Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
RACE
IN THE UNITED STATES
THEORY
Edited by
Billy J. Hawkins
Akilah R. Carter-Francique
Joseph N. Cooper
Black Athletic Sporting Experiences in the
United States
Billy J. Hawkins • Akilah R. Carter-Francique • Joseph N. Cooper
Editors
Black Athletic
Sporting Experiences
in the United States
Critical Race Theory
Editors
Billy J. Hawkins Joseph N. Cooper
Department of Health and Human University of Connecticut
Performance Storrs, Connecticut, USA
University of Houston
Houston, Texas, USA
Akilah R. Carter-Francique
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View, Texas, USA
v
vi FOREWORD
behaviours that reinforce these practices rather than overt speech acts.
Sport, and collegiate sport at that, can therefore be viewed as a racial
formation, the result of racial processes that subjugate, subordinate and
exclude some while simultaneously empowering and privileging others.
This collection demonstrates that racial processes are complex, dynamic,
hegemonic, gendered and classed, the salience of each shifting in ambigu-
ous and variegated ways. Yet one thing that remains consistent and cen-
tral in these complex problematics is the centrality of ‘race’. As readers
explore this volume, they will see the local, national and international rel-
evance of this collection by Hawkins, Carter-Francique and Cooper. CRT
is reaching a new generation of activist scholars requiring of all of us to
rethink how we see sport in its many social contexts. The dissemination
of this work facilitates critical stories of ‘race’, racism and under-theorised
counter- stories that require serious consideration. Regardless of one’s
status, if readers are in positions to effect changes in their approach to
racialised sporting problematics, as advocated in Critical Race Theory and
American Sport, they should embrace the opportunity.
Critical Race Theory and American Sport is especially important at the
end of the second term of the first Black President of the United States.
Despite various claims in his first term, few really believe that we have a post-
racial, colourblind America/world because though change begins with one,
others must follow. In this edited collection, it is clear that vested interests,
personal and institutional politics lead to changes being much less straight-
forward and predictable than some might suggest. There are many in sport
and society who require more than a single symbolic shift to transform igno-
rance or bigotry. ‘Race’ and sport matter, and Critical Race Theory and
American Sport are likely to persuade readers that in the morass of ‘race’ and
racism in sport activist scholars are working terrifically hard to articulate and
finesse the challenges to understand and transform their impact.
Kevin Hylton
Carnegie Faculty
Leeds Beckett University,
Leeds, UK
FOREWORD vii
Note
1. Audre Lorde, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s
house,” In Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings.
Charles Lemert (Ed), 484–487 (Boulder, CO., Westview Press,
1979).
Bibliography
Lorde, Audre. 1979. The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.
In Social theory: The multicultural and classic readings. ed. Charles Lemert,
484–487. Boulder: Westview Press.
Contents
1 Introduction1
Billy Hawkins, Akilah Carter-Francique, and Joseph Cooper
ix
x Contents
13 Conclusion317
Billy Hawkins
Index321
Notes on Contributors
xiii
xiv NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
College and University) athletics and Africana Diaspora in Sports. He is one of the
preeminent voices on Historically Black College and University sport business
analysis and one of the preeminent scholars on HBCU sports culture theory,
HBCU Sports History, the HBCU Diaspora, sport business and leadership. He
has published research articles such as the Impact of Demographic Variables on
African-American Student athletes’ Academic Performance, completed commis-
sion studies such as HBCU (A Minimum of Nine, A Maximum of 12) Football
Reclassification & New HBCU FBS Conference Formation Study, and presenta-
tions such as Athletic Director’s Leadership Perception of Variable Determining
the Effectiveness of Administering HBCU Athletic Programs.
Keith Michael Champagne, Ph.D. serves as the Associate Dean for Student
Development at Central Washington University. He is responsible for providing
leadership, management and administrative oversight for several units and pro-
grams. He has spent the past 24 years working in student affairs, university athlet-
ics, and academic and student lives. He is a graduate of the prestigious Sports
Management Institute and he is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association. He
has completed the NACDA-NCAA Sports Management Institute. He has a bach-
elor of arts degree in Communications and Public Relations from Loyola
University, New Orleans, a master of science degree in Communications and
Media Management from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with an emphasis in Intercollegiate
Athletic and Sports Management from the University of Washington.
Geremy Cheeks, Ph.D. is currently an assistant professor at Alabama A&M University
in the Department of Health & Physical Education. He obtained his baccalaureate
and master’s degrees in Business Administration from Florida A&M University in
Tallahassee, FL. His research and scholarship focuses on HBCU Athletics and reve-
nue generation disparities between HBCUs and historically White institutions of
higher education, predominantly based on his experience as a former intercollegiate
athletics administrator.
Joseph N. Cooper, Ph.D. is currently an assistant professor in the Department of
Educational Leadership (Sport Management Program) at the University of
Connecticut (UConn). Cooper’s research interests focus on the intersection
between race, sport and education. His current research agenda focuses on identi-
fying the key influences that facilitate positive educational and holistic develop-
ment outcomes for Black college athletes who attend HBCUs and historically
White colleges and universities (HWCUs). His research has been published in
interdisciplinary journals such as Race, Ethnicity and Education, Journal of Mixed
Methods Research, Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, Journal of
Intercollegiate Sport, and Journal of Sport and Social Issues.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xv
Sarah K. Fields, J.D., Ph.D. is the Acting Associate Dean for Student Success and
an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and
teaching focus largely on the intersection of sport and American culture, specifi-
cally examining issues of law, identity as well as injury. She is the author of Game
Faces: Sport Celebrity and the Laws of Reputation and Female Gladiators: Gender,
Law, and Contact Sport in America. She is the co-editor of Sport and the Law:
Historical and Cultural Intersections, and she has published over 50 articles in
journals as varied as JAMA Pediatrics, the Journal of Sport History, and the
International Journal of Sport Communication.
Courtney L. Flowers, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Sport Management at
Texas Southern University. Her scholarship is grounded in exploring the sport
experiences of African American women from a sociocultural perspective focusing
on legal aspects, HBCUs, and online teaching and learning strategies. Additionally,
Dr. Flowers has held positions with the United States Golf Association, The First
Tee, the former National Minority Golf Foundation, and numerous junior golf
programmes. She has also served as an NCAA Division I senior academic advisor,
NCAA Life Skills/ CHAMPS coordinator, Athletic Tutor and Mentor manager
and a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee facilitator. Dr. Flowers holds member-
ships with the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, North American
Society for Sport Management and SHAPE America.
Justin R. Garner is a doctoral student in the Division of Sport Management at
Texas A&M University. His research interests are in the area of talent management
and social development in the context of the sport and entertainment industry
while employing the critical lens of anti-colonial thought. He received his M.S. in
Sport Management at Florida State University, where he also worked for Student-
Athlete Academic Services as a mentor, mainly working with high-profile Black
college athletes. Much of his work involves, but is not limited to, examining the
role of race and racism on the lived experiences of Black athletes and is concerned
with the development and management of primary stakeholders of popular sport
and entertainment.
Emmett Gill, Ph.D. currently serves as an assistant professor at the University of
Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of Social Work. Prior to arriving at
UTSA, Dr. Gill worked at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Rutgers
University, and the US Military Academy Center for Enhanced Performance,
where he supervised men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes with academic
and athletic performance enhancement. Dr. Gill is also the founder of the Student-
Athlete’s Human Rights Project (SAHRP)—a 501©4 organization dedicated to
social justice for student-athletes. Dr. Gill’s scholarship focuses on the intersection
between social work and athletics.
xvi NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
writing Contesting ‘Race’ and Sport: Shaming the Colour Line for Routledge. Kevin
is Board Member for the International Review for the Sociology of Sport (IRSS) and
the new Journal of Global Sport Management. He is Patron of the Equality
Challenge Unit’s Race Equality Charter and Chair of the Leeds Beckett University
Race Equality and Diversity Forum.
Vanessa P. Jackson, Ph.D. is chair of the department of Retailing and Tourism
Management at the University of Kentucky. She has served as chair for two years
and is a member of the faculty of records committee for the Honors program at
the university. Dr. Jackson also serves as the editor of the International Textile and
Apparel Association newsletter. Her research interests are athlete preparation and
success in college and soft skills identification for student success. The results of
her research would help academicians and industry leaders create strategies to
enhance students’ productivity in the world of work regardless of their chosen
disciplines. Dr. Jackson received her master’s and Ph.D. from Michigan State
University in Human Environment: Design and Management in 1998.
Wardell Johnson, Ph.D. is an associate professor of sport management at Eastern
Kentucky University. His research interest centres on his dissertation of the plight
of Black male student athletes, particularly those attending predominately White
institutions of higher education. Having graduated from an HBCU, he has wit-
nessed firsthand this plight and how it has negatively influenced the Black male
student athlete and HBCUs.
Fritz G. Polite, Ph.D. is the Chair of the Management Science Division and
Director of the Sport Management Program, at The Harry F. Byrd Jr., School of
Business at Shenandoah University (VA). He has over 30 years of experience in
business, sports, management, coaching and teaching to include 19 years of inter-
national experience. His primary research focus is in the area of sociocultural
aspects of sport, including leadership, hiring practices, race, gender and diversity.
His secondary line of research is in the area of brand and vertical extension. He has
published in respected journal outlets, including The Marketing and Management
Journal, Sport Marketing Quarterly, The Spanish Marketing Journal, Public
Administration Review, Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, and The
Harvard University W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African American Research. Dr.
Polite earned his Ph.D. in Sport Administration from The Florida State University,
his master’s degree in Public Administration from Troy State University (Alabama)
and bachelor’s degree in Management from Simpson College (Iowa).
Jeremai ‘J’ Santiago Sr. is the Assistant Director of Learning Resources and
Services and Learning Enrichment Coach, in the Division of Enrollment
Management and Student Success, at Shenandoah University (VA). Santiago is
working towards earning his Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Shenandoah
University. He has graduated with a master of science degree in Organizational
xviii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
xix
List of Tables
xxi
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Billy Hawkins, Akilah Carter-Francique,
and Joseph Cooper
B. Hawkins (
)
Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston,
Houston, TX, 77004, USA
e-mail: hjbilly@uh.edu
A. Carter-Francique
Health and Kinesiology, Prairie View A&M University,
Prairie View, TX, 77446, USA
J. Cooper
Department of Educational Leadership, University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT, 06269, USA
this country could have embraced the hope of racial inclusion and prog-
ress toward a postracial society, we have witnessed a rise in racial crimes and
lenient or no punishment to the perpetrators of these violent crimes.
Clearly, the increase in racial tension and violence is not solely a US
phenomenon. In 2006, a United Nations expert noted that racial discrim-
ination is on the rise around the world.1 Whether they are immigration
issues, generalizations and misdiagnosis of all Muslims as terrorists or the
acts of genocide that have touched most major continents in the world,
they all denote the prevalence of race as a determining factor in social
interaction throughout the global community.
Within the context of the USA, the following list of victims and the dates
that they were murdered on denote the significance of race in this country:
This abbreviated list is a reminder that race still matters in this country.
It is hard to prove that race was the single motivating factor that ultimately
ended the lives of these victims, but it is also hard to deny that racial condi-
tioning was not a prerequisite to these murders. These are just a few of the
recent racially charged assassinations that captured this nation’s attention,
INTRODUCTION 3
occupies in sporting practices and how sport has been and continue to be
a platform that reflect and reinforce ideas about race, as well as a platform
where resistance is forged against dominant racial ideologies.
The chapters in this volume predominantly address issues related to
intercollegiate athletics and PWIs in the USA. However, the application
of CRT has also been useful in examining professional sports, specifically
the National Football League (NFL) and Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) experience. Moreover, the chapters of this book are
organized into four distinct yet interrelated themes.
The first theme of the book highlights “Theoretical Practices, Reform,
and Advocacy” in Chaps. 2, 3, and 4. In Chap. 2, Singer, Garner, and
Weems discuss the similarities and differences between CRT and systemic
racism theory (SRT) with a keen focus on how the intersection of these
two theories provides important insights into reform efforts for the cur-
rent structure of big-time college sports in the USA. Using both theories,
the authors present historical and contemporary evidence of racism in col-
lege sport as well as outline activist agendas informed by each theory.
In Chap. 3, Hawkins explores the viability of the interest convergence
tenet of CRT as a revolutionary tool for college sport reform. Within
this chapter, Hawkins offers a historical overview of college sport reform
efforts and draws attention to the effectiveness of various grassroots strat-
egies employed by students engaged in sociopolitical activism beyond
athletic-related issues. Interest convergence is presented as bargaining
mechanism whereby Black college athletes can leverage their power to
alter the conditions imposed upon them by the NCAA and its member
institutions.
In Chap. 4, Carter-Francique, Gill, and Hart shift the focus of CRT and
athletic reform to Black sport scholars’ advocacy of Black college athletes
at predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWIHE). Black
sport scholars at PWIHE who engage in activism are in a precarious situation
where their aspirations to generate positive change for Black college athletes
conflict with the dominant status quo at their respective employer institu-
tions. The authors use CRT to explore the complex relationship between
the institutional priorities at PWIHE, Black college athletes, and Black sport
scholars. Within this analysis, the authors offer practical strategies for Black
sport scholars to consider when pursuing their activist agendas.
The second theme of the book addresses “Academic Experiences,
Challenges, and Legislation” in Chaps. 5, 6 and 7. In Chap. 5, Flowers
and Cavil dissect the academic fraud scandal at the University of North
INTRODUCTION 5
Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) using CRT and explore the role of
race and racism in how Black college athletes were implicated, disad-
vantaged, and exploited. Within their analysis, the authors incorporate
sociocultural perspectives to highlight the problematic nature of the mass
media’s portrayal of the Black college athletes involved versus the insti-
tutional leaders (coaches, faculty, staff, and athletic administrators) who
were responsible for creating a fraudulent academic culture.
In Chap. 6, Johnson and Jackson examine the impact of the pervasive
myth of innate Black athletic superiority in US society. In particular, the
authors utilize CRT to juxtapose the enrollment and athletic success of
Black athletes at PWIs and HBCUs with concurrent lower graduation
rates among this same subgroup compared to their athlete peers.
In Chap. 7, Fields explores the legal implications of the Kevin Ross v.
Creighton University lawsuit. Kevin Ross, a former Creighton basketball
player, sued the university for educational malpractice, arguing that they
failed to provide him with quality education during his college tenure.
After four years at Creighton, it was determined that Ross’s reading level
was equivalent to a seventh grader and his language skills were at a fourth-
grade level. Fields employs CRT to debunk the myth of colorblindness
and racial equity within the US judicial system. More specifically, Fields
explains how the explicit omission of race in the case proceedings reflects
the perpetuation of racial stratification in the USA.
The third theme of the book focuses on “Athletic Representation and
Imagery,” as it pertains to Black athletes, control of their images, and mass
media (Chaps. 8 and 9). In Chap. 8, McWilliams-Henderson explores
the impact of NCAA’s amateurism policies, which limit college athletes’
ability to earn financial profits from their images during their collegiate eli-
gibility. McWilliams-Henderson utilizes CRT to argue how these policies
have a disparate impact on Black college athletes and serve as a detriment
to their career development, entrepreneurship, and financial sustainability.
In Chap. 9, Brown incorporates CRT in his examination of how the
NFL perpetuates White supremacy by promoting stereotypical images of
Black masculinity. Brown argues that the NFL promotes Black masculinity
as violent, anti-intellectual, and self-serving in order to benefit the league’s
capitalist intentions. The author asserts this imagery is not fortuitous but
rather intentionally constructed to reinforce dominant racial ideologies
which portray Black males as mindless athletic gladiators.
The fourth and final theme of the book presents “Best Practices and
Leadership” in Chaps. 10, 11 and 12. In Chap. 10, Cooper, Cavil, and
6 B. HAWKINS ET AL.
Cheeks apply a CRT lens to outline how systemic racism permeates the
macro-, meso-, and micro-level challenges facing HBCUs and their ath-
letic programs. The authors draw parallels between inequitable struc-
tural arrangements and racist practices in the broader USA (e.g. limited
access to quality educational opportunities, health care, housing, legal
justice, etc.) with the organizational policies within the NCAA that dis-
advantage HBCU athletic programs. In response to these unfavorable
circumstances, the authors offer Ten Pillars for Active Engagement for
Sport Leadership and Administration in Creating Athletic Organizational
Success and Sustainability for autonomy governance and a secession plan
from the NCAA as recommendations for enhanced financial stability, cul-
tural empowerment, and institutional integrity.
