Richard Lapchick

Richard Lapchick of The University of Florida produced two articles titled "The Racial and Gender Report Card" and "The Racial and Gender Report Card of Associated Press Sports Editors." Lapchick grades the world of sports in both the media and the profession in terms of race and gender.

The reports cards bring to the light the fact that the white man rules the world. In the APSE article, the number of white males greatly outweighs other categories. The professional sports numbers were better, but still swayed. The piece show that there is still a disparity in the number of women and people of color holding jobs in the sports. However, there has been an increase in diversity among these jobs, a sign that maybe things are getting better.

I thought the most astonishing of all the grades, were the ones recieved by the Assoicate Press Sports Editors. The grades for the total staffs were a C+ for race and an F for gender. For the ediotors, both gender and race received an F. 94% of the editors were white males. Also there were only 20 people of color found in a sports editor position.

To me this is just astounding that the number is so low. I think it's sad to live in a world where you won't even get a chance at a job because of your race or gender.
Some people beleieve that the best person deserves the job. There have been situations where a person gets a job or an increased opportunity because of their race. I have seen in with admittance into school and with head coaching postitions in professional football.

I believe in fairness and an equal opportunity to get a job, but just that. I think there's a fine line, and it can be very difficult to not cross.

Everyone's perceptions are shaped by their unique experiences that make them who they are. It is always going to be hard to please everybody, because everyone is different. I think it's important to be able to refer to these report cards to let us know the progress we are making. Hopefully, the number of women, and people from other racial backrounds will continue getting the opportunities and making their great contributions to the world.