Racist Referees?
Lance on May 03 2007 at 5:41 am | Filed under: Lance's Page, Media, Race, Sports, social science
I haven’t read the paper, just the article, the executive summary, the discussion on the radio, at Matthew Yglesias’ and at Marginal Revolution. So maybe these points have been covered in the full paper in a satisfactory manner.
I also do not mean to imply I doubt that there are disparities in how referees call games, and that it may reflect racism. I only ask these questions in the spirit of curiosity and general doubts about such research to prove what they claim as opposed to the truth of the claim.
1. Despite the explanation of controlling for these factors I am dubious:
The economists accounted for a wide range of factors: that centers, who tend to draw more fouls, were disproportionately white; that veteran players and All-Stars tended to draw foul calls at different rates than rookies and non-stars; whether the players were at home or on the road, as officials can be influenced by crowd noise; particular coaches on the sidelines; the players’ assertiveness on the court, as defined by their established rates of assists, steals, turnovers and other statistics; and more subtle factors like how some substitute players enter games specifically to commit fouls.
Many of these factors cannot be so easily reduced to statistical analysis. Most importantly, it seems that they have not allowed for a rather obvious objection. That even given all those factors, do black players deserve to have more fouls called upon them once those factors are accounted for? It is important to understand that a more aggressive posture (which they claim they control for, but it can only be, and given the way they seem to define assertiveness, indirectly accounted for) when it comes to play is not a criticism, it can have benefits as well as costs. Certainly black players are often considered more physical in their playing styles than white players, and that disparity is more often remarked upon at levels lower than the NBA (where one might see a narrowing of the difference if it in fact exists.) This common perception may be racist in and of itself (though it is often said as a pejorative against whites, and is made most prominently against white European players.) Given the cultural differences between the white and black populations in the NBA, especially with the influx of European players, would it be surprising to see such a difference?
2. If that is the case, in assessing the impact of the disparity (which is quite small as a practical matter) have they controlled for the benefits of playing that more physical style as well as the costs? One would guess no, since the possibility that black players do foul more is not the explanation.
3. It seems the disparity is driven not by a difference in the way white and black referees treat black players as opposed to a difference in the way they treat white players. There is a statistical difference between the way white and black referees treat white players. I am curious, how is it proven that the difference is driven by white racism versus black racism? Of course, if white players in fact commit just as many fouls as blacks contra potential objection #1, then obviously the issue is white referees favoring white players.
4. What if in fact both white and black referees discriminate against white players (not all that unlikely in my opinion) but black referees treat them even worse?
Once again, intuitively I find their results quite unexceptional and the conclusions reasonable, but are they proven? Thoughts encouraged, especially from those who have the time to read the paper.
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Interesting study. However, I have conducted my own survey of knowledgeable sports fans nationwide, and have discovered that all sports referees are in fact blind.
Some argue that refs have exceptionally good hearing, and use the sounds of the home crowd as a guide to help them officiate games. Others posit the controversial view that refs can in fact discern blurry shapes and colors, which leaves open the possibility for racism as a factor in foul calls. Still, I find it astonishing that these investigators have not even attempted to deal with the issue, especially when it is so widely known and commented upon.
I thought that was just an LSU/SEC issue Robby.
Pretty much all nba players and sportscasters said this was bs. It was sort of funny to see Charles Barkley who obviously knew little to nothing about the study, nor about statistics try to poke holes in it though.
I heard that, he sounded pretty ridiculous. “Most players are black!” Yeah Charles, I am sure they never thought of that.
Yeah, I like Charles and all, but the guy is just dumb. And he was thinking of running for governor of Alabama.
I like Charles as well. I don’t think I would call him dumb, actually he seems pretty sharp. What gets him into trouble is he feels he can discuss anything, with complete certainty, on things he knows little about. Which is actually pretty dumb. I guess I mean he is pretty intelligent.