In Chap. 11, Polite and Santiago incorporate CRT to critique the orga-
nizational legitimacy of the NCAA’s treatment of Black college athletes
and present corporate social responsibility as a means to increase account-
ability to this subgroup of college athletes and additional stakeholders.
Drawing from the business literature, the authors surmise that the NCAA
must adopt racially conscious initiatives in order to maintain legitimacy
as athletic-educational business enterprise designed to benefit “student”
athletes’ overall development.
In Chap. 12, Champagne utilizes CRT and social cognitive career
theory (SCCT) to examine factors related to the underrepresentation of
Blacks in leadership positions within the NCAA and at PWIHE. In par-
ticular, Champagne focuses on understanding how current Black athletic
administrators experience career mobility in a system designed to reward
and support White males. The author concludes the chapter with recom-
mendations for how to increase racial diversity among leadership positions
at the intercollegiate level.
NOTES
1. “Racism and racial discrimination.” UN News Centre. http://www.
un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17718#.VqmMCzYxf-Q
(accessed January 15, 2016).
2. PWI’s will be used in referring to the predominantly White NCAA
Division I institutions. More specifically, those institutions that make
up the eleven BCS conferences: Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East
Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Conference
USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Pac-
10 Conference, Southeastern Conference, Sun Belt Conference and
Western Athletic Conference.
INTRODUCTION 7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Racism and Racial Discrimination. 2016. UN News Centre. http://www.un.org/
apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17718#.VqmMCzYxf-Q. Accessed 15 Jan
2016.
PART I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on the striking similarities between critical race the-
ory (CRT) and systemic racism theory (SRT), and how they can be used
in tandem to further understand and address Black athletes’ educational
rights and college sport reform in the USA. The idea for this chapter was
conceived from multiple conversations we have had with noted sociolo-
gist, race scholar, and author of the book Systemic Racism: A Theory of
Oppression, Joe Feagin. In particular, it was during a doctoral dissertation
defense in 2014 for a student whose committee both Feagin (as chair)
and Singer served on when Feagin suggested CRT and SRT are very close
relatives and acknowledged that both frameworks are rooted in the Black
J.N. Singer (
)
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX, USA
e-mail: singerjn@tamu.edu
A.J. Weems • J.R. Garner
Division of Sport Management, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX, USA
For example, the NCAA’s 1.600 rule was established in 1965 and required
incoming athletes to have a predicted freshman grade point average (GPA)
of 1.6 and maintain it during their college career in order to receive financial
aid. Although the rule was eventually voted out in 1973 and replaced with
the 2.0 rule, interestingly enough, it was during this time that freshman
eligibility to participate was reinstated and Black athletes (many with inad-
equate academic preparation coming out of high school) were beginning to
integrate in large numbers into these athletic programs at HWIHE. This 2.0
rule required athletes to only achieve a 2.0 throughout high school to be
eligible to play in college. Oriard argued this rule essentially opened up col-
lege athletics to anyone with a high school diploma and redefined “student-
athletes” as “athlete-students.” In addition, he noted that 1973 marked the
period when sociological research revealed the pre-college academic profile
and college graduation rates of athletes were beginning to greatly decline.
It was not until the mid-1980s when the next major rule change involving
academic standards and athlete eligibility would be established.
It has been widely reported that the late, former Penn State head football
coach, Joe Paterno’s statement at the 1983 NCAA convention urging the
White sport establishment to quit exploiting young Black athletes for their
physical prowess served as the impetus for the controversial Proposition 48
rule. This rule required athletes to have taken 11 core courses in the areas of
English, math, social sciences, and physical sciences in high school, achieved
a C average or 2.0 GPA, and earned a score of at least a 700 on the scholastic
aptitude test (SAT) or 15 on the American College Test (ACT). Interestingly,
although a lot of people in the Black community opposed this rule (par-
ticularly the standardized test score requirements) because they felt it had a
disparate impact on Black athletes, Harry Edwards suggested at the time that
the rule was really more about class bias than it was race bias or a desire of
HWIHE to intentionally deny Black athletes access. He essentially argued the
bigger issue was an American educational system (PreK-12 through higher
education) that set standards too low, and a failure on the part of this system
and actors within it to properly prepare Black and other students for produc-
tive lives as citizens in American society and throughout the world.13
This controversy with Proposition 48 (and Proposition 42, which
denied financial aid to partial qualifiers such as those with the requisite
GPA or SAT, but not both) eventually led to the implementation of
Proposition 16 in the first part of the 1990s. This rule created a sliding
scale based on the student GPA and SAT score, and allowed for a lower
test score if the GPA was high enough. It also increased the number of
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 17
In the conclusion to his article, Oriard posed the question, how can
the historical framework he laid out help us think about the prospects
of academic reform? In a response article, respected lawyer and business
professor Kenneth Shropshire asserted that there is a need for a more criti-
cal and explicit examination of how increased participant diversity coin-
cided with and influenced the link between the growing commercialism
in college sport and calls for academic reform. He further pondered the
question of what we might learn from a fully integrated historical discus-
sion of the path to reform incorporating people of color and other his-
torically underrepresented and marginalized groups (e.g., women, people
with disabilities, etc.). In reiterating the need for a deeper exploration into
this diversity issue, Shropshire suggested he was not quite sure how we
might achieve this end. We agree with Shropshire that deeper discussions
of diversity are needed in the college sport reform discourse, and reiterate
that an explicit focus and sustained engagement with race in particular has
been, with a few exceptions, missing from the college sport reform dis-
course. In this regard, our focus on CRT and SRT addresses Shropshire’s
call for a deeper exploration into this issue. In the next section, we provide
an overview of CRT and SRT and their intersecting tenets.
and Richard Delgado) have been tied to the initial establishment of the CRT
movement, Derrick Bell has been widely recognized as the originator.14 His
original case book on Race, Racism, and American Law from the early 1970s
is foundational to the growth and momentum of CRT. Since that time, not
only have many legal scholars adopted this framework, but scholars across
several other disciplines have utilized CRT as an analytic and activist tool to
understand the contours and nuances of race, racism, and White supremacy,
and change the bond that exists between American social systems and racial
power and privilege. According to educational researchers Marvin Lynn and
Maurianne Adams, CRT scholars have emphasized “the many ways that race
and racism were fundamentally ingrained in American social structures and
historical consciousness and hence shaped U.S. ideology, legal systems, and
fundamental conceptions of law, property, and privilege.”15 We discuss some
of the major tenets of CRT in the subsections below.
Critique of Liberalism
CRT scholars critique the notion of liberalism by discussing how antidis-
crimination laws designed to address racial inequality are limited because
they are often undermined before they can be fully implemented. Legal
scholar Timothy Davis discussed how the subtle nature of aversive racism
has often rendered these civil rights laws ineffective in securing and pro-
tecting the interests of racial minorities because the evidentiary standards
plaintiffs must meet serve as major barriers.19 For example, since their
integration into HWIHE several Black athletes have attempted to utilize
the legal system to seek restitution for their claims of academic and eco-
nomic exploitation. However, in most all cases, the courts have rejected
these athletes’ claims and suggested they were unfounded. Traditional
antidiscrimination laws and legislation such as Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 have been found to be severely limited or largely ineffective
because it is difficult for Blacks to “proffer the evidence of racial animus
necessary to prevail in a Title VII claim.”20
Interest-Convergence Principle
Derrick Bell’s interest-convergence principle posits that White elites will
tolerate and support the advancement of racial minority interests, but par-
ticularly when doing so promotes their own self-interests, and renders
substantial and disproportionate outcomes in their favor (e.g., financial
gain and positive image).21 The important research by Mary Dudziak into
the motives behind the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education
decision provides strong support for Bell’s theory.22 That is, this research
revealed that one of the driving forces behind this decision was the desire of
White male elites within the government to deflect criticism of their unjust
treatment of Black citizens in the so-called US democracy, and project
an image to the world that the USA was indeed a progressive democracy
entrenched in the Cold War battle against the Soviet Union. The interest-
convergence principle also provides robust explanatory power for one of
the primary motives behind the integration of America’s pastime, major
league baseball, during this time period.23
help illuminate issues Blacks and other racial groups face at the macro,
meso, and micro levels of society.31
Macro-Level Factors
From our perspective, any meaningful and real discussion of college sport
reform today is not possible without first situating the conversation within
the broader historical, societal, and structural elements of US society.
Therefore, we begin our CRT and SRT conceptualization of college sport
reform with a discussion of the larger context of racism in American soci-
ety and the broader educational system, including organized school sport,
and its pervasiveness and cultural significance in higher education.34 The
importance of focusing on these broad macro-level factors is captured
in the excerpt below from sport sociologist Stanley Eitzen’s chapter on
reform in the second edition of the book Racism in College Athletics:
This quote speaks to the impact racism has had on Blacks in the US society
in general, the educational system broadly, and more specifically, college
sport. Below, we elaborate a bit more on these points through the tenets
of CRT and SRT.
At the heart of both CRT and SRT is the understanding that White-on-
Black oppression is foundational and deeply embedded in the economic,
legal, political, educational, and other social institutions in American soci-
ety. Derrick Bell’s notion of racial realism, as alluded to earlier, argues that
racism is endemic and a permanent part of American society and its social
history. But more specifically, Bell boldly asserted that Black people in
America will never really gain full equality in a White supremacist, racist
society such as the USA. Bell understood that the racial progress Blacks
have been able to achieve throughout American history has been tempo-
rary or short-lived in the sense that racial patterns have always shifted and
adapted to maintain White dominance and privilege. Social progress that
benefits Blacks and other marginalized populations has typically been at
the will and design of White male elites who decide if, when, and to what
extent the rules change, depending on whether or not these changes allow
them (i.e., White males) to maintain power and the status quo. At the root
of Bell’s interest-convergence principle is the understanding that White
self-interest takes precedence over Black rights. This is a key point we will
revisit below as we discuss the issue of Black athletes’ rights in particular.
As this notion of racial realism relates specifically to Blacks in the
American educational system, Gloria Ladson-Billing’s and Bill Tate’s for-
mal introduction of CRT to the field of education in 1995 inspired several
scholars to adopt this framework to better understand and address the
educational predicament of Black people and other racial minorities in
the USA, and throughout the world.36 Since this time, several scholars
have drawn from CRT and other relevant frameworks to analyze, inves-
tigate, document, and describe the impact of race and racism in various
educational contexts (i.e., PreK-12 and higher education). Much of this
work recognizes the prominent role the American educational system has
played in the continued oppression and subjugation of Black people and
other people of color.
CRT scholars in education owe a large debt of gratitude to the schol-
ars and activists of the Black radical intellectual tradition mentioned at
the outset of this chapter. But of particular note is the work of Carter
G. Woodson, who wrote two important books, The Education of the
Negro and The Mis-education of the Negro, in the first half of the 1900s.
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 31
These works, particularly the latter, laid a strong foundation for our
understanding of how Whites used “education” to stunt and stymie the
development of Black people, but in so doing, in many ways impede their
own advancement into enlightened and civilized people. Written sev-
eral decades ago, yet still relevant today, The Mis-education of the Negro
addressed the ways in which this “antiquated” system discouraged Black
achievement and trained the Black community to believe in its own inferi-
ority and the superiority of other racial groups.
In the book The White Architects of Black Education, scholar William
Watkins built on the work of Woodson in arguing that schooling, not edu-
cation, is what Blacks have been subjected to in the American educational
system.37 He focused on how when slaves were “emancipated” wealthy
elite White males put into place a system for “educating” Black people that
was designed to restrict and severely limit their knowledge acquisition.
The idea was to control the minds of Black people so that they would con-
tinue to be manipulated by and serviceable to White interests. Historian
John Henrik Clarke echoed this sentiment in the foreword to Woodson’s
earlier text, The Education of the Negro:
Unfortunately, African people in the United States still have some prevailing
misperceptions about their education and education in general. We were not
brought to the United States or the so-called New World to be educated.
We were brought as a massive labor supply…What the slave masters permit-
ted was training and not education.38
As this relates to college sport reform and the educational plight of Black
athletes, this begs the rhetorical questions: Were Black athletes brought to
HWIHE to be truly educated, or was it to serve primarily as a “massive
labor supply”? Are they being trained to serve the interests of the NCAA,
member institutions, and other powerful stakeholder groups as opposed
to being properly educated to serve their own interests and the interest of
their communities?
These are questions the first author (Singer) posed in a paper on the
mis-education of Black male athletes at HWIHE, and suggested Bell’s
interest-convergence principle was a powerful explanatory tool to help
address them.39 Scholars have used this CRT tenet to expose the busi-
ness and political motives surrounding White power brokers’ decisions
to tap into the newly accessible Black athletic talent in the wake of the
Brown v. Board of Education decision. Education, legal, and sport scholars
32 J.N. SINGER ET AL.
have utilized Bell’s principle to reveal how HWIHE’s interest in the ath-
letic prowess of Black athletes (particularly football and male basketball
players with questionable pre-college academic preparation) has in far too
many cases superseded any real concern for these athletes’ holistic educa-
tional development.40 For example, Jamel Donnor analyzed actual legal
cases involving claims by Black male athletes of educational malpractice
and breach of contract issues in efforts to uncover and expose the con-
tradictions and hypocrisy exhibited by these institutions at it relates to
the recruitment and educational journey of Black athletes. Other scholars
have tapped into the actual voices of Black athletes to hear their stories
about being exploited for their athletic talent often to the detriment of
other areas of development.41
Some scholars and commentators have embraced the notion that college
athlete exploitation is a “myth,” and college athletes are actually privileged
because they gain a myriad of tangible and intangible benefits from their
participation in big-time college sport at HWIHE.42 Although this perspec-
tive has some merit (i.e., athletes can and often do derive some benefits
from college sport participation), the argument that exploitation is a myth
is overly simplistic and lacks any real understanding of or concern for how
race and other social factors intersect to limit and inhibit the ability of Black
and other athletes to fully tap into their educational rights and interests.
Derek Van Rheenen’s article in the International Review for the Sociology of
Sport titled “Exploitation in college sports: Race, revenue, and educational
reward” addresses this issue of race and Black athlete exploitation to some
extent. In doing so, he argued that exploitation is primarily a moral con-
struct and described it as a process that occurs when one party receives unfair
and undeserved benefits from its transactions or relationships with another.
Van Rheenen argued economic exploitation (i.e., unfair financial
compensation) exists to some degree in college sport, but focused more
specifically on the issue of academic exploitation and the educational
opportunities (or lack thereof) afforded to Black athletes in particular.
He focused on how the overrepresentation of Black athletes on revenue-
producing teams and the corresponding lower graduation rates of this
group in comparison to their peers is indicative of the racial and cultural
divisions of opportunity that exists. Although he did not draw explicitly
from CRT or SRT in his analysis, Van Rheenen did suggest that institu-
tional racism has contributed to the economic and academic exploitation
of Black athletes and potentially other athletes (e.g., White athletes in
revenue-producing sports).
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 33
Meso-Level Factors
According to some sport management scholars, organizational theory is
generally concerned with the structure and design of organizations and
an understanding of the causes and consequences of commonly occurring
patterns and regularities in these organizations. Some of these scholars
have suggested that there is a need to centralize issues of power and poli-
tics in the study of sport organizations by applying critical theory.43 This
is a step in the right direction because critical theory does allow one to
view organizations as operating in a wider cultural, economic, and political
context characterized by historically entrenched, asymmetrical power rela-
tions. However, similar to the founding CRT scholars’ critique of the criti-
cal legal studies literature, we argue that there is a need to centralize race
and racism in discussions of organizational theory and how privilege and
34 J.N. SINGER ET AL.
Interestingly and ironically, the claims made in this policy that college
athletes are amateurs who “should be protected from exploitation by pro-
fessional and commercial enterprises” speaks directly to the exploitative
nature of the academic capitalism model currently governing big-time
college sport organizations and which has a disparate impact on football
and men’s basketball college athletes (a majority of which are Black).
