Over the years I've heard many discussions about race and sports. A common observation is the fact that black males are extremely over-represented in many popular sports such as football and basketball. Of all of the observations I've heard voiced and questions asked, there is one aspect of this that I have never heard voiced. Why is there not more black cheerleaders?
If it is commonly accepted that black males excel at sports, then why wouldn't it be safe to assume that black females would excel in cheerleading considering that cheerleading requires some athletic ability and coordination. Why then are there not more black females in cheerleading? Is it because black females are not interested in cheerleading? I find this hard to believe.
In our society, athletes and cheerleaders are often presented as being the cream of the crop. It seems increasingly that at a young age, children are exposed to idea of a "social ladder" and in high schools the top of that ladder is athletes for males and cheerleaders for females. Considering this, it seems far-fetched to assume that black females would not want to be at the top of the ladder.
So why then is this happening? I've been aware of this situation for quite some time and it always seemed to me that there must be some form of discrimination going on. I've never been able to put my finger on exactly how it is occurring though.
Recently I had a conversation with someone that exposed what I always suspected. Apparently it is common practice in schools to allow male students to join the football or basketball team for free, but female students are charged $500-600 to become a cheerleader! Of course the obvious outcome is that for the most part, only white females can afford to join.
I wonder if the black community is aware of this and if so why hasn't anything been done, or at the very least this topic been discussed? Considering that the argument has been made that there are "too many white officials" in sports even though white males are under-represented in the sports themselves would seem to give the impression that the black community is VERY aware of racial representaion in sports if it is dealing with black MEN, but could not be bothered if it is dealing with black WOMEN.
This is unfortunate, because not only are many disadvantaged black females barred from ever even attempting their dreams, the continued under-representation of black females in cheerleading sends the message that black women are not "cream of the crop" material. This trend of black male over-representation in sports and white female over-representation in cheerleading further reinforces the race/gender ideals promoted in Hollywood and further reinforces the stereotype that black= masculine and white = feminine.