Race, Sport and the American Dream (2007) won the annual North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Best Book Award, announced at the Society''s 2008 annual conference. Race, Sport and the American Dream reports the main findings of a long term research project investigating the scope and consequences of the deepening relationship between African American males and the institution of sport. While there is some scholarly literature on the topic, author Earl Smith tries to understand through this project how sport has changed the nature of African American Civil Society and has come to be a major influence on economic opportunities, schooling and the shaping of African American family life. The third edition of Race, Sport and the American Dream improves upon the second edition in four key ways: (1) by updating the empirical data so that it is the most current on the market, (2) by expanding the discussion of the Athletic Industrial Complex (AIC) to include a robust discussion of the explosion of Conference Realignment, (3) by expanding the discussion of leadership in SportsWorld to include the most current theory in the area of sports management and (4) by adding an entirely new chapter on male athletes and violence against women. In addition, the third edition expands the discussion of the elusive American Dream and the role of sports in accessing better life chances, success and happiness. The third edition of Race, Sport and the American Dream also includes a discussion of the increased role that social media plays in SportsWorld by allowing everyone and anyone to become a "sports critic" as well as a discussion of race in SportsWorld in the era of changing the racial landscape of the US. Specifically, the US has become more racially diverse and critics are debating the role that the election of the first African American president plays in this changing landscape. All in all, the third edition of Race, Sport and the American Dream expands on existing discussions and provides new areas of inquiry. This book is intended to provide social scientists and others interested in sports with an understanding of carefully selected issues related to the African American athlete. Smith examines the world of amateur sports (Olympic and intercollegiate sport) using Immanuel Wallerstein''s "World-Systems Paradigm" which provides a lens with which to examine the colonizing and exploitative nature of intercollegiate sports and the special arrangements that universities have with SportsWorld. All of the topics in this book are addressed within the context of the history of racial oppression that has dominated race relations in the United States since its inception as a nation-state in the 1620s. Across a variety of topics including sport as big business--which Smith terms the Athletic Industrial Complex--to criminal behavior by athletes, to the lack of leadership opportunities for African American athletes, to the question of the biological superiority of African American athletes, Smith argues that any discussion of race and sport must be understood within this context of power and domination. Otherwise the importance of the question itself will always be (a) misunderstood or (b) underestimated. "Dr. Earl Smith''s 3rd edition of Race, Sport and the American Dream is much-needed scholarship for understanding the life chances for not only young African American athletes -- competing in a new global sports marketplace -- but their family''s investments in sports. His analysis is crisp, insightful and he brings to this 3rd edition new empirical evidence for understanding a whole set of interlocking and very complicated issues that have exploded in SportsWorld since the 2nd edition, including, but not limited to: NCAA conference realignment and its impact on college athletes; violence against women perpetrated by college and professional athletes; and a complex theoretical analysis of the decline of Black head coaches, especially in college and professional football and other challenges African Americans face in their lives after sports." -- Kenneth L. Shropshire, David W. Hauck Professor at the University of Pennsylvania''s Wharton School of Business, Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative. His most recent book is Negotiate Like the Pros: A Top Sports Negotiator''s Lessons for Making Deals, Building Relationships and Getting What You Want. "Earl Smith has been a scholar on the issue of race and sport for many years. His Race, Sport and the American Dream is essential reading for anyone interested in the subject. He organized the book in a clear layout that puts forth an important lens on the issue. He gives us theory that demonstrates the mighty struggles of African Americans in sport but also is real-life enough to help us feel both the pain of the barriers and the joy in overcoming them." -- Richard Lapchick, Director, Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, University of Central Florida "This well-documented book provides insights into race and sport, as African American athletes have made their way along the path toward an equal playing field and the American dream. Summing up: Recommended." -- CHOICE Magazine

