Ideas worth spreading

Shouldn't sports be color-blind?

54,857 views |

Patrick Ferrucci |

TEDxMileHigh

• June 2018

Sports should be the great racial equalizer, a place where meritocracy reigns and skin color is irrelevant. But journalist Patrick Ferrucci begs to differ. Using sports journalism as his lens, he demonstrates how racial stereotypes have infiltrated the language we use to discuss athletes -- and how everyday racism bleeds into other aspects of life too.

Sports should be the great racial equalizer, a place where meritocracy reigns and skin color is irrelevant. But journalist Patrick Ferrucci begs to differ. Using sports journalism as his lens, he demonstrates how racial stereotypes have infiltrated the language we use to discuss athletes -- and how everyday racism bleeds into other aspects of life too.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMileHigh, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.

About the speaker

Pat Ferrucci

Journalism Scholar

As Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Pat Ferrucci focuses on media sociology - specifically, how economics and technology influence digital news. He was a journalist for nine years, covering pop culture, primarily music, for newspapers, magazines, and online publications in the Northeast. His work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, NPR, Slate, and ESPN the Magazine. He collects vinyl and CDs, and will root for any Boston sports team; yes, even soccer.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMileHigh, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.