While there is voluminous research on the Black male athlete, the literature does not touch on the notion of social responsibility. Thus, the purpose of this study was to garner perceptions of Black male athlete social responsibility (BMASR) from an NBA franchise, with the ultimate goal of moving toward a framework for better understanding this concept. A qualitative case study design was employed, utilizing in person interviews, telephone interviews, as well as observations and document analysis. To garner initial themes, open coding was employed after which axial coding was used to configure more defined themes. Five central themes emanated from the analysis. The most significant theme was related to how participants defined Black male athlete social responsibility in comparison to how Archie Carroll defined corporate social responsibility (CSR). Second, the participants asserted that issues of race and racism continue to play an integral part today‘s society. For instance, participants gave examples of how racism permeates in the sport industry. Third, given many Black male athletes are in the public eye (e.g., media), participants felt Black male athletes should be role models. The role of the NBA served as the fourth theme, as participants suggested the National Basketball Association (NBA) move toward improving current efforts in assisting with social responsibility. For instance, the NBA has programs in place that position athletes to give back to their community, but the participants felt that these efforts should be extended. Lastly, the theme of Black male athletes as businesses emerged, as participants mentioned the athletes‘ salaries as one reason why these individuals are businesses in their own right. The implications communicated the need for the NBA and other stakeholders to pay more attention to issues of race and racism as it relates to the Black athletes. Also, the NBA should revisit current initiatives related to athlete social responsibility in view of past irresponsible acts of some athletes. Moreover, the implications of this study also pointed to Black male athletes employing good managers to assist the management of their careers. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (School of Criminology) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis--Kiel. / Bibliography: p. 106-107.

Thesis (M.A.P.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-116). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ27388.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 296-324). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3061965.

This dissertation is concerned with the impact online news readers comments have on the role of journalists and the implication it carries in shifting private sentiments onto a public space. Online news readers comments have recently grown in popularity and journalists across the United States are divided on how best to host this new public space. Drawing perspectives from new forms of journalism, sociological studies in race and gender, critical race and feminist studies, this dissertation focuses on a) the challenges of news organizations as hosts of this new public space and b) the racist and sexist discourse generated by audiences of certain online news stories. This dissertation employs a multi-method research design that combines a large scale survey of journalists in the United States, in-depth interviews with journalists, content analysis and a discourse analysis of online news readers comments from five selected news stories with strong race and/or gender elements in order to 1) gain journalists’ perspectives in this new electronic landscape and 2) examine the content of the comments that pose the most challenges to journalists in terms of hosting this space. The survey and interviews revealed how journalists are divided in wanting to serve their public by providing a space for dialogue but yet refusing to host hate. Faced with this challenge within the new electronic landscape, a majority of journalists are left on their own to determine how best to handle this new public space with hardly any guidance or support from news managers. The analysis of the comments showed that the articulations of race and gender in the discourse were not erratic expressions of a minority but instead repertories of racism and sexism that mirrored the string of findings from race and gender scholars. This dissertation finds that online news readers comments section have emerged as the space for unconstrained expressions to flourish without the constraints of political correctness and within the safe confines of anonymity. / text

The purpose of this research is to show how the Native American activists Zitkala-Ša and Wendy Rose, two women from different eras, were marginalized and how these experiences affected their personal and professional lives and activism. It is important to examine why and how these women were marginalized because of the scarce amount of research on the topic and on Native American women in general. Zitkala-Ša and Wendy Rose are examples of Native American women activists whose lives and activism have been affected by marginalization, and who have faced adversity, pushed against the margins and demanded justice for their people. In order to conduct the research, primary and secondary works by and about these subjects were examined. The limitation of this study is that the literatures examined are writings by or about the authors. Interviews were not conducted; therefore the primary and secondary works were the main sources of analysis.

Canada’s public immigration discourse is usually racialized in using an ideological framework to evaluate, select and make judgements of immigrants on whether they are culturally, socially, or economically desirable to Canada. Some social and economic affairs may present a discursive context for debates over immigration and the value of immigrants to Canada. By using a critical discourse analysis of news articles on immigration in Canada’s national newspaper The Globe and Mail in four historical phases after the end of the Second World War, this study examines how the contents of “desirable immigrants” were changed throughout history. This study questions whether some social political affairs in a country or an extreme economic situation such as high unemployment can change the social boundaries of exclusion for immigrants of certain racial and ethnic backgrounds and allow more direct and exclusionary racial messages to be expressed in the discourse. The findings indicate that during economic recessions, it is more acceptable for the media and the public to express more directly racist messages about non-white immigrants, and some political factors and major social events may also influence how different ethnic groups of immigrants can be socially constructed. While a liberal democratic country like Canada may not accept overt racial discrimination, I argue that a social crisis or economic recession can change the social boundaries of exclusion for immigrants of certain racial and ethnic backgrounds and justify using more blatant racial messages in discussing immigrants.