This dominant logic that amateurism defines the participants, but not the
enterprise is the epitome of White racial framing in the form of hypocrisy
and exploitation.
The founder of the College Sport Research Institute (CSRI), Richard
Southall, has for years now been critical of the NCAA’s notion of amateur-
ism and the collegiate athletic model that has been created, disseminated,
and imbedded in college sport’s institutional consciousness by the elite
White male presidents who have run and overseen the affairs of the NCAA
and other organizations tied to big-time college sport.47 This dominant
logic has been used for years to justify the NCAA’s and other college sport
organizations’ policies and practices that continue to exploit the athletic
labor of college athletes. Moreover, the academic capitalist ideology that
there is no inherent conflict between commercial and educational logics
(so as long as athletes are not engaging in commercial activity that directly
benefits them) is used to justify the idea that engaging in big-time com-
mercialized college sport (i.e., football and men’s basketball) is necessary
to achieve educational opportunity for the vast majority of college athletes.
This vast majority of athletes that benefit from these educational opportu-
nities are White middle to upper-class males and females who participate in
the non-revenue sports that usually rely heavily on financial support from
football and men’s basketball.
As mentioned earlier, Black males constitute the majority of partici-
pants in these revenue sports that primarily support these non-revenue
36 J.N. SINGER ET AL.
Micro-Level Factors
In the chapter by Stanley Eitzen on racism and college sport reform,
he discussed how big-time college sport exists in a larger societal con-
text where racism will only continue to intensify and this will exacerbate
the exploitation of Black athletes. He further suggested that when these
organizations exploit athletes for profit and often discard them without a
meaningful education, this helps reinforce the stereotype that Black ath-
letes are physically superior but intellectually inferior. This White racial
framing and racial stereotyping of Black athletes as “dumb jocks” has been
around for decades. Since Harry Edward’s proclamation that Black dumb
jocks are not born but they are systematically created within American
society and its educational and sport systems, scholars have focused on
how this stereotyping impacts the identity and educational experiences of
Black male and female athletes.48
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 37
Some scholars have explicitly drawn from CRT to theorize about the
racial, social, economic, cultural, and psychological factors that impact
Black athletes’ academic and athletic experiences.49 For example, Samuel
Hodge and colleagues focused on how Whites stereotype Black athletes
as physically superior and intellectually inferior, and thus, steer them
more toward athletic pursuits than academic ones. Moreover, they also
discussed how Black athletes often buy into these negative stereotypes
thrust upon them by Whites (i.e., self-stereotype) and the negative impact
internalizing these stereotypes has on their sense of self and motivation to
achieve excellence beyond the domain of sport participation. Indeed, the
White racial frame and racial stereotypes that stem from it have been so
strong that it also negatively influences the mindset and behaviors of Black
athletes, which helps contribute greatly to their exploitation at HWIHE.
Scholars have discussed the need to counter these negative stereotypes
and called on relevant educational stakeholders to assist in doing so. In
particular, arguments have been made for coaches, faculty, administrators,
academic support staff, and others (e.g., families, fans, sport media) to
engage in thoughtful self-reflection into how their own personal race-sport
stereotypic beliefs might impact their interactions with Black athletes. This
is important because as Hodge and colleagues have stated, psychological
CRT “asserts that no one is exempt from the spontaneous and persistent
influences of racism in America, thus self-reflection becomes a critical exer-
cise for interaction with a diversity of student-athletes.”50 What this means
then is that we should be mindful of and address not only White racism
against Blacks but also the internalized racism Blacks might wittingly or
unwittingly perpetuate among themselves.
But another, and arguably, the most important stakeholder group to
consider as we contemplate college sport reform and the educational
rights of Black athletes are the athletes themselves and the role they ulti-
mately play in combating the race-sport stereotypes and structural norms
mentioned above. One of the arguments Harry Edwards has made since
the 1980s is that education is an activist pursuit that Black athletes must,
despite the systemic racism that continues to permeate American soci-
ety and the social institutions of education and sport, take a substantial
role in prioritizing and attaining.51 From a CRT perspective, this educa-
tional activism involves Black athletes working with relevant stakeholders
across racial groups to ensure they receive a balanced and well-rounded
educational experience. Furthermore, it also entails Black athletes’ active
resistance to some of the historical, social, cultural, structural, political,
38 J.N. SINGER ET AL.
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION
In this chapter, we drew from CRT and its younger fraternal twin, SRT, in
efforts to situate race, racism, and White supremacy at the heart of college
sport reform issues. We argued for the need to focus first and foremost on
the educational plight and rights of Black athletes in order to understand
and ultimately address the rights of all college athletes. We proposed a
multilevel framework that illuminated racism in the broader US society,
American educational system, and college sport; the Eurocentric nature
of organizations that encompass the athletic industrial complex; and the
prevalence of racial stereotyping as pertinent macro-, meso-, and micro-
level factors to consider as we think about and engage in discourse and
action related to college sport reform. Below, we offer some critical reflec-
tions and thoughts on what this all means for college sport reform, and
discuss implications for research, practice, and activism in college sport.
In 2009, Allen Sack published an important article in the Journal
of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics that identified the major issues and
assumptions that divide reformers and reform groups. More specifically,
he discussed the intellectual elitist, academic capitalist, and athletes’ rights
as three different conceptual models that have been used to interpret the
reality of commercialized college sport. The biggest differences among
these models has been in regards to the assumptions each makes about the
relationship of commercialism to academic values, the educational impact
and legal status of athletic scholarships, and the mission of higher edu-
cation. As we have discussed throughout this chapter, the predominant
model that has been embraced in the past several years by the NCAA and
other proponents of the current structural arrangements of college sport is
academic capitalism. Critics of this model have typically adopted the intel-
lectual elitist and/or athletes’ rights model.
Much of the discourse from the intellectual elitist and athletes’ rights
camps has focused on addressing the economic and academic exploitation
of college athletes. The intellectual elitist model has been highly critical
of athletic commercialism and the subsidization of athletes in the form of
athletic scholarships. Some examples of reforms promoted by this camp
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 39
protest (e.g., refusal to play if university president did not resign) against
the (mis)handling of racial problems on campus.
From a CRT and SRT perspective, some of the foci of these reform
models and the recent developments that have emerged from them are
steps in the right direction toward addressing the economic and academic
exploitation of Black athletes and all athletes more generally. However,
there is a need to continue encouraging research and activism that further
centralizes and explicitly focuses on race, racism, and White supremacy.
As it relates to research and scholarship, the work of Stanley Eitzen men-
tioned earlier moved toward this approach. Eitzen focused explicitly on
the academic and economic exploitation of Black athletes, particularly
those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds with limited pre-
college academic preparation, and advanced some of the popular reform
measures of the intellectual elitist and athletes’ rights models discussed
above (e.g., strengthening of academic standards for admissions, reinstate-
ment of freshman ineligibility, increased financial support for athletes, and
educating athletic department personnel about racial stereotypes and aver-
sive racism) as recommendations for combating the problems of racism
and the exploitation of Black athletes in particular.
Although Eitzen focused on race and the Black athlete in discussing
some prospects for the year 2020 and proposal for change, Billy Hawkins’
focus on decolonization, reform, and the Black athlete in his book, The
New Plantation, is more closely aligned with a CRT and SRT approach to
college sport reform, particularly because of its explicit emancipatory focus.
While he did acknowledge that many of the reformers and reform groups
are well-meaning, competent individuals and leaders, he criticized some of
the reform demands and recommendations of the intellectual elitist (e.g.,
admissions recommendations) and academic capitalist (e.g., APR standards)
camps, suggesting they are designed to “ethnically cleanse and re-Whiten”
college football and basketball. In describing Black athletes in football and
basketball at HWIHE as internally colonized individuals, Hawkins grounded
his reform recommendations within the process of decolonization, which he
described as an emancipatory strategy that moves beyond an appeal to a
moral adjustment to “a fundamental change in structural arrangements and
the distribution of resources, and an access to services previously denied.”52
Although he did not necessary view the issue of academic integrity and col-
lege sport reform as solely a “Black athlete problem,” he did acknowledge
Black athletes are severely and disproportionately affected by the “archaic
racial ideologies” from which these Eurocentric organizations operate.
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 41
Black athletes through a CRT and SRT lens provides additional insight
into the flaws of American society and its social institutions, and gives
us clear directives for the research and activism related to college sport
reform that we should seriously consider going forward.
In terms of research, there are a few important considerations to keep
in mind. First, any meaningful and sincere efforts at research should begin
with Black athletes in particular and other athletes in general. In align-
ment with CRT, centralizing these athletes’ voices and experiential knowl-
edge in the college sport reform discourse is paramount to the movement,
especially since they are (or should be) the prime beneficiaries of higher
education and thus college sport. In other words, if college students are
the reason that institutions of higher education exist in the first place and
college sport is truly in place to enhance the educational experiences of
this unique population of students who participate in it, it is vitally impor-
tant we give them a prominent place at the table when discussing the
issue of college sport reform at HWIHE and within the broader athletics
industrial complex (including HBCU).
In this regard, not only is there a need for large-scale quantitative survey
studies that assess athletes’ attitudes and perspectives regarding their expe-
riences and strategies for reform, but more importantly, athletes should be
invited and given incentives to participate in qualitative field-based studies
that allow them to share their perspectives and critically reflect upon their
experiences and college sport reform going forward. Scholars should go
beyond simple focus groups and individual interviews with college athletes
and adopt qualitative research designs (e.g., participatory action research)
that allow athletes to be active partners in the co-creation of practical and
emancipatory knowledge concerning college sport reform and their edu-
cational rights.54
We should definitely continue to build upon the substantial research
that has been conducted on Black male football and basketball athletes
over the years. This stakeholder group continues to represent the “face”
of big-time college sport and serve in many ways as the primary breadwin-
ner for this enterprise. However, we must also commit to research with
Black female athletes, a group that has too often been neglected, disre-
spected, and undervalued when it comes to the important contributions
they could bring to the discourse on athletes’ rights and college sport
reform. We should build on the important work of Jennifer Bruening
and her colleagues as well as the scholarship and service/activist work of
Akilah Carter-Francique and her colleagues (e.g., Sista to Sista Program).
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 43
Edwards and other commentators (e.g., lawyer and ESPN basketball ana-
lyst, Jay Bilas) have suggested, the possibility of athletes boycotting major
events (e.g., The Final Four, football bowl games) is real, and perhaps the
next step toward college sport reform. This might be what it takes for the
NCAA and other organizations to realize the gravity of the situation. That
is, these Eurocentric organizations might only begin to truly recognize
that Black athlete lives do matter and respond accordingly to the rights
and educational interests of these athletes and all others if or when such
measures are taken.
In the academic keynote address at the 2011 CSRI annual conference,
the first author of this chapter (Singer) posed the question, “Are you doing
right by the Black college athlete?,” and implored the various stakeholders of
college sport to critically reflect upon their respective roles in contributing to
the educational development of Black athletes in particular, but all athletes in
general. As we conclude this chapter, we challenge the NCAA, athletic con-
ferences, HWIHE and their athletic departments, HBCU and their athletic
departments, other organizations, and the various groups and individuals who
have a stake or vested interest in college sport to do the same. We also applaud
the efforts of the several individuals and groups, from the intellectual elitists to
the athletes’ rights advocates, who have sincerely labored to improve the lives
of all college athletes. However, we stress the need for all of us, including the
athletes themselves, to continue or begin reflecting on and working to better
understand and address the racial stereotypes (micro-level), the organizational
dynamics in Eurocentric college sport organizations (meso-level), and the
historical, social, and structural arrangements within the broader American
society and its educational and sport systems (macro-level) that interfere with
meaningful college sport reform efforts. In doing so, we must be mindful of
Harry Edward’s assertion that “there are no final victories,”57 yet still stay true
to CRT’s charge to constantly oppose racism and other forms of oppression
even in the face of its persistence.
NOTES
1. There are several Black female and male scholars and activists from
the 1800s and 1900s who could be credited with establishing this
Black radical intellectual tradition. The list includes, but certainly is
not limited to, some of the following notable names: Frederick
Douglas, David Walker, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, Anna Julia
Cooper, Carter G. Woodson, Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Touré),
Angela Davis.
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 45
11. Walter Byers details these motives behind the creation of the
“student-athlete” term in his book from 1995, Unsportsmanlike
Conduct. For additional insight into the student-athlete term and
the NCAA’s Amateur “myth,” see Allen Sack and Ellen Staurowsky’s
book from 1998, College Athletes for Hire, and Robert McCormick
and Amy McCormick’s article “The myth of the student-athlete:
The college athlete as employee” in the Washington Law Review
Association, 81, 71–157, 2006.
12. This quote is from p. 79 of Sack, Allen. “Clashing Models of
Commercial Sport in Higher Education: Implications for Reform
and Scholarly Research”, in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate
Athletics, 2, 76–92, 2009.
13. See Edwards, Harry. “The collegiate athletic arms race: Origins and
implications of the “Rule 48” controversy”, in Journal of Sport and
Social Issues, 8(1), 4–22, 1984.
14. See the book edited by Crenshaw, Kimberle’, Gotanda, Neil, Peller,
Gary, and Thomas, Kendall. Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings
that Formed the Movement. New York: The New Press, 1995.
15. This quote is from p. 88 of Lynn, Marvin and Adams, Maurianne.
“Introductory overview to the special issue critical race theory and
education: Recent developments in the field”, in Equity & Excellence,
35(2), 2002.
16. See Lopez, Ian Haney. White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race.
New York: New York University Press.
17. CRT educational scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings and other scholars
and commentators have discussed this reality. See, for example,
Daniels, Jesse. “White women and Affirmative Action: Prime benefi-
ciaries and opponents”, in Racism Review, March 11, 2014. See also
Nelson, Sophia A. “The real Affirmative Action babies”, in The
Root, August 3, 2009.
18. See Harris, Cheryl. “Whiteness as property”, in Harvard Law
Review, 106(8), 1707–1791, 1993.
19. See Davis, Timothy. “Race, law, and collegiate athletics”, in Racism
in College Athletics (2nd Ed.) (Eds., Brooks, Dana and Althouse,
Ronald), pp. 245–265, Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information
Technology, 2000.
20. See p. 263 of Davis, Timothy. “Race, law, and college athletics”, in
Racism in College Athletics (2nd Ed.) (Eds., Brooks, Dana and
Althouse, Ronald), pp. 245–265, Morgantown, WV: Fitness
Information Technology, 2000.
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 47
21. See Bell, Derrick. “Brown v. Board of Education and the interest-
convergence principle”, in Harvard Law Review, 93, 518–533.
22. See Dudziak, Mary. “Brown as a Cold War case”, in Journal of
American History, 91(1), 32–42, 2004.
23. For more insight into applications of interest convergence to
American sport, see DeLorme, Joshua, and Singer, John N. “The
interest convergence principle and the integration of major league
baseball”, in Journal of Black Studies, 41, 367–384, 2010.
24. CRT scholar Kimberle’ Crenshaw’s notion of intersectionality is
sometimes discussed as an important aspect of CRT because it
focuses on the study of the overlapping or intersecting social identi-
ties and related systems of oppression. See Crenshaw, Kimberle’.
“Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and vio-
lence against women of color”, in Stanford Law Review, 43(6),
1241–1299, 1991.
25. See, for example, Singer, J.N. “Understanding racism through the
eyes of African American male student-athletes”, in Race, Ethnicity,
and Education, 8, 365–386, 2005; Bruening, Jennifer, Armstrong,
Ketra, and Pastore, Donna. “Listening to the voices: The experi-
ences of African American female student-athletes”, in Research
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76, 82–100, 2005.
26. See Ladson-Billings, Gloria and Donnor, Jamel. “The moral activist
role of critical race theory scholarship”, in Sage Handbook of
Qualitative Research (3rd Ed.) (Eds., Denzin, Norman and Lincoln,
Yvonna), pp. 279–301, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005.
27. This quote is from p. xii of Feagin, Joe. Systemic Racism: A Theory of
Oppression. New York: Routledge, 2006.
28. See Feagin, Joe. How Blacks Built America: Labor, Culture, Freedom,
and Democracy. New York: Routledge, 2016.
