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Can’t stop thinking about how #AhmaudArbery case highlights the emptiness of universal claims of “jogging’s for everyone!”
The pastime + “the jogger” has been constructed as WHITE since the fad was born in 1960s/70s
A few reflections from my #fitnesshistory research /1
The pastime + “the jogger” has been constructed as WHITE since the fad was born in 1960s/70s
A few reflections from my #fitnesshistory research /1
Most trace US jogging craze to very white Oregon run culture, w coach/Nike founder Bill Bowerman a major promoter in late 60s
When I visited Nike HQ, I was struck by how glaringly WHITE early images of the run brand were before basketball became a major product line in 1980s /2
When I visited Nike HQ, I was struck by how glaringly WHITE early images of the run brand were before basketball became a major product line in 1980s /2
But like many Americans excited about an inexpensive workout that beat heart disease, Af-Ams took up jogging. I’ve found plenty of refs to Black jogging clubs in these years
Even brands got in on it. In 1982 Ebony, this ad featuring a couple competing over their 5mi jog pace/3
Even brands got in on it. In 1982 Ebony, this ad featuring a couple competing over their 5mi jog pace/3
But jogging was constructed as so white in mainstream culture that strange headlines like this one in JET 1979 – rejecting that white archetypal jogger – made sense given this context /4
But this new fitness pastime–and longstanding Af-Am excellence in sport of running – provided no reprieve from structural racism, even (especially?) against perceived interlopers on the open road
Black ppl have long been seen as a threat to joggers, even if joggers themselves/5
Black ppl have long been seen as a threat to joggers, even if joggers themselves/5
In 1980, a white supremacist enraged by the audacity of two Black men jogging w two white women killed them by sniper shooting
Reported in March 25, 1984, NYT/6
Reported in March 25, 1984, NYT/6
In a trope I see a LOT in 1980s press, African-American pub The Crisis describes race-class inequality in the US as typified by the (presumably white) yuppie jogger “disgusted” inconvenienced by the (presumably Black) homeless (1985)/7
Nothing solidified the notion of Black and Latino men as threats to “legitimate” white joggers than the hysteria over Central Park Jogger case in April 1989/8
This racist presumption proved durable: in Sep 1994, when a Black jogger FOILED a rape attempt in Central Park, media barely reported it+police minimized him as a “do-gooder” not a hero, the Amsterdam News reported, contrasting w rabid, ongoing coverage of Black perpetrators/9
What is notable is not just the cases of Jogging While Black that end up in tragedy/heroism, but offhand references like this one to the regular harassment Black people received for going about their business – ESPECIALLY "God forbid, jogging" (Michigan Chronicle, 1997)/10
There are *many* more historical examples of how "the jogger" has been a carefully constructed white ID+I hope that one outcome of the tragic murder of #AhmaudArbrey is attention to the racism of jogging culture in particular and of US society in general: THEY CANNOT BE SEPARATED
Just a few links of the growing body of excellent writing on this topic, that& #39;s teaching me a LOT:
@sociologistray @conversationUS re his research on the contemporary perils of running while Black is excellent https://theconversation.com/the-killing-of-ahmaud-arbery-highlights-the-danger-of-jogging-while-black-138085">https://theconversation.com/the-killi...
@sociologistray @conversationUS re his research on the contemporary perils of running while Black is excellent https://theconversation.com/the-killing-of-ahmaud-arbery-highlights-the-danger-of-jogging-while-black-138085">https://theconversation.com/the-killi...
This older @runnersworld piece that uses @Strava data to track the segregated run patterns of Baltimore - and those activists looking to change it - is really thoughtful https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a26131774/baltimore-segregated-strava-heatmap/">https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-s...
This quote in today& #39;s NYT, from @tibartoletta highlights the AMERICAN-NESS of lethal racism toward Black joggers/runners:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/sports/Ahmaud-Arbery-running.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/0...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/sports/Ahmaud-Arbery-running.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/0...
And of course, the go-to essay on how running and gentrification went hand in hand, and not because a lot of individuals just decided to jogging was a cool way to get fit: this shift was STRUCTURAL
@dygottlieb @PublicSeminar https://publicseminar.org/2018/02/rat-race/">https://publicseminar.org/2018/02/r...
@dygottlieb @PublicSeminar https://publicseminar.org/2018/02/rat-race/">https://publicseminar.org/2018/02/r...
Since buried in replies/in my DMS is the related Q of "what about women?" who have also long faced danger when heading out to run, I& #39;ll link to this previous thread on that topic
Left that out of original thread so as not to distract from issue at hand https://twitter.com/nataliapetrzela/status/1032802838571876357?s=20">https://twitter.com/nataliape...
Left that out of original thread so as not to distract from issue at hand https://twitter.com/nataliapetrzela/status/1032802838571876357?s=20">https://twitter.com/nataliape...
