Presenter

Alex Manning grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from Garfield High School. He completed a B.A. in sociology from Howard University in 2011. Alex continued his education and earned his PhD. from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in 2019.  Dr. Manning previously taught at Jacksonville University, in Jacksonville, FL. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hamilton College, in Clinton, NY. Dr. Manning teaches the following sociology courses: Racism and Race in the United States; Sports and Society; Race, Gender, Abolition, and Restorative Justice; Introduction to Sociology; and Senior Projects/Thesis.

Discussion Topic

The role of youth sports in the struggle for racial justice: a sociological perspective.

Dr. Manning’s research explores the dynamic collisions among racism, inequality, families, youth, sport, and culture. He is specifically interested in how racism structures youth sports and other extracurricular activities, and how youth, parents, and coaches experience and make sense of race in their own lives. His work has been published in a variety of academic journals and edited volumes, such as the Du Bois Review, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Sociological Perspectives, European Journal for Sport and Society, and Child’s Play: Sports in Kids’ Worlds. He is in the process of developing a book from his dissertation about US youth soccer culture and its implications regarding race, class, gender, youth, and parenting.

Pre-Reads:

1. Race, Sport, and Politics: The Sporting Black Diaspora by Ben Carrington 
2. Youth Sports Inc. HBO Real Sports w/Bryant Gumbel
3. What’s Behind The Racism at Youth Sports Events? by Bob Cook

Additional Reads

1. The Heritage by Howard Bryant
2. Child’s Play (eds. Mike Messner and Michaela Musto)
3. The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee and Changing the World by Dave Zirin