29. See Sage, George. “Introduction”, in Racism in College Athletics
(2nd Ed.) (Eds., Brooks, Dana and Althouse, Ronald), pp. 1–12,
Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology, 2000.
30. See McNamee, Stephen and Miller Jr., Robert. The Meritocracy Myth
(2nd Ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.,
2009.
31. For more detailed insight into this tenet of SRT, see Feagin, Joe.
The White racial frame: Centuries of racial framing and counter-
framing (2nd Edition). New York: Routledge, 2013.
32. David Roediger discusses this in the two editions of his book, The
wages of whiteness: Race and the making of the American working class.
48 J.N. SINGER ET AL.
33. See Shapiro, Thomas. The Hidden Costs of Being African American:
How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2004; and Oliver, Melvin and Shapiro, Thomas. Black Wealth/
White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality (2nd Ed.).
New York: Routledge, 2006.
34. See Beyer, Janice and Hannah, David. “The cultural significance of
athletics in U.S. higher education”, in Journal of Sport Management,
14, 105–132, 2000.
35. See Eitzen, Stanley. “Racism in big-time college sport: Prospects for
the year 2020 and proposals for change”, in D. Brooks and
R. Althouse (Eds.), Racism in College Athletics: The African
American Athlete’s Experience (2nd Ed.), 293–306, Morgantown,
WV: Fitness Information Technology, 2000.
36. See Ladson-Billings, Gloria and Tate, William. “Toward a critical
race theory of education”, in Teachers College Record, 97, 47–68,
1995; see also Lynn, Marvin and Dixson, Adrienne (Eds.). Handbook
of Critical Race Theory in Education. New York: Routledge, 2013.
37. See Watkins, William. The white architects of Black education: Ideology
and power in America, 1865–1954. New York: Teachers College
Press, 2001.
38. Quoted on p. 1 in Woodson, Carter G. The education of the Negro.
Brooklyn, NY: A&B Publishing Group, 1998.
39. See Singer, John N. “the miseducation of African American male
college athletes”, in E. Comeaux (Ed.), Introduction to intercolle-
giate athletics, 193–206, Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press.
40. See Davis, Timothy. “The myth of the superspade: The persistence
of racism in college athletics”, in Fordham Urban Law Journal, 22,
615–698, 1995; see also Donnor, Jamel. “Towards an interest-
convergence in the education of African-American football student
athletes in major college sports”, in Race, Ethnicity, and Education,
8(1), 45–67, 2005; see also Singer, John. “African American foot-
ball athletes’ perspectives on institutional integrity in college sport”,
in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 80(1), 102–116, 2009.
41. See, for example, Beamon, Krystal. “’Used goods’: Former African
American college student-athletes’ perceptions of exploitation by
division I universities”, in Journal of Negro Education, 77(4),
352–364, 2008; see also Singer, John. “African American football
athletes’ perspectives on institutional integrity in college sport”, in
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 80(1), 102–116, 2009.
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 49
50. Quoted on p. 218 in Hodge, Sam, Burden, Joe Burden Jr., Robinson,
Leah, and Bennett III, Robert. “Theorizing on the sterotyping of
Black male student-athletes”, in Journal for the Study of Sports and
Athletes in Education, 2(2), 203–226, 2008.
51. See Edwards, Harry. “The Black ‘dumb jock’: An American sports
tragedy”, in College Board Review, 8–13, 1984.
52. Quoted from p. 176 of The New Plantation.
53. Quoted from p. 6 of West, Cornell. Race Matters. New York: Vintage
Books, 1993.
54. For insight into examples of various emancipatory qualitative
approaches scholars could use to conduct research with Black ath-
letes, see Agyemang, Kwame, Singer, John N., & DeLorme, Joshua.
“An exploratory study of Black male college athletes’ perceptions on
race and athlete activism”, in International Review for the Sociology of
Sport, 45(4), 419–435, 2010.
55. See Bruening, Jennifer. “Listening to the voices: The experiences of
African American female student-athletes”, in Research Quarterly for
Exercise and Sport, 76(1), 82–100, 2005. See also Carter, Akilah.,
and Hawkins, Billy. “Coping strategies among African American
female collegiate athletes in predominantly white institutions”, in
K. Hylton, A. Pilkington, P. Warmington, and S. Housee (Eds.),
Atlantic Crossings: International Dialogues in Critical Race Theory,
61–92, 2011. Birmingham, United Kingdom: The Higher Education
Academy Network.
56. For an example of a counter-narrative to the dominant narrative of
Black athlete academic struggles, see Bimper, Albert, Harrison Jr.
Louis, and Clark, Langston. “Diamonds in the rough: Examining a
case of successful Black male student-athletes in college sport”, in
Journal of Black Psychology, 39(2), 107–130, 2012.
57. Dr. Edwards made this statement in his speech titled “The promise
and limits of leveraging Black athlete power potential to compel
campus change”, at the Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by
the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University
on March 3, 2016. His major point was that the fight for social jus-
tice is a constant struggle with no foreseeable end.
FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 51
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FRATERNAL TWINS: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND SYSTEMIC RACISM THEORY... 55
Billy Hawkins
Some portions of this document contain excerpts from Hawkins, Billy J. The
New Plantation: Black Athletes and College Athletics. (New York: Palgrave
Macmillan Press, 2010)Interest Convergence: A Revolutionary Theory for
Athletic Reform
Without a revolutionary theory there cannot be a revolutionary movement
Vladmir Lenin
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress
Frederick Douglass
INTRODUCTION
Intercollegiate athletics is a multibillion-dollar commercial enterprise,
especially at the power five conferences.1 Football and men’s basketball,
specifically at Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
B. Hawkins ()
Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston,
Houston, TX, USA
e-mail: hjbilly@uh.edu
reform.5 Again, the history of college athletics has involved episodes of con-
troversy and contradictions requiring a need for governance and oversight,
consequently requiring reform. Thus, reform has been an ongoing process
instead of a one-shot vaccination that cures all the ills of college athletics. As
the challenges that strain the relationship between education and athletics
have evolved, they have demanded innovative and pliable governance in an
effort to meet these challenges.
Since its inception, the NCAA has evolved from an advisory group with
the authority to create policies to govern intercollegiate athletics into a
multibillion-dollar corporate enterprise. Several scholars have written con-
cerning intercollegiate athletic reform in various formats, and some have
presented provocative recommendations. Beyond the NCAA’s initial pur-
pose of reforming athletics, several organizations have emerged, within
and outside of institutions of higher education, to provide constructive
criticism, strategies, and insight into athletic reform. For example, in
1989, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation formed the Knight
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (KCIA) as a result of college
sport scandals that had achieved national attention, threatening the integ-
rity of higher education. The KCIA initial goal was as follows:
Similar to the KCIA and COIA, TDG has created a proposal with recom-
mendations they believe, if implemented, will assist in bringing balance
and narrowing the gap between athletics and academics, which will con-
tribute to reforming intercollegiate athletics.
The National College Players Association (NCPA) is another advocacy
group worth mentioning in the efforts of athletic reform and college ath-
letes rights. Ramogi Huma founded the NCPA in 2001, with a mission
“to provide the means for college athletes to voice their concerns and
change NCAA rules.”10 They have eleven goals they strive to achieve:
Minimize college athletes’ brain trauma risks, raise the scholarship amount,
prevent players from being stuck paying sports-related medical expenses,
increase graduation rates, protect educational opportunities for student-
athletes in good standing, prohibit universities from using a permanent
injury suffered during athletics as a reason to reduce/eliminate a scholar-
ship, establish and enforce uniform safety guidelines in all sports to help
prevent serious injuries and avoidable deaths, eliminate restrictions on
legitimate employment and players ability to directly benefit from commer-
cial opportunities, prohibit the punishment of college athletes that have
not committed a violation, guarantee that college athletes are granted an
athletic release from their university if they wish to transfer, and allow col-
lege athletes of all sports the ability to transfer schools one time without
punishment.11
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 61
STUDENT ACTIVISM
Despite the transient nature of student life, there is a consistent level
of continuity to foster change in institutional practices. This brief over-
view will highlight efforts of student activism that have addressed issues
within the structures of institutions of higher education and broader social
issues. Student activism made significant contributions to the Civil Rights
Movement during the late 1950s and 1960s. Since the sixties, universities
and college campuses have consistently been sites for student activism.
They have attracted publicity and changes to local, national, and interna-
tional issues. Student activism has ranged from protesting local and inter-
campus issues, to national and international issues.
In the past 20 years, some of the major topics students have mobilized
around have involved local issues concerning management investments and
administrative policies regarding recruitment and retention of students,
faculty, and staff of color. For example, in 1964 during the Free Speech
Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, 10,000 students sur-
rounded a university police car in protest over a new campus policy that
banned student groups from handing out leaflets and setting up recruiting
tables on campus.12 The protest ended with an agreement between the
university president and students agreeing that all issues of campus reform
recommendations be submitted to a committee consisting of faculty, stu-
62 B. HAWKINS
In April, hundreds of protesters took over the student union to demand that
the administration address the climate of racial intolerance. The sit-in ended
ten days later when the school’s president promised to establish an Africana
Studies Research Center and create $350,000 in new minority scholarships.17
a
Sarah Brown, “Facing protests about racial climate, another campus administrator steps down.” The
Chronicle of Higher Education. November 13, 2015. http://chronicle.com/article/Facing-Protests-
About-Racial/234191?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=fcd3862adc0d4ad78d79e223e9
ad4d76&elqCampaignId=1832&elqaid=6877&elqat=1&elqTrackId=22a8ab8290b34369adbf9749be6
9c9d2
64 B. HAWKINS
This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed:
to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well. The oppressors, who
oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power
the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that
springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free
both. Any attempt to “soften” the power of the oppressed almost always
manifests itself in the form of false generosity; indeed, the attempt never
goes beyond this.24
Professor Bell further suggests that if the method (in the case of the 14th
amendment) to improve racial equality threatens the “superior societal
status of middle and upper class whites,” then the method would be
unsuccessful in its attempts.31
Interest convergence has been used as a means of explaining “a particu-
lar case or a line of judicial decisions or legislative enactments.”32 Lee sum-
marizes several major cases, regarding minorities in general, that have used
it as a means to explain Supreme Court decisions and to show a historical
pattern in legislative enactments and trends in state courts.33 All, in vary-
ing degrees, illustrate how advancement in civil rights is correlated with
the benefits of elite whites. In other words, if a court decision, affirmative
action, or legislative enactment poses a threat or burden to a superior soci-
etal status of middle- and upper-class whites, the progress of civil rights
diminishes significantly.
An additional area Lee addresses that has bearings on this current
research is in regard to the use of interest convergence theory as a “tool
of strategy or prediction” or as an “advocate in favor of desired reform.”34
She illustrates how legal scholars have used interest convergence theory to
advocate reform in four categories:
He [the colonizer] finds himself on one side of a scale, the other side of
which bears the colonized man. If his living conditions are high, it is because
those of the colonized are low; if he can benefit from plentiful and unde-
manding labor and servants, it is because the colonized can be exploited at
will and are not protected by the laws of the colony; if he can easily obtain
administrative positions, it is because they are reserved for him and the colo-
nized are excluded from them; the more freely he breathes, the more the
colonized are choked.45
Thus, Hawkins suggests that because of the profit motive of the institu-
tion, athletes are bought into this relationship, where the institution is the
major benefactor.46 Furthermore, it is the recruitment process that first
establishes this relationship.
The significance of this relationship is further illustrated when one exam-
ines the following streams of revenue: the multimillion-dollar athletic bud-
gets, where the top athletic program generates around $143,555,00047;
the 14-year, $10.8 billion contract with CBS and Turner Sports for
television, digital, and other new media rights to the 68-team Division
I Basketball men’s tournament; the lucrative Bowl Championship Series
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 69
a
Kristi Dosh, “College TV rights deals undergo makeovers.” ESPN.com. May 13, 2012. http://espn.
go.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/705/; Brett McMurphy, “Big East, ESPN agree to TV
deal.” ESPN.com. February 23, 2013. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8977673/
big-east-conference-espn-agree-tv-rights-deal
70 B. HAWKINS
that these conferences and universities, specifically, and the NCAA, in gen-
eral, continue to produce a viable athletic product.
Key to generating this revenue is the presence of Black male athletes,
who make up a significant percentage of the athletic pool who gener-
ates this revenue at the conference and national levels. For example, it is
interesting to note that less than 1% of all college athletes (i.e., 400,000,
according to NCAA public service announcement) who generate over
90% of the NCAA revenue and, on average, 60% of the less than 1% are
Black males athletes. Again, this revenue is the result of the NCAA’s
multibillion-dollar contract with Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) to
televise the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
When we further examine the revenue generated by BCS athletic con-
ferences and programs, again we find a similar pattern where Black male
athletes make up the majority of the athletic labor class. To elaborate fur-
ther, take the former five BCS Bowl Games—collectively they generated
nearly $200 million this past season and distributed $145.2 million to
participating universities and conferences. Of the teams competing, over
50% of the players were Black male athletes, again, where the highest per-
centages of starters were Black males (e.g., for the 2011 BCS Champion
Auburn Tigers 61% of their team and 100% defensive starters were Black;
furthermore, for the 2015–2016 CFP Champions, Alabama Crimson
Tide 73% of their team were Black, 26% were White, and 1% other). This
denotes the presence and predominance of Black male athletes in corpo-
rate athletic industry and the need for their athletic labor.
With this in mind, athletes, in general, and Black athletes, specifically,
are in a strategic position to negotiate for athletic reform, especially as
it relates to their academic and athletic success at these institutions. It is
important for Black athletes to understand how the power of their pres-
ence as athletic laborers creates a platform for negotiation; as previously
mentioned, the Missouri football team provides evidence of this power.
Furthermore, parents or legal guardians play critical roles in negotiating
the academic and athletic futures of their teenagers. Parents or legal guard-
ians must play the dual role of providing parental oversight and acting as
agents who provide legal guidance. The latter will require them to become
more knowledgeable in the recruitment process, including the letters of
intent their teenagers will be signing, or they will need to seek affordable
legal counsel to advise them accordingly. The main purpose is to be pro-
active, instead of reactive, in this recruitment process. Keep in mind, that
there are several interests that are seeking to be served in this institutional
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 71
The alleged purpose and media attention given to “signing days” across
this country provide an additional narrative of the significance of the NLI.
Furthermore, regarding the binding agreement, according to the NLI
the following is the penalty for not fulfilling the NLI agreement:
72 B. HAWKINS
This is one of the initial forms that begins the interdependent relationship
between the athlete and the college or university.
To offset the imbalance in the assumed benefits, the NLI can further
develop and emerge into an athletic contractual agreement that extends
beyond an athlete’s commitment to a specific college or university, and
include specific guarantees granted to the athlete given the athletic
investment of his talents. For example, since the NCAA has increased the
amount of institutional aid athletes can receive and approved institutions
having the authority to offer multi-year grants in aid instead of the one-
year athletic scholarships, athletes should negotiate these terms with the
university and establish an agreement based on these terms (more will be
discussed on the multi-year grants in aid or scholarship in the next sec-
tion). Furthermore, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors “adopted
legislation giving student-athletes who receive full athletic scholarships
the opportunity to receive additional athletic aid up to the full cost of
attendance or $2,000, whichever is less,”58 thus presenting another point
of negotiation prior to the signing the NLI. It is important to note that
both of these policy changes are not mandatory; they are at the institu-
tion’s discretion. Thus, during the initial stages of recruitment, athletes
should demand these options be included in their athletic contractual
agreement.
Another point of negotiating during the NLI period is for long-term
healthcare coverage for athletic-related injuries that will impact the lives
of these athletes after their eligibility has expired. The NCAA catastrophic
injury insurance program should expand beyond just covering head
trauma injuries that produce diminished mental abilities to include injuries
that will incur diminished physical abilities later in life (e.g., joint replace-
ments or the insertion of plates, screws, rods, or nails to repair bone or
joint injuries).
