In this episode of the Experts in Sport podcast, hosted by Martin Foster, Dr Nik Dickerson, from Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, features as a guest to discuss the wider issues surrounding racism and its entwinement with masculinity in sport media.

Highly contested issues within sport are decoded, including Colin Kaepernick’s explicit protest (taking the knee during the national anthem at an NFL game) to highlight racial injustices facing African American men, as well as incidences of police brutality.

It is considered how cultural practices such as sport are key sites of political and social struggle, which are always fluid; shaped by history, economics, and social context. Cultural practices, including sport, are connected to wider systems of power; it is paramount to critique meanings and assumptions entwined with sport media texts through their connection to the historical, economic, social, and political context.

The intersection between sport, racism, masculinity, and the political landscape of the U.S. is also analysed, identifying the need for wider social changes within sport and sport media to create more complex and humanistic representations of Black male athletes.

Dr Nik Dickerson is a Lecturer in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. His research focuses on representations of Black masculinity and national identity within sport and popular culture, interested in how colonialism has shaped knowledge and institutional structures within sport and society.