One thing that really stuck out to me in one of our class discussions was the picture of Sammy Sosa and his "bleached" skin. This really interested me and I decided to try to find more research on why Sosa would want to change or in his words "lighten" his skin color. I read a bunch of articles about Sosa's case, but none of them ever got to the actual reasoning behind the skin change, except that Sosa was using a skin cream that he claimed to "lighten" his skin. In an article by ESPN Sosa says the cream may have bleached his skin as well, but none of the articles indicated why or what were Sosa's int
entions. I tried to find reasoning that maybe, baseball, had some affect on Sosa's decision, but compared to other sports I feel like baseball is the one sport that is immune to the racial stereotypes in sports. In baseball there does not seem to be an assumption that one race is more dominant than any other at any position. It makes you wonder why Sosa would want to "lighten" his skin color. Sosa has established himself as a great baseball player, he's wealthy, what would possess him to make such a drastic alteration? Looking at Sosa alot people make the assumption that he is black, but Sosa is in fact Hispanic. He is from the Dominican Republic. The fact that Sosa is Hispanic, makes his transformation even more puzzling. In sports and even socially there is this perception of blacks verses whites. When it comes to athletics there are certain stereotypes that project "blacks" or African-Americans as more dominant. In society there are stereotypes that project whites as more dominant from and economic or educational standpoints. It is not certain exactly when Sosa started using the cream, but it started appearing after his retirement from baseball. Could that have some affect on his decision? He was known as a dominant athlete with obviously other ethnicity than white. Is it a coincidence that Sosa's skin changed after his athletic days were over? I feel like Sosa's case is an example of how the message that whites are better not only affects blacks but all races, but as a society we forget about the other races. There is a reason Sosa decided to alter his skin though, a reason we may never know.
entions. I tried to find reasoning that maybe, baseball, had some affect on Sosa's decision, but compared to other sports I feel like baseball is the one sport that is immune to the racial stereotypes in sports. In baseball there does not seem to be an assumption that one race is more dominant than any other at any position. It makes you wonder why Sosa would want to "lighten" his skin color. Sosa has established himself as a great baseball player, he's wealthy, what would possess him to make such a drastic alteration? Looking at Sosa alot people make the assumption that he is black, but Sosa is in fact Hispanic. He is from the Dominican Republic. The fact that Sosa is Hispanic, makes his transformation even more puzzling. In sports and even socially there is this perception of blacks verses whites. When it comes to athletics there are certain stereotypes that project "blacks" or African-Americans as more dominant. In society there are stereotypes that project whites as more dominant from and economic or educational standpoints. It is not certain exactly when Sosa started using the cream, but it started appearing after his retirement from baseball. Could that have some affect on his decision? He was known as a dominant athlete with obviously other ethnicity than white. Is it a coincidence that Sosa's skin changed after his athletic days were over? I feel like Sosa's case is an example of how the message that whites are better not only affects blacks but all races, but as a society we forget about the other races. There is a reason Sosa decided to alter his skin though, a reason we may never know.
I could not believe that when I heard or saw that for the first time. I felt embarrased for him, his family, his race, and even my race, unfortunately. During his playing days, Sosa was a prominent figure in the MLB and in the media. How could he do that to himself, I have no clue. To further that thought, as a man, how could he allow himself to stoop that low? In America, the dominant race is White. As a Dominican, he must not have grew up with the knowledge of the history of America. I stated earlier that I was embarrased for my race as well because he is a testiment to the insecurity that lies within all sub-races in America.
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