Inside the ring, the ethnic and racial composition of the Edmonton boxing community

by Keating, Mark Joseph

INSIDE THE RING: THE ETHNIC AND RACIAL COMPOSITION OF THE EDMONTON BOXING COMMUNITY In this thesis, participant observation and indepth interviewhg were used to confimi that ethnic and racial minority gmups are found in greater proportion in the Edmonton Boxing Community than in the generd population. The data reveals one of the important reasons for minority involvement in the sport is socialization of boxing through their family, where boxing becomes a taken-for-granted social practice early in the individual's life. The findiogs highlight the association between the minoris. shared experiences of discrimination and prejudice and the sport of boxing. In addition, young people corne to boxing for other reasons, but it is 'respect' (for oneselfand nom others) gained in the ring, that helps explain why they continue to be involved in boxing. The most beautifid thing we can experience is the mysterious. - Albert Einstein To begin writing fiom our pain evennially engenders compassion for our small and groping lives. Out of this broken state there comes a tendemess for the cernent below our feet, the dned grass cracking in a temble wind. We can touch the tbgs around us we once thought ugiy and see their special detail, the peeling paint and gray of shadows as they are - simply what they are: not bad, just part of the life around us - and love this life because it is ours and in the moment there is norhing better. - Nataiie Goldberg My religion is very simple, my religion is kindness. - Dalai Lama Mom For your many sacrifices, I dedicate this thesis to you.