Dr. Sailes compiles book for popular HPER class

Sometimes, classes are created around a book. However, in Dr. Gary Sailes’ case, the book is based on the class.

“There was not a single book out there with what I wanted to do, so I figured I would have to do my own anthology,” said Sailes, a professor in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation who teaches a class with the same name as his new book, “Modern Sport and the African American Experience.”

Sailes’ new book features 19 essays about athletes. Trash-talking and the glass ceiling are among the topics that delve into how sports and African-American culture are connected.

“We look at culture in sport and race politics of the country and how it impacts on sport — and it’s not always negative,” Sailes said.

However, while the title focuses on African-American athletes, white athletes are also mentioned in the book. The two races do not play better or worse than each another as a whole, but rather perform in different ways, according to the anthology.

Sailes, when he is not teaching, also acts as a consultant for many professional and collegiate athletes dealing with re-socialization into the new world they inhabit — and how difficult the transition can be for young African-Americans from inner cities.

These young athletes are often caught in a tug-of-war of between what they should do and what they want to do, Sailes said.

“You’ve now got a guy living in two different environments,” Sailes said. “He’s got his boys from home and yet he’s employed on Madison Avenue, and the expectations on him are different. ... Madison Avenue is expecting him to comply; his boys at home are expecting him to comply.”

Another controversial subject in collegiate sports is the lack of minority head coaches, especially in Division I football. In fact, for the first time there will be a double-digit number of black head coaches this fall — a situation often called the glass ceiling.

“The people who are in power, those who are hiring, tend to have a cultural perspective that favors white coaches — and I don’t think it’s totally racist in terms of the individuals,” said Louis Harrison, an associate professor at the University of Texas. “It’s not blatant racism. ... The psychological literature shows this: People tend to favor ... people that look like them.”

Trash-talking is common in sports today and is highly contagious among all athletes — no matter their skin color. However, Sailes shed some light on the real reason athletes trash-talk during competition.

“Athletes trash-talk because if you put it out there, you have to back it up, so they do it to motivate themselves,” Sailes said.

And while Sailes’ seventh book and second anthology focuses on diversity, none of the ideas are controversial, Sailes said.

But if he does decide to write a more controversial work in the future, he said there are
several current events he could chronicle.

One of the hot-button topics dealing with race and sports today is the recent free-agent departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers by two-time NBA MVP LeBron James. James chose to announce his decision to join the Miami Heat via a one-hour special on ESPN.

Following the program, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert released a statement conveying his displeasure with James’ decision, which then led to the Rev. Jesse Jackson referring to what sports sociologists call “the plantation mentality.”

Harrison sees the racial politics of this situation as being somewhere in the middle.

“I don’t think it’s totally race, but I think it does have a tint of racial connotation,” Harrison said.

There has been spirited debate during the past week as to whether Gilbert’s statement was race-related or just that of an unhappy owner. Sailes chose to look at it from a different point of view.

“I would play devil’s advocate and say if LeBron James were white, what would Jesse Jackson call it?” Sailes said. “If LeBron James were white or the owner were black, then it would be a proletariat bureaucracy controversy.”