Finally, in the NLI’s current configuration, the only party subject to
being penalized is the athlete. But what happens when the university
defaults on providing the athlete with the terms agreed upon? Most
importantly, the university should be held liable when an athlete fails to
receive a quality educational experience. The University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill is a recent case that provides an example of how athletic
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 73
INVOKING JUSTICE
A final example of employing interest convergence proactively can be
found in the case of the University of Missouri football players. As men-
tioned earlier in this chapter, this case speaks to the power athletes have
in using their presence and publicity to invoke change on campus, or at
least draw national media attention. The threat of “work” stoppage from
these athletes drew considerable attention in the national media because
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 75
it would have cost the university millions of dollars. This price tag was
enough to invoke action in the best interest of both parties. In this case,
the resignation of the president, Tim Wolfe, and the stepping down of
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin were the beginning stages of invoking justice
because of these administrators’ blatant negligence in addressing racially
charged incidents that were occurring on campus.
The effectiveness of athletes using interest convergence as a revolution-
ary strategy to invoke justice requires a collective effort from both White
and Black college athletes, and in some cases, members of the larger stu-
dent body. Several of the issues sought in reform efforts, such as keeping
scholarship values in line with the cost of tuition, compensation for sport-
related injuries beyond their eligibility, and so on, can all be addressed if
athletes collectively voiced their opinion through work stoppage or other
political means; for example, uniting with the efforts of All Players United
or organizations like NCPA.
Similar to other movements that sought reform, whether based on race,
gender, or labor reform, the threat to the economic motives and gains of
capitalist institutions warrants attention and forces them to act accord-
ingly. College athletes cannot rely on a top-down approach to address
their athletic reform needs. Employing interest convergence as a revolu-
tionary theory, college athletes can be proactive in using their publicity
and collective power in combating acts of injustices that occur nationally,
campus-wide, and/or athletic-related.
CONCLUSION
The effort to implement grassroots reform through athletic activism
requires the collective efforts of blue chip athletes, specifically, and ath-
letes in revenue generating sports, in general, who are willing to forego
the temporary gains for long-term change. In the spirit of activism, sac-
rifice and acts of selflessness are required. The history of activism further
documents how individuals were willing to forego individual benefits to
ensure the benefits of their posterity (e.g., whether it was during the abo-
litionist movement, women’s suffrage movement, civil rights movement,
etc.). The application of the critical race tenet of interest convergence in
a proactive manner provides a revolutionary theory to empower student
athletes in revenue generating sports and reduce the exploitation that
exists when there is an imbalance in athletic expenditure and academic
achievement.
76 B. HAWKINS
The proactive use of this tenet also encourages student athletes in rev-
enue generating sports, specifically, to obtain legal expertise prior to sign-
ing documentation that waives their rights to their images and likenesses
for the sake of amateurism. Again, with the understanding that the ath-
letes’ and university’s interests are intricately interwoven and that they
share a symbiotic relationship, athletes will be better equipped in negotiat-
ing the terms of their tenure at these institutions.
Moving CRT from an analytic theoretical framework to a revolution-
ary theoretical framework is useful for grassroots athletic reform. Athletes
cannot longer absolve themselves of the power they have in their rela-
tionship with the university and within the intercollegiate athletic com-
plex. The united efforts demonstrated at Northwestern University and the
University of Missouri scratch the surface of the collective power athletes in
revenue generating sports, specifically, can command; whether it is sparking
national debate around the unionization of athletes or forcing university
administrators to address racist practices latent in culture of universities.
Reform in collegiate athletics will not move beyond the token conces-
sions sparingly allocated by the NCAA to appease the masses until agitation
that significantly threatens the commercial interests of these conferences is
employed. As long as there is a majority Black athletic labor class (Black
male football and basketball athletes) generating revenue that is supporting
the athletic experiences of students who are predominantly White, there
is a level of comfort and inertia to making any significant changes, espe-
cially under the current racial configuration. This wealth transfer where
Black labor converts into White wealth has been a historical pattern in
this country. These “educational” institutions, similar to other US institu-
tions, continue the tradition in exploiting the Black body, whether it was
economic exploitation that occurred during slavery, the system of share-
cropping, from the high incarceration of Black males trapped in the prison
industrial complex, and even with police brutality which justifies militariza-
tion of police departments. Thus, there is a level of comfort in having the
Black body serve the needs of the White establishment. Therefore, trying
to appeal to the moral consciousness of administrators, commissioners, and
presidents of the power five conferences and the NCAA administrators
who governs these institutions or waiting for them to be altruistically moti-
vated to reform this system has proven a minimally successful endeavor.
In conclusion, the words of Frederick Douglass, during the 23rd anni-
versary of the West India Emancipation, best capture the essence of reform
and the measures necessary to pursue reform:
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 77
Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of
the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her
august claims have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been
exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other
tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle
there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate
agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they
want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the
awful roar of its many waters.
This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it
may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes
nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what
any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure
of injustice and wrong, which will be imposed upon them, and these will
continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.64
NOTES
1. The Power Five conferences consist of the following NCAA Division
I conferences: The Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big
12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and
Southeastern Conference (SEC).
2. PWIs will be used in referring to the predominantly White NCAA
Division I institutions.
3. For a critical examination of the NCAA’s Collegiate Model, see
Richard Southall & E. Staurowsky, “Cheering on the Collegiate
Model Creating, Disseminating, and Imbedding the NCAA’s
Redefinition of Amateurism,” Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 37,
no. 4 (2013): 403–429.
4. Joseph N. Crowley, The NCAA’s First Century in the Arena
(Indianapolis, IN: National Collegiate Athletic Association,
2005), 7.
5. Howard J. Savage, American College Athletics, Bulletin no. 23 (New
York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,
1929).
78 B. HAWKINS
Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement (New York:
New Press, 1995); Richard Delgado, Critical Race Theory: The
Cutting Edge (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995); Richard
Delgado & Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction
(New York: New York University Press, 2001).
26. Daniel G. Solorzano, “Images and words that wound: Critical race
theory, racial stereotyping and teacher education,” Teacher Education
Quarterly 24 no. 3 (1997): 5–19; Gloria Ladson-Billings & William
F. Tate IV, “Toward a critical race theory of education,” Teachers
College Record, 97 no. 1 (1997): 47–68.
27. Tony N. Brown, “Critical race theory speaks to the sociology of
mental health: Mental health problems produced by racial stratifica-
tion,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Special Issue: Race,
Ethnicity, and Mental Health, 44 no. 3 (2003): 292–301.
28. Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An
Introduction (New York: New York University Press, 2001): 2.
29. Jessica T. DeCuir & Adrienne Dixson, “So when it comes out, they
aren’t that surprised that it is there”: Using critical race theory as a
tool of analysis of race and racism in education,” Educational
Researcher, 33 no. 5 (2004): 26–31; Richard Delgado & Jean
Stefancic, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (New York:
New York University Press, 2001); Tara J. Yasso, “Whose culture has
capital? A critical race theory discussion of community culture
wealth,” Race Ethnicity and Education, 8 no. 1 (2005): 69–91.
30. Derrick A. Bell, “Brown v. Board of Education and the interest-
convergence dilemma,” Harvard Law Review, 93, no. 3 (1980):
523.
31. Ibid., 523.
32. Cynthia Lee, “Cultural convergence: Interest convergence theory
meets the cultural defense,” Arizona Law Review 49, (2007): 925.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid., 933.
35. Ibid., 933–938.
36. Jamel K. Donnor, “Towards an interest-convergence in the educa-
tion of African-American football student athletes in major college
sports,” Race Ethnicity and Education, 8 no. 1 (2005): 45–67.
37. Eddie Comeaux, “Racial differences in faculty perceptions of colle-
giate student-athletes’ academic and post-undergraduate achieve-
ments,” Sociology of Sport Journal, 27 (2010): 390–412.
80 B. HAWKINS
38. Shaun R. Harper, “Race, interest convergence, and transfer out-
comes for Black male student athletes at community colleges,” In
College Men and Masculinities: Theory, Research, and Implications
for Practice. S.R. Harper & F. Harris, III, (Eds), 494–503 (San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010).
39. John N. Singer, “Understanding racism through the eyes of African
American male student-athletes,” Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8
no. 4 (2005): 365–386.
40. Joshua DeLorme & John N. Singer, “The interest convergence prin-
ciple and the integration of Major League Baseball,” Journal of Black
Studies, 41 no. 2 (2010): 381; Derrick A. Bell, “Brown v. Board of
Education and the interest-convergence dilemma,” Harvard Law
Review, 93, no. 3 (1980): 518–533.
41. Although, in theory, these are two different entities with varying phi-
losophies: the university and the NCAA. The NCAA seeks to compli-
ment the overall mission of the university; and both have benefitted
economically from this union. Thus, there is a greater effort by the
NCAA to establish academic guidelines for eligibility to compliment
the mission of the university; therefore, I will refer to both as a single
of entity—the institution—when their missions coincide and as they
relate to Black male athletes, specifically.
42. Billy J. Hawkins, The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports,
and Predominantly White NCAA Institutions (New York: Palgrave
MacMillan Press, 2010).
43. Ibid.
44. Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized (Boston: Beacon
Press, 1965).
45. Ibid., 8.
46. Billy J. Hawkins, The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports,
and Predominantly White NCAA Institutions (New York: Palgrave
Macmillan Press, 2010).
47. For additional information on NCAA revenues and expenses data,
see the 2011 Edition of Revenues and Expenses of NCAA Division I
Intercollegiate Athletics Programs, retrieved from http://www.ncaa-
publications.com/productdownloads/2010RevExp.pdf.
48. Brett McMurphy, “Power conferences likely to receive most of play-
off revenue.” CBSSPORTS.COM. June 18, 2012. http://www.cbss-
ports.com/collegefootball/story/19378895/power-conferences-likely-to-receive-
most-of-playoff-revenue.
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 81
61. Zack Ellis, “Report: NCAA multiyear scholarships not taking hold
in major programs.” SI.Com: Campus Union. April 19, 2013.
http://college-football.si.com/2013/04/19/ncaa-multiyear-
scholarships/. Para 2.
62. For further information, see bylaw, article. The National Collegiate
Athletic Association. NCAA Division I Manual 2015–16. http://
www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D116JAN.pdf.
63. United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit. Edward O’Bannon,
Jr. v. NCAA. https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.
php?pk_id=0000000757.
64. Philip S. Foner (Ed), Frederick Douglass Slavery and the Civil War:
Selections from his writings (New York: Dover Publications, Inc.,
2003): 42; the original source is from a speech delivered by Frederick
Douglass on August 3, 1857, at Canandaigua, New York, regarding
the West India Emancipation, entitled “If there is no struggle, there is
no progress.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bell, Derrick A. 1980. Brown v. board of education and the interest-convergence
dilemma. Harvard Law Review 93(3): 518–533.
———. 1989. And we are not saved: The elusive quest for racial justice. New York:
Basic Books.
Brown, Jack. 2001. Giving it the old college outcry. Mother Jones 26: 20–21.
Brown, Tony N. 2003. Critical race theory speaks to the sociology of mental
health: Mental health problems produced by racial stratification. Journal of
Health and Social Behavior, Special Issue: Race, Ethnicity, and Mental Health
44(3): 292–301.
Brown, Sarah. 2015. Facing protests about racial climate, another campus admin-
istrator steps down. The Chronicle of Higher Education. November 13. http://
chronicle.com/article/Facing-Protests-About-Racial/234191?cid=at&utm_
source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=fcd3862adc0d4ad78d79e223e9ad4d76&e
lqCampaignId=1832&elqaid=6877&elqat=1&elqTrackId=22a8ab8290b343
69adbf9749be69c9d2
Comeaux, Eddie. 2010. Racial differences in faculty perceptions of collegiate
student-athletes’ academic and post-undergraduate achievements. Sociology of
Sport Journal 27: 390–412.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, and K. Thomas (ed). 1995. Critical
race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. New York: New Press.
INTEREST CONVERGENCE: A REVOLUTIONARY THEORY FOR ATHLETIC... 83
Crowley, Joseph N. 2005. The NCAA’s first century in the arena, 7. Indianapolis:
National Collegiate Athletic Association.
DeCuir, Jessica T., and A.D. Dixson. 2004. So when it comes out, they aren’t that
surprised that it is there: Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race
and racism in education. Educational Researcher 33(5): 26–31.
Delgado, Richard. 1995. Critical race theory: The cutting edge. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press.
Delgado, Richard, and J. Stefancic. 2001. Critical race theory: An introduction.
New York: New York University Press.
DeLorme, Joshua, and J.N. Singer. 2010. The interest convergence principle and
the integration of Major League Baseball. Journal of Black Studies 41(2):
367–384.
Donnor, Jamel K. 2005. Towards an interest-convergence in the education of
African-American football student athletes in major college sports. Race
Ethnicity and Education 8(1): 45–67.
Dosh, Kristi. 2012. College TV rights deals undergo makeovers. ESPN.com. May
13, 2012. http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/705/
Dreier, Peter, and R. Applebaum. 2005, November 10. Students confront sweat-
shops. Nation 18: 28.
Ellis, Zack. 2013. Report: NCAA multiyear scholarships not taking hold in major
programs. SI.Com: Campus Union. April 19, 2013. http://college-football.
si.com/2013/04/19/ncaa-multiyear-scholarships/. Para 2.
Foner, Philip S. (ed). 2003. Frederick Douglass slavery and the Civil War: Selections
from his writings. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Hosick, Michelle B. 2012. Multiyear scholarships to be allowed: Vote to override
legislation falls just short of required mark. NCAA.Com. February 17, 2012.
h t t p : / / w w w. n c a a . c o m / n e w s / n c a a / a r t i c l e / 2 0 1 2 - 0 2 - 1 7 /
multiyear-scholarships-be-allowed
Ladson-Billings, Gloria, and W.F. Tate IV. 1997. Toward a critical race theory of
education. Teachers College Record 97(1): 47–68.
Lee, Cynthia. 2007. Cultural convergence: Interest convergence theory meets the
cultural defense. Arizona Law Review 49: 925.
Magazine Reviews Year of Student Activism, National On-Campus Report, 20:
2–3, September 15, 2005.
McMurphy, Brett. 2012. Power conferences likely to receive most of playoff rev-
enue. CBSSPORTS.COM. June 18, 2012. http://www.cbssports.com/colleg-
efootball/stor y/19378895/power-conferences-likely-to-receive-most-
of-playoff-revenue
———. 2013. Big East, ESPN agree to TV deal. ESPN.com. February 23, 2013.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/stor y/_/id/8977673/
big-east-conference-espn-agree-tv-rights-deal
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Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Solorzano, Daniel G. 1997. Images and words that wound: Critical race theory,
racial stereotyping and teacher education. Teacher Education Quarterly 24(3):
5–19.
Southall, Richard, and E. Staurowsky. 2013. Cheering on the collegiate model
creating, disseminating, and imbedding the NCAA’s redefinition of amateur-
ism. Journal of Sport & Social Issues 37(4): 403–429.
Student activism becoming more personal. National On-Campus Report. 33: 1–4,
2005.
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uoregon.edu/uosenate/dirsen045/US045-COIA-Home.html. Accessed 9
Jan 2016.
The Drake Group. 2015. Vision, mission, and goals. http://thedrakegroup.
org/2012/12/04/hutchins-award-2/. Accessed 2 Dec 2015.
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commission.org/about/. Accessed 11 Feb 2016.
Tucker, Tim. 2014. SEC schools will get $20.9 million each from league. AJC.
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will-get-209-million-each/ngBB2/
Yasso, Tara J. 2005. Who’s culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of
community culture wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education 8(1): 69–91.
