When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide

Arguing that the close and complex relationship between race and religion can be uncovered through sports, Smith does a masterful job of weaving together critical race theory, US religious history, and sports to examine institutionalized racism in intercollegiate athletics. Specifically, Smith examines the realm of the sacred through the uneasy relationship between black student athletes and Mormonism’s larger theological constructions of race. Smith points out that within the Mormon Church blackness, especially in regard to black male athletes, is in tension with the notions of freedom, justice, and equality. However, Brigham Young University is not very different from other primarily white schools where, when it comes to sports, big money commands more interest than does the need of athletes. Black student athletes are especially under attack from the systemic white racism of the NCAA sports world. Perhaps most interesting here is Smith’s attention to how change can occur both within Mormon circles and in the sporting world at large. This book is timely, excellent, and worth a very close read. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. * CHOICE *
I want to highlight this amazing book . . . [It] is a really fascinating read . . . I can’t plug this book enough and tell everybody they need to read it. * Mormon Stories *
The intersecting of race, religion and sport (or perhaps in the author’s words, the ‘collision’ of the three) is a rare feat in the world of scholarship…. An analysis of their association is certainly warranted. Darron T. Smith does just this by wading into the waters of the sports programmes at the flagship university of the Mormon Church. His thesis, that long-standing tenets of Mormon theology have unduly served to punish black athletes at Brigham Young University, extends beyond the expected descriptive account of race, religion and sport converging. Smith bravely aims to expose the racist underbelly of BYU and other similar predominantly white institutions with sport acting as the prism through which to inspect. Hence, When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide stands as a critique of the kind of theologized institutionalized racism that hides within the ranks of big-time college athletics. More to the point, racism and its effects are unique and likely more ingrained and pernicious at religious schools – institutions that should be leading the charge in the opposite direction…. When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide is a respectable gambit into the literature that deals both with race and sport, as well as with sport and religion. Indeed the three are tightly intertwined forming a rope that can pull us out of our shameful racist past but also continue to pull us down into long-standing racist histories with nothing less than the force of God. * Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics *
When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide: Black Athletes at BYU and Beyond takes us well past the Davies dismissal to consider the nexus of race, religion, sport, and economic inequality in American society writ large, using BYU as an exemplar of the nation’s colleges and universities…. Smith should be commended for taking on the herculean task of trying to unravel the complex intertwining of race, sports, inequality, and religion. * Mormon Studies Review *
When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide is a forceful, insightful, and powerful book built around the Brandon Davies honor code violation, which took place during Davies’s sophomore year, while he played for Brigham Young University’s successful basketball team. Here, Smith has connected the dots between sports, race, and religion in such a way that the book will be essential reading for anyone interested in sports and societal issues. This book is a tour de force; a must-read! -- Earl Smith, PhD, Professor of Sociology and Women and Gender Studies, George Mason University, author of Policing Black Bodies: How Black Lives Are Surveilled and How to Work for Change.
Using the athletic department at Brigham Young University as a case study, Darron Smith explores the complicated and shifting intersections between sport, race, and religion in contemporary American society. With an eye on the historical evolution of the relationship between race and the lucrative world of sports, Smith exposes the ways that black bodies are commodified and racialized for white consumption. Mix a sometimes inconsistently applied honor code with religious justifications for historically excluding black bodies from full participation in Mormon priesthood and temples, and the setting is ripe for a complex set of dynamics to haunt the experiences of black athletes at BYU. When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide not only offers a candid assessment of those dynamics at play but proposes insightful solutions as well. -- W. Paul Reeve, University of Utah; author of Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Struggle for Whiteness
In this book, Darron T. Smith demands that we move beyond box scores, beyond wins and losses, beyond March Madness and bowl season, and beyond the cheers to reflect on the intersecting histories of religion, race, and sport.  Offering a powerful discussion of college sports, blackness, and whiteness, Smith chronicles the story of black students at BYU. Using sports as a staging ground, despite claims of post-raciality and colorblindness, Smith offers a powerful discussion of race within and beyond the sporting fields. Interdisciplinary at its core, When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide brings together discussions of race and Mormonism, the revolt of the black athlete, contemporary college sports, and new racism. An important work for scholars of religion, sports, and race, this work is timely. -- David J. Leonard, Professor of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies, Washington State University
In When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide, Darron Smith has the keen insight to examine the intersection of race and religion and how these categories intersect sports. The study uncovers the ways that whiteness structures BYU’s and the Mormon (LDS) Church’s response to Black athletes in the context of presumed colorblindness. Smith shows how such post-racial colorblindness is untenable and unhealthful, and he offers constructive tenets for the Mormon Church that have relevance beyond LDS academic institutions. This book should be added to the corpus of scholars who are interested in the murky terrain of collegiate sports scholarship and to the growing work in Mormon studies, race studies, and sports. -- Stephen C. Finley, Louisiana State University
In this provocative new study, Darron T. Smith examines the connection between blackness and Mormonism using Brigham Young University's honor code as a case study. His book bristles with new insights, demonstrating the ways in which Mormon racial theology has affected the lives of black athletes at the church owned-and-operated school. This book is a welcome voice to the growing body of literature on Mormon race relations. It is a superb achievement. -- Matthew L. Harris, Colorado State University–Pueblo; coauthor of The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History
Darron Smith's study of institutionalized racism as informed by religious doctrine is an important, thought-provoking work. Smith asks hard questions and does not settle for easy answers. Whether readers agree or disagree with his analysis, observations, and conclusions, they will not leave his stimulating book unchanged. -- Gary James Bergera, coauthor of Brigham Young University: A House of Faith
When Race, Religion, and Sport Collide is a thoughtful and unique examination of the sociocultural issues at play within intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Smith’s work sheds light on larger social and structural issues by focusing on a truly interesting case study that will benefit students, administrators, faculty, and other personnel in both athletics and education. -- Mark Vermillion, chair, Department of Sport Management; executive director of Partnership for the Advancement of Sport Management, Wichita State University
This book is a revealing examination of race in sports and religion with a unique focus—the treatment of black athletes at BYU. Darron Smith uses football, basketball, and other sports to explain a deep-seated prejudice at the heart of Mormonism. Anyone surprised to learn that Brigham Young was a racist should read this book. -- Luke O'Brien, Politico
This is a story of young black men used, abused, and too easily discarded under the guise of amateurism and faith. As he explores the crushing subtleties of racism in a respected college athletics program, Darron Smith reminds us that conscience is no defense for the indefensible. An important read. -- Chad Nielsen, sportswriter