With a new afterword covering the two decades since its first publication, two of Washington, D.C.’s most respected journalists expose one of America’s most tragic ironies: how the nation’s capital, often a gleaming symbol of peace and hope, is the setting for vicious contradictions and devastating conflicts over race, class, and power. Jaffe and Sherwood have chillingly chronicled the descent of the District of Columbia—congressional hearings, gangland murders, the establishment of home rule and the inside story of Marion Barry’s enigmatic dynasty and disgrace. Now their afterword narrates the District’s transformation in the last twenty years. New residents have helped bring developments, restaurants, and businesses to reviving neighborhoods. The authors cover the rise and fall of Mayors Adrian Fenty and Vince Gray, how new corruption charges are taking down politicians and businessmen, and how a fading Barry is still a player. The “city behind the monuments” remains flawed and polarized, but its revival is turning it into a distinct world capital—almost a dream city. Harry Jaffe has been a national editor at The Washingtonian magazine since 1990. He has received a number of awards for investigative journalism and feature writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He has taught journalism at Georgetown University and American University. His work has appeared in Esquire, Regardie's, Outside, Philadelphia Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, and other newspapers. Jaffe was born and raised in Philadelphia and began his journalism career with the Rutland (Vermont) Herald. He is the co-author of Dream City: Race, Power and the Decline of Washington, D.C. He lives in Clarke County, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughters. Tom Sherwood is a reporter for NBC4 in Washington, specializing in politics and the District of Columbia government. Tom also is a commentator for WAMU 88.5 public radio and a columnist for the Current Newspapers. Tom has twice been honored as one of the Top 50 Journalists in Washington by Washingtonian magazine. He began his journalism career at The Atlanta Constitution and covered local and national politics for The Washington Post from 1979 to 1989. He is the co-author of Dream City: Race, Power and the Decline of Washington, D.C. A native of Atlanta, he currently resides in Washington, D.C. and has one son, Peyton.

The author looks at race and justice in the American context, including mistreatment of black people by the police. He contends that although race is quite often a factor in such mistreatment, there are black police officers who also mistreat fellow blacks. He states that it is an aspect of the problem that is often ignored or deliberately overlooked because of the prevalence of racism in the American society, shielding black police officers from criticism as if they do nothing wrong to fellow blacks and as if it is only white officers who mistreat black people and other non-whites. He looks at the the case of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee – that's just one example – where a black man was brutally beaten and killed by five police officers, all of them black, in January 2023 and contends that mistreatment of black people by black police officers is also a serious problem. The five cops were members of the SCORPION, a unit established to fight crime and which targeted mostly black residents, especially men. The author further contends that black people can assume responsibility for the safety of their own communities instead of waiting for the police to do that for them. There aren't even enough police officers to provide security for everybody and for all communities across the nation, he says, which is obvious. A former resident of Detroit himself, he gives an example of New Era Detroit, a group that helps to provide security in black communities in Detroit and whose efforts have led to the establishment of similar groups in other cities including Cleveland, Atlanta, and Dallas, and has even won the support of the Detroit Police Department. He recalls the early seventies when black residents of Detroit in the inner city were under siege at the hands of the members of a decoy police unit called S.T.R.E.S.S. – “Stop The Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets”. It targeted black men, mostly in the ghetto. Almost all of the undercover cops of STRES.S. patrolling the ghetto were black. And almost all those killed were black men, expect two, from 1971 to 1974. The unit was disbanded by the city's first black mayor, Coleman Young, who vowed to abolish it when he was campaigning to become mayor. Some blacks called it “a hit squad” that had targeted black people to kill black people; ironically, targeted by black cops and killed by black cops who worked for a system that is unfair to blacks in many cases. He has written about S.T.R.E.S.S. in his book and contends that there would be no need for such units to combat crime if black people provided security for themselves in their own communities as New Era Detroit is doing today even if on a smaller scale. But there is room for growth and expansion for such community-based security units. He also looks at racial injustice as a persistent problem and an integral part of the nation's history, a nation that was founded on slavery, not on the twin ideals of liberty and equality; which explains why racism still is a major problem even today. He has provided cases to demonstrate the disproportionate impact racial injustices have on blacks. But he also acknowledges that the country has made great progress in pursuit of racial equality. The United States today is not the United States in the fifties, or even in the sixties, he contends.

After a day at the track, a race car gets ready for bed, shifts into sleep, and dreams of racing into first place.

In 1906, fifteen-year-old Theodora disguises herself as a boy to pursue her dream of becoming a race horse driver.

Examines desegregation, school funding, testing, vouchers, bilingual education, multicultural education, and ability grouping. These seem to be separate problems, but much of the contention over them comes down to the same thing: an apparent conflict between policies designed to promote each student's ability to pursue success and those designed to insure the good of all students or the nation as a whole. The authors show how polices to promote individual success too often benefit only those already privileged by race or class. The book also examines issues such as creationism and afrocentrism.