen and that it prevents communities and individuals from reaching their potential.

About our world, achievements in the sporting planet are nonetheless perceived in racial terms. In reality, accomplishment or failure can be explained just by citing a player’s skin color. Most studies show that the white color of any athlete is rarely addressed and is for the most portion invisible to fans and sports journalists alike, whereas “the black or brown skin color of other athletes in the identical sport is typically cited as a determining aspect of the individual’s capability.” (Wilson).

This behavior has for a long time been written off as idle banter or fans devotion to their group this acceptance of racist sentiments as a component of sport is indicative of deep-rooted societal troubles. Key League Baseball has for a long time been related with historical notions of “Americanism” and there is a lot of evidence that most modern fans continue to hold on to these conventional views when deciding on who is and is and who is not “American”. In this regard, the MLB has attempted to mend the fences that divide fans along racial lines by appealing to non-conventional markets. To these end, the physique has recruited several players from varied racial backgrounds to act as multicultural sport ambassadors (Wilson).

According to Abdelsamie and Abdallah significant baseball league is used as a tool to support the economic deprivation of talented black players. “Major baseball league provides players opportunities to accomplish success through sports.” (Abdelsamie and Abdallah).Consequently, by excluding black people from key baseball league, the possibilities of good results are also restricted. In a way, key baseball league supports the notion of segregation, by making sure the black players are excluded from the “engagements” of white individuals.

An additional argument made by (Abdelsamie and Abdallah) is that “major baseball league is utilized as a tool to support the financial deprivation of talented black players.” Significant baseball league provides players possibilities to attain achievement by way of sports. For that reason, by excluding black people from key baseball league, the probabilities of success are also restricted. Specifically, major baseball league is utilised to limit back players’ skills to achieve the much revered American Dream

“The enhanced concentrate on the person heritage of black players is really detrimental to their reception by conventional MLB fans due to the constant egocentric culture of American baseball.” (Wilson). These black players are regarded as outsiders by white fans, and as a result they become straightforward targets for abuse on and off-pitch. Photographs used by a number of media outlets and baseball clubs often emphasize the athletes’ heritage, trying to make them an acceptable ambassador of a certain minority group who is depicted as being a part model for this community and a prospective hero for the others. Nonetheless, this endeavor simultaneously restricts their aspirations and dreams to play the sport specifically offered the reality that there are only a few possibilities for them in terms of management and coaching.

Clearly, the significant baseball league is a sport that is utilized by white people to topic black folks to racism, and to limit their ability to use their talent to obtain achievement. These arguments are demonstrated by Troy’s case but stay helpful to the American context, since racism is still a major problem in America. This is maybe due to the fact the problem of racism has been deeply rooted within the extremely foundation of the American nation ever since it was developed. Just as the nation has continued to struggle with the problem of race, baseball as a national sport has continued to face the same struggle. Though there have been enormous strides in terms of increasing cohesion among players, it would be irrational to recommend that the issue of racism has been completely wiped out of this sport.

At the end of the day, there is a need to come up with measures that unify rather than generate “fences” in sports. Wilson believes that as lengthy as unchecked bigotry and racist rhetoric continue to exist in the American society and in sports, racism will uncover a way to rear its ugly self across all American institutions and sports.