Exploring Race Consciousness among South Korean College Students through Sport

The purpose of the study was to explore race consciousness among South Korean college students amid the shifting sociocultural dynamics in South Korea and aimed to reveal how their race consciousness intersected with sport. This study was guided by arguments advanced by scholars in Black studies, Whiteness studies, and Critical Race Theory (CRT). Descriptive-qualitative research design was used. The participants were four male and four female South Korean college students (n = 8, mean age = 21.5 years old). Data were collected via in-depth, face-to-face interviews and analyzed through an inductive content analysis approach. The major findings revealed contradicting, conflicting, and paradoxical layers in the participants' race consciousness related to sport. The participants formed and solidified their ideas about racial others and simultaneously saw the potential to change these ideas-especially about Black people-through sport. In short, the participants viewed sport as a powerful cultural tool to transform their race consciousness.