CHAPTER 4
Akilah Carter-Francique, Emmett Gill,
and Algerian Hart
Introduction
With the University of Missouri athlete boycott and racial unrest at several
Football College Subdivision (FCS) schools (e.g., Southern Methodist
University [SMU], Purdue University, University of Oklahoma, and
University of Alabama), one aspect of the relationship between Black
college athletes and Historically White Institutions of Higher Education
(HWIHE) is clear—Black college athletes’ status does not insulate them
from campus race and diversity issues. Historically, Black college athletes
were “super-segregated” from students of color who were non-athletes
A. Carter-Francique (*)
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Prairie View A&M University,
Prairie View, TX, 77446, USA
e-mail: akilahfrancique@gmail.com
E. Gill
Department of Social Work, University of Texas San Antonio,
San Antonio, TX, USA
A. Hart
Department of Kinesiology, Western Illinois University,
Macomb, IL, USA
get the black athlete. We must get the black athlete if we’re going to
compete.”2 Not only do HWIHE need Black athletes to compete, they
also need them to generate revenue. According to basketball shoe guru
Sonny Vaccaro, “Ninety percent of the NCAA revenue is produced by 1
percent of the athletes. Go to the skill positions—the stars. Ninety per-
cent (of the 1 percent) are Black.”3 Concomitantly, Harper, Williams, and
Blackman’s 2013 report on Black Male Athletes and Racial Inequities in
NCAA Division I College Sports presents six major NCAA Division I ath-
letic conferences, where Black men were 2.8 percent of the undergraduate
student body, but 57.1 percent of the football players and 64.3 percent of
the basketball players.4 Given this reality at HWIHE, Hornungs’ declara-
tion came to fruition many years before his 2004 statement, but what has
not evolved for Black college athletes or their undergraduate peers who
are non-athletes are the supports and opportunities for students of color
as well as protections from the overt racism, covert prejudice, and insti-
tutional exploitation. In the absence of adequate investments by athletics
departments and universities to insure the well-being of Black college ath-
letes, Black faculty have traditionally advocated this group on college and
university campuses. However, the demands and politics of a tenure-track
position at a HWIHE is reflected in the minute number of Black profes-
sors on these campuses, which creates an atmosphere where acting as a
Black scholar-activist is risky. Therefore, employing the lens of critical race
theory (CRT), the purpose of this chapter is to illuminate the roles and
conflicts that Black sport scholars endure in the contexts of HWIHE to
advocate Black college athletes.
The authors’ claim that the academic hierarchy is associated with racial
hierarchy in the United States, and consequently, Blacks lack the social
capital necessary to overcome race discrimination within this hierarchy.
Social capital consists of the social networks (e.g., personal, commu-
nity) a person has acquired that provide the necessary social support to
aid in their endeavors (i.e., education, career, health, and well-being).10
Correspondingly, racial hierarchy is also associated with institutional rank-
ing and prestige.11 Therefore, when examining the number/percentage of
Black faculty at “high ranking” intuitions, the Journal of Blacks and Higher
Education reported that Blacks are greatly underrepresented at research
one institutions. However, at high-ranking liberal arts institutions (i.e.,
Mount Holyoke College, Swarthmore College, Williams College), Blacks
are represented fairly well.
Black representation at respective levels as well as within institutions
of higher education is noteworthy. The National Center for Educational
Statistics (NCES)’ 2015 report detailed race and gender representations
CONVERGING INTERESTS: BLACK SCHOLAR-ADVOCACY AND THE BLACK... 89
Table 4.1 Percentage of full-time faculty based on race, sex, and rank
Academic Level White White Blacks Hispanic Asian (Pacific
males females Islander)
Professor 58 26 4 3 9
Associate Professor 44 34 6 4 11
Assistant Professor 36 38 7 5 12
Instructor 34 44 8 7 6
Lecturer 37 44 5 6 7
Total Faculty 43 35 6 5 10
*Note: Adapted from 2015 NCES Fall 2013 Percentage distribution of full-time faculty in degree-
granting postsecondary institutions, by academic rank, race/ethnicity, and sex (National Center for
Education Statistics. “Fast Facts.” U. S. Department of Education, Institute on Education Science, 2015.
Accessed January 10, 2016 from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=61)
Therefore, teaching and service, while expected, are not valued nor
rewarded within the academic hierarchy at certain institutions (i.e.,
research I). Involvement in these efforts decreases the amount of time
available to conduct research investigations, submit publications, and
apply for grants; and depending on the type of institutions (i.e., research
I, liberal arts), Black faculty fail to obtain tenure and/or get promoted.
While this information is beyond the scope of this chapter, it is important
to note that HWIHE administration and White faculty rarely consider or
display concern for the effect counseling, mentoring, and service efforts
have on scholarly productivity and the effect of racism on Black faculty’s
experiences within these institutions.
Scholarly activism is not advocacy. Let me say that again, since in my expe-
rience people have trouble hearing this. I am a scholar-activist, but not an
advocate. The difference is critical. An advocate begins with a core and guid-
ing goal—not a theory—and pushes for changes to achieve that goal. In
contrast, a scholar-activist begins with a set of testable assumptions, subjects
these to rigorous research, and once in possession of research findings seeks
to translate those findings into action. With much respect to my colleagues
working in advocacy, I much prefer the latter role since I often have more
unanswered questions than clear goals, prefer to turn to data rather than
CONVERGING INTERESTS: BLACK SCHOLAR-ADVOCACY AND THE BLACK... 91
personal beliefs when thinking through policy options, and find that actions
are more effective when guided by research.16
Conceptual Framework
Per the title of this book, CRT is central to this issue. Critical race theory,
or CRT, is a derivative of Critical Legal Studies (CLS) that was developed
to challenge discriminatory legal doctrine and policies.27 While as expli-
cated in the Foreword by Kevin Hylton, CRT is a framework that cen-
ters race and racism at the fore of discussions to unveil inequities within
educational and social institutions. Acknowledging this chapter, we agree
that racism is a thread woven into the fabric of the United States and
thus racism is permanent.28 We also acknowledge that Blacks ability to
advocate on behalf of other Blacks is limited within HWIHE’s. Therefore
in this chapter, CRT is employed to (a) identify the role of race and rac-
ism in educational and social institutions and (b) aid in the eradication of
oppressive practices to include racism, sexism, and classism.29 In particular,
the use of the interest convergence principle is employed to illuminate
how dominant groups support the efforts and endeavors of Blacks and
other historically oppressed groups when, and only when, it benefits their
group.30
More pointedly, Dr. Derrick Bell’s seminal manuscript “Brown v.
Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma” introduced
the interest-convergence principle through a retrospective examination of
the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.31 To review, in 1954,
the Supreme Court ruled that separate educational facilities was not equal;
and thus, mandated the integration of Blacks into White schools. Bell
contended that the approved legislation was not altruistic on behalf of
Blacks and civil rights, but legislation was approved because it benefitted
Whites. Thus, Bell defined interest convergence as when Blacks receive
favorable judicial decisions to the extent that their interests coincide with
the interests of Whites.32 Thus, the interest-convergence argument sug-
gests that progressions in the larger culture change only when the interests
of controlling groups and marginalized groups converge. Sometimes the
94 A. CARTER-FRANCIQUE ET AL.
interests are not obvious, are hidden, and benefit both the controlling or
dominated groups.
A Symbiotic Relationship
There are several ways Black faculty and Black college athletes help each
other. First, athletic departments oftentimes call upon Black faculty to
provide personal and academic mentoring because, in many instances,
they understand Black college athletes’ (past and) current circumstances
and how these realities impact achievement and retention. Black college
athletes and Black faculty are often stretched thin whether it is athletes’
athletic obligations or faculty obligations to represent diverse perspectives
at HWIHE. Second, in terms of linguistic capital, Black college athletes
are likely to be more comfortable speaking with and learning from adults
of the same race and/or ethnicity.43 According to CRT scholar Tara Yosso,
linguistic capital consist of acquired social and intellectual skills obtained
through experiential communication in more than one language (i.e.,
Standard English and Spanish) and/or style (i.e., Standard English and
Ebonics).44 Because of a shared cultural and linguistic background, Black
faculty members can gain “cool points” from athletic coaches, athletic
administrators, and academic department administrators, when they are
able to communicate with Black athletes about their personal, social, aca-
demic, and other challenges associated with being a minority student and
college athlete at HWIHE. Hence, in a “publish or perish” environment,
96 A. CARTER-FRANCIQUE ET AL.
the number of hours Black faculty expend mentoring college athletes and
non-athletes can add up because building linguistic capital requires an
inordinate time investment. While there are campus resources available to
help students get organized and learn the importance of communicating
with professors, Black faculty are critical in validating the importance of
these strategies.
For several Black scholars, their advocacy is connected to their research,
which typically includes Black male and female college athletes. Since
2012, roughly 20 articles were published pertaining specifically to Black
male and female college athletes and their current conditions. Despite the
enormous contribution Black males and females provide to the fabric of
college sports, one can argue that research on issues impacting their well-
being is not keeping pace with their contribution to the $8 billion college
sports industry.45 In some ways, Black scholars’ interactions with Black col-
lege athletes serve as the foundation for how Black scholar-activists con-
ceptualize research on Black athletes. In other words, when we witness
subpar academic achievement, low retention rates, substance abuse, racism,
sexism, and/or miseducation, we develop empirical or conceptual research
around these issues. Second, our relationship becomes a mutually beneficial
exchange because we advocate Black college athletes and they directly or
indirectly become key informants for or co-constructors in our research.
For example, Gill’s area of research includes mental health and part of
his advocacy with Black athletes. His advocacy work with Black college
athletes includes lobbying for efforts to improve their mental health and
for athletic departments to value their mental health in the same way their
physical health is valued.46 Further, in his direct practice as social worker,
he provides counseling and case management services to college athletes.
Black scholar-activists who have experience in counseling, social work, and
psychology bring an added capital (i.e., social, navigational, resistant, cul-
tural, spiritual, and community) to retention efforts because their training
allows them to help Black college athletes adapt to the majority environ-
ment and avoid and/or minimize maladaptive behaviors that come with
transitioning into new environments and new roles.
the course instructor.49 Less than one month after former UNC learning
specialist Mary Willingham revealed that the UNC college athletes she
worked with read between a fourth and eighth grade level, UNC began
a third investigation spearheaded by former US prosecutor Kenneth
L. Wainstein into the “paper classes.”50 Wainstein’s report revealed that
athletic academic advisors directed UNC athletes into the “paper classes”
and Black athletes accounted for 256 hours of enrollment in these courses
compared to White athletes that were enrolled in 19 hours. According to
Cheated, the UNC paper class scandal persisted 23 years—from 1988 to
2011.51
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education conducted the latest study
on Black college faculty, and among the top-tier state and private univer-
sities, UNC had the highest percentage of Black faculty members (6.2
percent).52 UNC, a state flagship university, typically ranks in the top five
among top-tier state and private universities in tenured Black faculty (led
the nation in 2002 with 51, but that number dropped to 47 in 2005 [2nd
place]). This suggests that at UNC Black faculty enjoy the type of sta-
tus that can protect scholar-activists against retaliation after speaking out
about the miseducation of Black athletes. Not one of the 279 UNC Black
tenured and non-tenured faculty members publicly demonstrated that
their interest converged with the UNC Black athletes (as in the Missouri
case?). Some UNC Black scholars worked behind the scenes, but in front
of the cameras, the scandal assumed a Black face (i.e., undereducated
Black college athletes and a rouge African American Studies department).
The only collective public statement made by Black UNC faculty was by
the Carolina Black Caucus:
We stand united for black Americans, both enslaved and free, who built
this university and who were also barred from its doors.” The caucus added
that it stands united for “black athletes who face stereotype, threat, and
are targets of ridicule”; “the Department of African, African American and
Diaspora Studies, which has been unfairly attacked, overly investigated,
and whose legitimacy has been repeatedly questioned”; [and] “courageous
administrators, faculty, staff, and students who press on despite impatience,
media inaccuracies, gossip, and public attacks on our institution.53
support to defend UNC even after the university admitted that it cheated
young black men out of the best education possible on its campus.”
The interest convergence argument also suggests that the larger culture
will go unchanged when the interests of controlling groups and marginal-
ized groups do not converge. A difference between marginalized groups
and controlling groups is power. Black faculty, unlike Black college ath-
letes, understand how to use their power. In this instance, the UNC fac-
ulty exercised its influence via its silence. On the surface, the UNC faculty
and Black college athletes’ Sometimes the interests are not obvious, are
hidden, and benefit both the controlling or dominated groups. In the
UNC case, scores of Black and White, current and former, UNC athletes,
except for approximately eight, were also silent in order to maintain their
scholarship and kinship with the “Carolina” family. In this case, interest
convergence was at work, but in a different way from previous examples.
The UNC “paper class” scandal will prove to be the most prolific colle-
giate athletics academic scandal to date.
Lest we forget, the mistreatment of Black college athletes within
HWIHE is not a new development. For over 50 years, Dr. Harry Edwards
and other scholars have discussed instances of mistreatment and, while
not discussed within the CRT framework, issues of power, structure, and
leadership, as well as concerns regarding institutional policies and practices
have been addressed in the literature. Nevertheless, it is within these insti-
tutional spaces that radical change can occur, but change must acknowl-
edge that there is an issue. Change based on issues of race and racism
signify the need for diversity-based responses (i.e., approaches, strategies,
training, and development) to address the multilevel impact of racism (i.e.,
individual, leadership, and institutional) within and throughout a univer-
sity or athletic department. Black scholars’ advocacy of Black college ath-
letes must recognize within their efforts that the sociocultural burden also
falls on HWIHE to support Black college athletes.
faculty members time (i.e., service). Some can view White faculty involve-
ment in advocacy for Black college athletes as another form of “interest
convergence” in that by helping vulnerable Black athletes, Whites are pro-
moting racial advances for Blacks while they promote White self-interests.
For example, Gill experienced an episode where a White faculty and Black
faculty in the counseling department practically became confrontational
over the opportunity to counsel a Black male athlete that had substance
abuse and early parenthood issues. This was of interest as a Black fac-
ulty member offered counseling services to the athletic department free
of charge, but the White faculty member was paid for providing the same
counseling services to the college athletes. The opportunity, ability, and
willingness to advocate Black college athletes at HWIHE are commend-
able; therefore, Black and White scholars need to recognize how “interest
converge” for the benefit of all.
Conclusion
The purpose of this chapter was to elucidate the significance of Black
scholars advocating for Black college athletes at HWIHE. However,
throughout this chapter a range of tensions were illuminated that often
create challenges and barriers for Black scholars to advocate Black college
CONVERGING INTERESTS: BLACK SCHOLAR-ADVOCACY AND THE BLACK... 105
Both Black faculty and Black students often times must navigate the
waters of academia without the human resources in the form of mentors
and role models, with a sense of estrangement on their respective cam-
puses. In many respects, the two find themselves in the same predicament.
While Black faculty perceive of themselves as potential role models and
supporters, Black college athletes (and Black students) do not always share
this perspective of them. This provides a challenge for Black faculty as they
seek solutions for reaching Black college athletes. Hence, deconstructing
the intra-racial communication barriers adds to the level of stress already
experienced by Black faculty engendered by an ethic of “giving back” as
they look to Black college athletes as a population with whom they can
lend support, as well as a place where they can look for community and a
sense of camaraderie when navigating the waters of a HWIHE which can
be a challenging journey. Nevertheless, to the aim of this book and pur-
pose of this chapter, the experiential wisdom of Dr. Harry Edwards con-
tends, “The challenges to achieving the promise of America, of bringing
into existence that ‘more perfect union’ are diverse and dynamic; there-
fore, our struggles to those ends must be multi-faceted and perpetual and
there are NO Final Victories!”61
The utilization of CRT to articulate the nuances of this topic was
necessary to illuminate the significance that race and racism play in
HWIHE. More specifically, the interest convergence principle unveiled
the ways in which Whites and individuals in power will support the efforts
and development of marginalized groups if it is to their benefit. However,
beyond the “interest convergence” of Black faculty, Black college ath-
letes, and HWIHE, there is a need for cultural awareness and competence
to support the academic, athletic, and social development efforts. This
includes college and university administrators who create institutional
policy that supports, promotes, and cultivates, spaces for Black faculty and
Black student-athlete matriculation and encouraging the necessity of cul-
tural nuances that embolden the success between Black faculty and Black
college athletes. Throughout today’s college campuses, it is necessary for
HWIHE to embrace the importance of institutional leadership buy-in that
support the fruitful efforts of Black faculty empowering Black student and
Black college athlete success. These ideals are emphasized when regarding
the efforts for successful retention. There are numerous strategies that
can be employed to promote the engagement of faculty with student suc-
cess; therefore, we end this chapter by highlighting the United Negro
College Fund (UNCF)’s comprehensive assessments that speak specifically
CONVERGING INTERESTS: BLACK SCHOLAR-ADVOCACY AND THE BLACK... 107
Notes
1. Gordon S. White. “N.C.A.A. Calls Convention on TV Policy.”
New York Times, September 9, 1981. Accessed January 12, 2016
from http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/09/sports/ncaa-calls-
convention-on-tv-policy.html.
