At the surface level, the 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams seems to simply be the story of two boys, Arthur Agee and William Gates, who dream of being NBA stars. However, when examined deeper, it is clear that Hoop Dreams is actually about the structural racism that occurs in lower-class neighborhoods, and about the negative effects that the resulting “hoop dreams” can have on a teenager’s life. These negative effects of structural racism and hoop dreams manifest themselves in this film through the educational systems, the mistreatment of the youth, unemployment and welfare, teenage pregnancy, and divorce. Calling into question the value system of sports and education in society, the directors of Hoop Dreams choose not to make the traditional “rags to riches” story, but rather to demonstrate the structural racism, that prevents the American dream for those in urban poor communities.
Near the beginning of the film, Spike Lee tells the students at basketball tryouts, “The only reason you are here is because you can make their schools win and they can make a lot of money. This whole thing is about money." The filmmakers chose to include this scene of Spike Lee pointing out the exploitation of these students, because soon after, the tuition is raised at St. Joseph’s, and Arthur is tossed out for not performing as well at basketball as they had hoped. His family is no longer able to pay the tuition fees for Arthur, and instead of trying to find donors to help Arthur, St. Joseph’s sends him away. They do not care that Arthur will not get credit for his classes, but only that he was not doing well enough at basketball for them to allow him to attend any longer. This contrasts with William, who continues to perform well on the court. When tuition is raised, the school finds donors to allow William to continue attending, and he is even able to obtain a job from his donor. Here it is clear that sports and profits are prioritized over education. Whereas Arthur is sent back to a school where the education is of far less quality, William is allowed to stay at St. Joseph’s due to his basketball skills. Recruiting students from as young as the sixth grade, these coaches tell the players that sports need to be their main concern, and grades only need to be good enough to get accepted into the school where they can play Division I basketball.
Resulting from this mentality is the belief that sports can be the ticket out of a bad economic situation for students in economically poor communities. This is seen in the film when William says, “basketball is my ticket out of the ghetto.” William’s family is poor, and he believes that basketball will be the way to change that. It is not difficult for the coaches to bend young minds to aspire to the limited career opportunities and positions in sports with the societal and institutional racism in which they are surrounded. They do not see many career options, and in hopes of not ending up in the same place as their families and struggling for employment, they will grasp onto any hope presented to them. Presented with movies like Coach Carter which exploits the dominance of basketball in black inner-city high schools, it is easy for their minds to be shaped to the dream of playing basketball as a means to success.
In Hoop Dreams, we are able to see the realities of living life in a lower-class neighborhood and the structural racism occurring that Arthur and William are trying to get out of. Presented in this documentary are many factors that contribute to the structural racism in their environment and the effects caused by these factors. We see why these teenagers aspire to a nearly impossible dream of being in the NBA. One of the major factors presented in this documentary is that of unemployment. Sheila Agee, Arthur’s mom, struggles to maintain a job no matter how hard she tries. She is laid off from her job and put on welfare. William’s older brother Curtis (who had failed to make it far with basketball), struggles to find a job where he can make an adequate living for himself. He lives vicariously through William, hoping that William will be able to make a living in the NBA himself. These characters are hardworking, and shown in the film to have dignity; most viewers likely have deep respect for both Sheila and Curtis, and sympathize with them for not being able to find work to provide for themselves and their families. Fortunately there is actually some hope presented here as we see later that Sheila was able to graduate from a nursing academy at the top of her class. However, not every character is as fortunate; Curtis was murdered a few years after the film was made.
Another key factor with the problem of structural racism in this environment is the problem of family dynamics. William’s dad had left the family prior to the filming of Hoop Dreams, but he seeks to reconnect with William after finding out that he is doing well with basketball. The absence of a father figure in the life of youth in these types of environments can often create emotional problems. The lack of a positive father role model can also contribute to problems with their future families. Statistics show that when a child grows up in a father-absent home, he or she is four times more likely to live in poverty, seven times more likely to become pregnant as a teenager, more likely to drop out of high school, and more likely to go to prison. Often times when a man did not have a father around while growing up, he does not know how to be a good father himself. However, for William, not having a father figure in his life seems to be his motivation to be a good father himself. William’s girlfriend gets pregnant at an early age in this film, but William says that he intends on being a much more present father than his own father was.
Arthur has many family problems as well. There is tremendous pressure from his father and brother to succeed in basketball, as they are both living vicariously through Arthur after not succeeding in basketball themselves. Arthur’s dad, Bo Agee, ends up leaving the family during the filming of Hoop Dreams. He struggles with a crack cocaine addiction, domestic violence incidents, and is sent to jail at one point. These struggles take an emotional toll on the family and create a strong factor for a poor family dynamic for the Agees. Fortunately, there is redemption in the film as Bo gives his life to Christ, and comes back to the family. Unfortunately, he was murdered in 2001, a few years after the making of this film.
Although Hoop Dreams is an interesting expository documentary, it seeks to go beyond just telling a story, and demonstrates that we live in a world full of injustice. It is clear that the structural racism occurring in these lower-class neighborhoods contribute to the filling of teenage minds with nearly impossible dreams of making it into the NBA. They seek to hold onto that hope, because they want so badly to get out of the struggles of poor family dynamics and unemployment that they are faced with. The schools exploit these kids, and use their basketball talents to make a profit, teaching these children that their worth lies in the fact that they are good at a sport, and that their athletic abilities need to take precedence over their education. It is clear that the value systems of these schools lie in the hopes of making more profit, even at the expense of these kids’ lives. Contrasting the rags to riches stories that we are presented with most, Hoop Dreams allows us to see an example of what these dreams look like in real life. We see that even when it seems promising, these dreams are not something to put all one’s hope into, as these goals are rarely ever accomplished.
