I’ve come to think of sport—at its best—as the republic of play, offering a vision of society in which fairness prevails—an ethical, transparent arena where performance matters the most and people validate their worth by the strength and acumen of their opponents. It prizes fair play, celebrates the body and the mind, and tests our ability to overcome challenges. At its best, sport creates social capital because being a part of a team in which you have each other’s back and compete with a common purpose is one of life’s treasures.
But just as the early American republic embraced slavery and exclusion alongside national liberation and notions of freedom, the republic of play can be a mean and vicious place—where youth become vulnerable commodities on a global supply chain; the athletes we applaud are traumatized, and sport used to promote anger and misogyny, bringing out the worst—not the best—in us.
“Rob Ruck masterfully tells the story of how so many Samoans came to play a significant role in American football. Ruck, by far the best qualified scholar to tell the story of Samoan-American struggles and successes, is a masterful story-teller who draws us into his work. ”
—Professor John Nauright, University of North Texas; author of Long Run to Freedom: Sport, Cultures and Identities in South Africa