2. ESPN.com news services (2004, April1). Hornung: Irish should
still lower standards. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/ncf/
news/story?id=1772368, para 2.
3. Everett Glenn. “Unsportsmanlike conduct: The exploitation of black
athletes.” Black Press USA, November 26, 2013. Accessed December
12, 2015 from http://www.blackpressusa.com/unsportsmanlike-
conduct-the-exploitation-of-black-athletes/: para 5.
4. Shaun R. Harper, Collin D. Williams Jr, and Horatio W. Blackman.
“Black male student-athletes and racial inequities in NCAA Division
I college sports.” Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education,
2013. Retrieved from https://www.gse.upenn.edu/ equity/sites/
gse.upenn.edu.equity/files/publications/Harper_Williams_and_
Blackman_%282013%29.pdf
108 A. CARTER-FRANCIQUE ET AL.
Yosso conveys that linguistic capital “reflects the idea that Students
of Color arrive at school with multiple language and communica-
tion skills. In addition, these children most often have been engaged
participants in a storytelling tradition, that may include listening to
and recounting oral histories, parables, stories (cuentos) and prov-
erbs (dichos). This repertoire of storytelling skills may include
memorization, attention to detail, dramatic pauses, comedic tim-
ing, facial affect, vocal tone, volume, rhythm and rhyme. Linguistic
capital also refers to the ability to communicate via visual art, music
or poetry. Just as students may utilize different vocal registers to
whisper, whistle or sing, they must often develop and draw on var-
ious language registers, or styles, to communicate with different
audiences,” 78–79.
45. Alex Mayyasi. “The Pseudo-Business of the NCAA.” Priceonomics.
com., May 17, 2013. Accessed January 10, 2016 from http://pri-
ceonomics.com/post/50660332678/the-pseudo-business-
of-the-ncaa
46. Emmett Gill. “Mental Health in intercollegiate athletics: It’s time
for social workers to get in the game.” Social Work 53, no. 1
(2008): 85–88. Emmett Gill. “The Blunt Truth: Marijuana Policies
in Division One College Sports.” Journal of Social Work Practice in
the Addictions 9, no. 1 (2009): 140–142.
47. In 2009, Akilah Carter-Francique and Deniece Dortch created the
Sista to Sista program to aid in the development of Black female col-
lege athletes at Texas A&M University. For more information, go to
www.sistatosista.org. Carter-Francique discusses the significance of
the need for the program and the theoretical underpinnings in
Racism in American Sport. Essays edited by James Conyers entitled
“An ethic of care: Black female college athletes and development”.
48. Shaun R. Harper, Shaun R., Collin D. Williams Jr, and Horatio
W. Blackman. “Black male student-athletes and racial inequities in
NCAA Division I college sports.” Center for the Study of Race &
Equity in Education, 2013.
49. Daniel Schere. “UNC keeps tabs on classes with clusters of ath-
letes.” Daily Tarheel, April 16, 2014. Accessed December 13,
2016, from http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2014/04/
unc-keeps-tabs-on-classes-with-clusters-of-athletes.
50. Sara Ganim. “CNN analysis: Some college athletes play like adults,
read like 5th-graders.” CNN, January 8, 2014. Accessed December
114 A. CARTER-FRANCIQUE ET AL.
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PART II
Courtney Flowers and Jafus Kenyatta Cavil
Introduction
Hip-hop artist Wale gives voice to the voiceless in his song “Varsity Blues.”
“Matter of fact go ask they schools how many jerseys they was mov-
ing”—in this song, Wale, a former NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic
Association), football, college athlete (Hill 2013), colorfully articulates
the NCAA’s apostasy from its core value “the pursuit of excellence in both
academics and athletics” and lyrically discloses the duplicitous nature of
being voiceless, hence a marginalized African American college athlete.
Varsity Blues creatively sheds a light on the current state of college ath-
C. Flowers (*)
Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, USA
e-mail: flowerscl@TSU.EDU
J.K. Cavil
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas Southern University,
Houston, TX, USA
“And since all the ballers leaving college early….I turn on the TV and
don’t see no brothers with degrees lately,” is Hip-Hop artist J. Cole’s
artfully articulation of a strand of the intricacy associated with being an
African American, NCAA, college athlete when he alluded to “brothers”
merging into the professional sports field without a college degree in his
song “Be Free.” In this context, J. Cole uses the familial term “brother”
to denote the African American ethnicity of the people he is referencing
in his lyrics. Referencing this context, the song “Be Free” provides an
intimate glimpse into the perils faced by some African American college
athletes when faced with the decision to leave college to join the profes-
sional sports arena.
CRT is an analytic framework aimed at capitalizing on the conven-
tional civil rights rhetoric and scholarly discourse on race and power
while exploring the neutrality of legal jurisprudence and liberal order.1
Crystalized from principles of Critical Legal Studies and radical feminism,
CRT provides a vehicle for exploring legal indeterminacy. The analytic
framework deviates from legal scholarship by providing narratives that cri-
tique and debate the notion of White people being the primary beneficia-
ries of legal legislation2; Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin thoroughly
provides elements to further explore this notion.
This case focused on the University of Texas’s use of Affirmative Action
race-based college admission standards. Plaintiff Abigail Fisher alleged the
University of Texas violated her fourteenth amendment rights as a White
woman when they denied her admission into the university. The Supreme
Court rejected the lower appellate court’s ruling and held that the appel-
late court had not applied the standard of strict scrutiny.3 Race-based
SPORTS AND HIP-HOP, THE “WINNING AT ALL COSTS” MENTALITY... 127
will not authorize judicial relief providing an effective remedy for [B]lacks
where the remedy sought threatens the superior societal status of mid-
dle and upper class whites. It follows that the availability of Fourteenth
Amendment protection in racial cases is not actually determined by the
character of harm suffered by [B]lacks or the quantum of liability against
whites. Rather, racial remedies are the outward manifestations of unspo-
ken and perhaps unconscious judicial conclusions that the remedies, if
granted, will secure or advance societal interests deemed important by
the upper class. Racial justice or its appearance may, from time to time,
be counted among the interests deemed important by the courts and the
society’s policymakers.16
The integration of talented African American athletes into state sup-
ported public Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs) in
the mid-twentieth century is a most important example of interest con-
vergence, insomuch as talented African American college athletes’ interest
in receiving increased exposure and prospects of attaining a professional
sport career converged with large HWCUs’ interests. This relationship
becomes exploitative in nature when laws, social policies, and/or organiza-
tional governing policies are established for mainly the benefit of European
Americans based on athletic revenue generation and institutional prestige.17
As previously mentioned, this analysis utilizes CRT as the base of its
theoretical framework in representing hip-hop through the eyes of African
American college athletes.18 The framework of (Counter) storytelling is a
methodological approach designed to emphasize and empower the voices
of persons who have been historically marginalized and oppressed within
discussions or narratives associated with race.19 Delgado (1989) offers four
points of view for the use of storytelling and voice in the theoretical concepts
of CRT scholarship: “(a) Reality is socially constructed, (b) stories are a pow-
erful means for destroying and changing mind-sets, (c) stories have a com-
munity-building function, and (d) stories provide members of out-groups
mental self-preservation.”20 The notion of telling stories derives from cul-
tural heritage. One of the tenets of hip-hop is the musical art of storytelling.
report developed by Huma and Staurowsky,21 the fair market value for the
average Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football player is approximately
$121,048 and $265,027 for the average basketball player. More specifi-
cally, addressing Black college athletes, the NCAA reported of the 96,142
male, DI athletes, 24,319 were Black which was the second highest popu-
lation behind Whites at 54,003.22 Similarly, of the 83,548 female, DI col-
lege athletes, 12,763 were Black which followed White females at 53,685.
However, the graduation rates of these students pose the need for NCAA
athletic academic reform. According to the NCAA, “African-American
male college athletes earned a 52 percent federal graduation rate,23 11
points higher than the federal graduation rate for African-American men
in the overall student body. African-American female college athletes grad-
uate at 63 percent, a rate 13 points higher than African-American females
in the overall student body.” With this in mind, many urban youth agree
with what Jay-Z expresses in the song “They Don’t Love You No More”;
that is, the NCAA should allow college athletes to earn money from their
skills, names, images, and likeness.
Moreover, the NCAA reported supporting college athlete success in the
classroom is at the heart of their Association; however, this is not evident
in accounts looming around the UNC academic fraud case. An example of
this can be seen in the 2014 ESPN interview with former UNC defensive
back, Deunta Williams. During the interview, Williams gave his account
of the fraudulent athletic academic behavior at UNC. He stated, “The
first ones that actually told us [about the paper classes] were our [athletic
academic] advisors. Their job isn’t necessarily to make Deunta Williams
a better person, a smarter person, their job necessarily is to make sure
I’m eligible to play.”24 According to Sue,25 perpetrators of microaggres-
sions are typically unaware of the racial slights they project at minorities.
Moreover, Sue states as victims of cultural conditioning, prejudice per-
meates within White people causing them to discriminate against Black
people.26 Consequently, the lack of cultural competence among college
athletic administrators could potentially create an impasse for Black college
athletes in their graduation endeavors. However, in justifying this correla-
tion, the authors are in no way suggesting all college athletic administrators
are intentionally harming African American student-athletes; contrary, the
authors are providing a theory of unintentional attribution of racial micro-
aggression as a barrier faced by Black college athletes in college athletics.
However, William’s quote presents a mystifying paradox that questions
whether the tangible objective of athletic personnel is to graduate college
132 C. FLOWERS AND J.K. CAVIL
I think that to keep winning and to keep these athletes eligible we had
to do something and so we cheated, everyone else is doing it, that’s what
I’m told time and time again. Mary, stop talking, everybody else is doing
it, who cares. Well, I care because I can still see the faces of all the athletes
that I worked with that we cheated out of what we promised them—a real
education.”30
Over the last decade, a myriad of ethical issues has arisen in the landscape of
college athletics. “I’m major leagues, who’s catching because I’m pitchin,’
Jose Canseco just snitchin’ because he’s finished”—in this song, hip-hop
artist Rick Ross speaks to the scandals involving players receiving improper
benefits, coaches involved in recruiting violations, players and coaches
involved in illicit activity, institutions involved in academic fraud, and alle-
gations of steroid use have arisen. Many would suggest these issues are now
challenging the integrity of college athletics and professional sports, while
others would suggest this has always been the case in collegiate athletics.
The “winning at all costs” mentality is not just a college athletic phenom-
enon as the “I’m winning and you lose because you snooze” conceptualiza-
tion is prevalent in the hip-hop urban community, as is “snitching.”
As denoted above in Rick Ross’s lyrics, a snitch is a demonized char-
acter, although interestingly, the terms “snitch” and “whistleblower” are
used interchangeably as a characterization of informing (Woldoff and
Weiss 2010); however, the sociocultural connotations and legal append-
ages of these terms distinctly separate them in definition.
134 C. FLOWERS AND J.K. CAVIL
on McCants. ‘You disloyal, fool *** ”36 The volatile nature and threats
used in Hodge’s social media posts contextualizes his personalization to
the “secrets” disclosed by McCants. Moreover, his violent imagery “Full
Denzel” provides a sense of the severity in which Hodge has ranked the
perceived disloyalty by McCants. Hence, snitching and loyalty go hand in
hand.
For example, certain communities view the exploitative nature of foot-
ball and basketball sports in college infringing on the commodifiable
bodies in their communities without loyalty to their neighborhood and
leaving them to question the ethics of such a system. Some of the key
ethical questions regarding college sports have at their foundation a “Stop
Snitchin’” reframe. The “Stop Snitchin’” is an offspring of a long time-
honored notion of loyalty, honor, and prudence.
As suggested above, the moral compass is part of the soul of American
culture. Culture is an energy source. The underpinning construction of
“Stop Snitchin” is found in many American institutions, from colonial
times with the stories of Benedict Arnold and his defection from the
Continental Army to the British side of the conflict and the failed uprising
on Denmark Vesey’s planned revolt of enslaved Africans in Charleston,
South Carolina, to modern times with parents who teach their kids games-
manship in youth sports that go beyond the whistle and pick-up basketball
games in Harlem’s famed Rucker Park, to the way high schools, college
athletics, and professions sports franchises or sports related business go
about their business practices.
Although there is a federal Whistleblower Protection Act, consider-
ing the American motif it is never easy to blow the whistle, especially in
a sporting context. In this section, the concept of the snitch is expanded
by identifying the US historical subcultures and application of the snitch
label within the collegiate context by illustrating the broader content
analysis using the framework of CRT by Bell and culture of terror theory
developed by Taussig.37 CRT is a useful theoretical approach when exam-
ining the situations encountered by marginalized groups in a hierarchal
society.38
The “Stop Snitchin’” campaign was brought to the national forefront
in 2004 in Baltimore, Maryland when a video released by Rodney Bethea,
a young man from the inner-city community, surfaced in the underground
market. Taussig offers the concept of “space of death” as a beginning
that helps create a sense and consciousness in societies in which terror,
torture, and death are endemic to that community.39 He frames how a
SPORTS AND HIP-HOP, THE “WINNING AT ALL COSTS” MENTALITY... 137
rotested. Gray’s death became public knowledge and amid the police
p
department’s inability to sufficiently or consistently explain the events fol-
lowing the arrest and his injuries civil unrest erupted. In that event, the
hip-hop community chimed in and the sports entertainment community
spoke up on the death of Freddie Gray. From the very foundation of hip-
hop, the art form noted “[h]ip-hop is like a CNN that black kids never
had” and is a direct response to the hip-hop artist’s perceptions of police
and the criminal justice system.44 Hip-hop music and the overrepresen-
tation of African Americans sports participation in a few key sports like
basketball, football, and track and field are derived from a subculture dis-
proportionately impacted by the criminal justice system (prison industrial
complex) and the collegiate sports model (athletic industrial complex).
These stories are one component of the unique intersection between hip-
hop, sports, and urban youth cultures.
While for much of the twentieth century crime and punishment have
provided some of the most powerful symbols of the racial divide in
America, this narrative between the police and inner-city communities has
a much more extensive and complex history. Kendrick Lamar outlines his
notion in his song “The Black the Berry,” “I mean, it’s evident that I’m
irrelevant to society. That’s what you’re telling me, penitentiary would
only hire me.”45
This history dates back to the late eighteenth century, through-
out the nineteenth century, and the early part of the twentieth century
with first the slave patrol militias which are associated with the Second
Amendment and later lynching, sharecropping, segregation, chain-gang-
style penal practices, convict lease system, and prosecutorial and judicial
bigotry that were common, particularly in the southern criminal justice
systems.46 Throughout the United States, racial minorities were generally
tried without their minority peers as jurors or judges, essentially all-White
courtrooms.47
Athletic Sharecropping
Similarly, the NCAA has mastered the construct of this socio-legal “foot-
ball game” as operating through the newly formed collegiate model sys-
tem that is constantly raging between embracing commercialism in every
facet of intercollegiate athletics except on a single issue, athlete compensa-
tion. Immortal Technique provides a lyrical twist of the traditional fram-
ing of sharecropping, a system of farming that developed in the South
after the Civil War when European American landowners, many of whom
had formerly held enslaved Africans in America, attempted to reestablish
a labor force without providing a fair market wage to recently freed blacks
seeking economic independence and autonomy as field laborers, many
of whom were formerly enslaved and ultimately created a new system
of indentured servitude, by introducing a new concept of corporate
140 C. FLOWERS AND J.K. CAVIL
The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the
liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocriti-
cal than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one
who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor;
and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the
white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “foot-
ball game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white
conservatives.50
infusion of the hip-hop, collegiate sports, and urban youth cultures that
associates snitching with a negative connotation. Thus, this concept of the
snitch has expanded into the collegiate athletic model lexicon.
Conclusion
The social and racial constructs embedded in the winning-at-all-costs
mentality frame the academic fraud climate of college sports. This notion
affirms the volatile nexus of being a student-athlete and strays away from
the NCAA’s visible, but contradictory purpose of deeming athletes two-
dimensionally; student and athlete. Moreover, the complexities outlined
through various facets obstructing a true sense of academic achievement
and obtainment also calls for academic reform.
In addition, the paradigms surrounding the historical context of African
American culture and the social dynamics embedded in the hip-hop cul-
ture illustrate an intersection between these terms and the usage of the
term “snitch” among marginalized college athletes. Moreover, the escape
from the term “whistleblower” among African American college athletes
also provides a path for further exploration on this topic and the true sepa-
ration of these terms for the explored demographic.
In addition, Sue’s theory of microaggression provides another potential
racial construct for college athletes that are African American by foster-
ing unintentional racial undertones which could arbitrarily contradict put-
ting the college athlete on the correct path to graduation.53 Similarly, this
notion also calls for further exploration prior to intersecting this theory
to marginalized college athletes. However, the challenge of the college
athletic system is to facilitate and fairly guide African American college
athletes in such a way that “voids the stereotypical beliefs of self and oth-
ers that now permeate society.”54 In addition, NCAA athletic participation
should pave the way for African American college athletes to be afforded
their contractual obligation of obtaining a college-level education and
earning degree while participating on a NCAA athletic team.
This chapter contends there is a need for athletic academic reform how-
ever this reform should include cultural awareness of the racial constructs
surrounding being an African American student-athlete as well as the social
parameters forged with educational attainment. In addition, these college
athletes should be fairly assisted throughout the educational process.
Moreover, the authors assert the winning-at-all-costs mentality greatly
impacts the overall academic athletic atmosphere and hence provides
142 C. FLOWERS AND J.K. CAVIL
Notes
1. Kimberle Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and
Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine,
Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” University of Chicago
Legal Forum 1 (1989): 139–67; Kimberle Crenshaw, “Mapping the
Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against
Women of Color,” in The Public Nature of Private Violence, ed.
Martha Albertson Fineman (New York: Routledge, 1994); Kimberle
Crenshaw, Intersectional Interventions: Unmasking and Dismantling
Racial Power (Cambridge, MA: Hutchins Center for African &
African American Research, 2011); Richard Delgado and Jean
Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 2nd ed. (New York: University
Press, 2012).
2. Gloria Ladson-Billings, “Just What Is Critical Race Theory and
What’s It Doing in a Nice Field like Education?,” International
Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 11, no. 1 (1998): 7–24.
3. According to Cornell Law School strict scrutiny imposes a suspect
classification of race, national origin, religion, alienage, and poverty
on examining the constitutionality of passed laws.
4. Alikah R. Carter-Francique and Courtney L. Flowers, “Intersections
of race, ethnicity, and gender in sport,” in Gender Relations in Sport,
ed. Emily E. Roper (The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2013).
5. Patricia Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness,
and the Politics of Empowerment (New York: Routledge, 2000), 279.
6. NCAA, NCAA Division I Manual (Overland Park, KS: NCAA,
2014).
7. UNC-Chapel Hill, “ASPCA,” accessed [date], http://3qh929iorux
3fdpl532k03kg.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/
uploads/2011/09/aspsa-report.pdf; UNC-Chapel Hill, “UNC
Chapel Hill Statement,” accessed 2015, http://3qh929iorux3fdpl53
2k03kg.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/
SPORTS AND HIP-HOP, THE “WINNING AT ALL COSTS” MENTALITY... 143
uploads/2015/01/UNC-Oct-22-Press-Conference-Transcript.pdf;
ESPN, “UNC Academic Scandal: Whistleblower, Former Athlete
Speak Out,” accessed 2016, http://espn.go.com/video/
clip?id=10671809; Dan Kane, “UNC Got Warning on Suspect
Classes,” accessed 2016, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/
local/education/unc-scandal/article15573764.html#storylink=cpy;
Kirk Mango, “‘Winning at All Costs’ NOT Only Relative to
PED’s!!!,” accessed 2015, http://www.chicagonow.com/the-ath-
letes-sports-experience-making-a-difference/2014/04/winning-at-
all-costs-not-only-relative-to-peds/; Courtney L. Flowers, Disgrace
on Tobacco Road: Using CRT to Analyze Student Perceptions of the
UNC Academic Fraud Scandal (Portland, OR: North American
Society for the Sociology of Sport Conference Abstracts, 2014).
8. Mango, “‘Winning at All Costs’”; Kane, “UNC Got Warning”;
ESPN, UNC Academic Scandal; Flowers, Disgrace on Tobacco Road;
Steve Delsohn, “UNC’s McCants: Just Show Up, Play,” accessed
2015, http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/11036924/
former-north-carolina-basketball-star-rashad-mccants-says-took-
sham-classes.
9. Jon Solomon, “What Syracuse’s NCAA Case Revealed about
Academic Fraud,” accessed [2016], http://www.cbssports.com/
collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/25096871/what-syracuses-
ncaa-case-revealed-about-academic-fraud; Max Williens, “NCAA
Investigating 20 Schools for Academic Fraud,” accessed [2016],
http://www.ibtimes.com/ncaa-investigating-20-schools-
academic-fraud-1790870.
10. UNC-Chapel Hill, “ASPCA,” UNC-Chapel Hill, “UNC Chapel Hill
Statement,” NCAA, “Academic Misconduct—Reporting a Misconduct
Violation (I),” accessed 2016, http://web1.ncaa.org/LSDBi/exec/
edColumnDisplay?edColumnDisplaySubmit=Display&multiple=2353
9&division=1; Jon Solomon, “Inside College Sports: NCAA Redefines
Academic Misconduct after UNC Case,” accessed [2015], http://
w w w. c b s s p o r t s . c o m / c o l l e g e f o o t b a l l / w r i t e r / j o n - s o l o -
mon/25315260/inside-college-sports-ncaa-redefines-academic-
misconduct-after-unc-case.
11. UNC-Chapel Hill, “UNC Chapel Hill Statement.”
12. Malcolm X, “God’s Judgement of White America (The Chickens
Come Home to Roost),” accessed [2016], http://www.malcolm-x.
org/speeches/spc_120463.htm.
144 C. FLOWERS AND J.K. CAVIL
13. Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of
Racism (New York: Basic Books, 1992); William F. Tate, “Critical
Race Theory and Education: History, Theory, and Implications,”
Review of Research in Education 22 (1997): 195–247; Hodge, S. R.,
Harrison, L., Jr., Burden, J., Jr., & Dixson, A. D. (2008).; Delgado
and Stefanic, Critical Race Theory; Gloria Ladson- Billings and
William F. Tate IV, “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education,”
Teachers College Record 97 no. 1 (1995): 47–68; Daniel Solórzano,
Miguel Ceja, and Tara Yosso, “Critical Race Theory, Racial
Microaggressons, and Campus Racial Climate: The Experiences of
African American College Students,” The Journal of Negro Education
69, nos. 1/2 (2000):60–73.
14. andre douglas pond cummings, “A Furious Kinship: Critical Race
Theory and the Hip-Hop Nation,” University of Louisville Law
Review 48, no. 3 (2010): 499.
15. Jamel K. Donnor, “Towards an Interest-Convergence in the
Education of African-American Football Student Athletes in Major
College Sports,” Race, Ethnicity and Education 8, no. 1 (2005):
45–67; H. Richard Milner, “Critical Race Theory and Interest
Convergence as Analytic Tools in Teacher Education Policies and
Practices,” Journal of Teacher Education 59 (2008): 332–346.
16. Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well, 646.
17. Milner, “Critical Race Theory”; Joseph N. Cooper, “Personal
Troubles and Public Issues: A Sociological Imagination of Black
Athletes’ Experiences at Historically White Colleges and Universities
in the United States,” Sociology Mind 2, no. 3 (2012): 261–71;
Donnor, “Towards an Interest-Convergence”; Joseph N. Cooper,
J. Kenyatta Cavil, and Geremy Cheeks, “The State of Intercollegiate
Athletics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs):
Past, Present, & Persistence,” Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate
Athletics 7 (2014): 307–332.
18. Dawn-Elissa Fischer, “Hip-hop as Critical Pedagogy,” Anthropology
News 43, no. 8 (2002): 46–47.
19. Delgado and Stefanic, Critical Race Theory.
20. Tate, “Critical Race Theory,” 220.
21. Ramoji Huma and Ellen J. Staurowsky, The Price of Poverty in Big
Time College Sports (National College Players Association, 2011).
22. NCAA, “College Athletes Earn Diplomas at Record Rate,” accessed
2016, http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/
college athletes-earn-diplomas-record-rate.
SPORTS AND HIP-HOP, THE “WINNING AT ALL COSTS” MENTALITY... 145
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150 C. FLOWERS AND J.K. CAVIL
Wardell Johnson and Vanessa Prier Jackson
INTRODUCTION
Institutions of higher education often seek out Black college athletes for
their physical fitness and strong athletic abilities, hoping to create a reli-
able income stream. In turn, these same athletes see college as an opportu-
nity to advance their education and possibly prepare for a successful career
while honing their athletic skills. However, institutions do not adequately
prepare these athletes for the challenges invoked by their racial identity. As
these athletes move through the halls of these institutions, they find that
racism persists, even though they are considered an asset to the institu-
tion. There are explicit issues—such as negative perceptions and stereo-
types, academic clustering, low graduation rates, and the exploitation of
the desire to go pro in athletics—that isolate, marginalize, and possibly
alienate student-athletes from the larger university populace. According to
W. Johnson ()
Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Eastern Kentucky University,
Richmond, KY, USA
e-mail: wardell.johnson@eku.edu
V.P. Jackson
Department of Retailing and Tourism Management, University of Kentucky,
Lexington, KY, USA
Academic Clustering
Academic clustering occurs when 25 percent or more of a single athletic
team enrolls into a major.10 A study by Fountain and Finley reported that
several football teams in the Big Six Conferences (The Big Ten, Atlantic
Coast Conference [ACC], Southeastern Conference, Big East, Pac-10,
and Big-12) demonstrated a clustering density far beyond the 25 percent
traditionally allowed in clustering studies.11 Clustering is also apparent at
HBCU institutions: In a study of 18 HBCU institutions, Goodson found
that clustering occurred in 5 of the 50 football seasons, and 30 of the 67
basketball seasons (45 %) examined.12
Whether by personal choice or social pressure, many Division I col-
lege athletes end up in the same majors,13 which has the consequence of
academic and social isolation.14 In examining the impact of racial cluster-
ing among players, Fountain and Finley found it was significantly more
pronounced among racial minority football players who competed in the
ACC.15 While clustering occurred at all 11 schools in the study (data for
Duke University was not available), minority players were consistently
more densely clustered into single academic majors, with five of the pro-
grams having 50 percent or more of the minorities listed in one major.
Further, the data showed that secondary clusters sometimes existed; for
156 W. JOHNSON AND V.P. JACKSON
example, one school had 50 percent of its minority players listed as Sport
Management majors, with another 25 percent listed in Sociology. In gen-
eral, though, the white players were overrepresented in business programs,
whereas minorities were overrepresented in general studies and behavior
sciences.16
Further, Fountain and Finley reported not only that certain play-
ers migrated into a single clustered major over time, but also that a sig-
nificant number of recruits and National Football League draftees also
selected clustered majors.17 Likewise, Otto found that college athletes are
not selecting majors that reflect their interests or career aspirations; some
players listed favorite courses and subjects that did not match their stated
major. The same was true of career goals. For example, one college athlete
indicated a desire to be a civil engineer, but was majoring in history (at an
institution in which 62 % of football players were history majors).18 Dent,
Sanserino, and Werner uncovered a similar pattern at a separate university,
with one college athlete studying psychology and the goal of becoming a
physical therapist, while another was majoring in history and yet wanted
to work in finance.19
Clustering also serves as a way for institutions to ensure that athletes
remain eligible to play as per the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) academic reform initiative. The intent of this initiative was to
improve the academic progress, retention, and graduation rates of college
athletes; however, it also entails a pressure among all those involved (i.e.,
coaches, academic advisors, and academic service personnel) to maintain
college athletes’ eligibility. Seemingly, college athletes are being pushed
toward majors that are traditionally considered to be less academically rig-
orous in order to keep them academically eligible, and thus, on the team.
Such majors often encompass the social sciences and general studies and
are generally viewed as the “easy” or “fluff” majors on campus.20
As a group, Black male college athletes also experience clustering due
to their lack of college preparation. As reported in Reynolds, Fisher, and
Cavil, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics acknowledged:
Athletes are often admitted to institutions where they do not have a rea-
sonable chance to graduate. They are athlete-students, brought into the
collegiate mix more as performers than aspiring undergraduates. Their
ambiguous academic credentials lead to chronic classroom failures or
chronic cover-ups of their academic deficiencies. As soon as they arrive on
campus, they are immersed in the demands of their sports.21
RACE AND RACISM: THE BLACK MALE EXPERIENCE IN SPORTS 157
Social Isolation
The prestige and respect a college athlete receives on the court, field, and
gridiron holds great allure, especially when compared to the alienation
and subordination he or she may experience in the classroom.22 Black male
college athletes are often unprepared for these tensions and thus do not
expect them. This stems from the belief by whites that Black males at a
PWI are there to play a sport; if not, they do not belong. As stated by
Hawkins, there is a consensus among white students about their Black
peers: “If you were not an athlete, your stock is worthless.”23 Johnson
reported that Black students, in talking about post-athletic experiences
at PWIs, experienced feelings of estrangement, subtle forms of bias, and
the perception that they were unwelcomed outsiders—taking the form,
for instance, of not being acknowledged and being talked over in the
classroom.24
Black male college athletes at HBCUs seem to feel greater acceptance
and show less anxiety about interpersonal relationships than those at
PWIs. According to Johnson, Black male college athletes feel that meet-
ing people, getting along with professors, participating in extracurricular
activities, and achieving a smooth transition from high school to college
(due to the social environment) are all easier at an HBCU.25 Like their
white male counterparts at PWIs, Black male college athletes on HBCU
campuses feel like they are “in charge.” Consequently, they show greater
academic gains, more eagerness to compete, and considerably more social
assertion than their peers on predominately white campuses.26
Exploitation
The exploitation of Black male college athletes can take many forms and
often involves the myriad of people (families, coaches, administrators)
involved with their career success or failure. From the institutional side,
exploitative entities typically include administrators (at the organizational
and individual levels) and faculty members (as individuals and as an admin-
istrative body).27 Studying Black football and basketball players at PWIs,
Murty and Roebuck found the primary facilitators of exploitation to be
the commercialization and overemphasis of college sports, racial stereo-
typing, economic misdeeds and limited economic opportunities, academic
difficulty and conflict, and campus social isolation.25 College athletes are
also prevented from reaping the full benefits of an education by the very
158 W. JOHNSON AND V.P. JACKSON
Motivations to Go Pro
The gap between intercollegiate athletics and the mission and philoso-
phy of higher education has widened significantly over the past decade.30
Instead of enhancing the academic environment, college athletics are
clearly eliminating the opportunity to pursue a valuable education in favor
of prioritizing athletic endeavor and revenue generation.31 Of course, this
problem is rooted in a larger socioeconomic issue. The gifted Black athlete
is a success symbol in poor Black communities, where he or she is pushed
into football and basketball by parents, friends, coaches, and associates
who think success in these sports will provide the college athlete with
free and easy access to college, and from there, a chance to go pro and
amass wealth.32 These pressures cause the college athlete to focus more of
their time and energy on their athletic performance instead of their aca-
demic performance in the ultimate hope of entering professional leagues.
However, the great majority of college athletes will never make it that
far: According to the NCAA, only about 9 percent of baseball players, 2
percent of football players, and 1 percent of men’s basketball players will
move from the collegiate to the professional level.33 The rest graduate
with a degree in an area they have little or no interest and their potential
for a successful career in something other than the pros is limited.
Black male college athletes experience many challenges that influence
their academic and career success. Once they arrive on campus, they soon
RACE AND RACISM: THE BLACK MALE EXPERIENCE IN SPORTS 159
on their identity with athletics and forget about their educational deci-
sions. While college athletes understand the need to choose a career fol-
lowing graduation, their fear of choosing a complex career can lead them
to pursue a more familiar path. On this point, Brown, Glastetter-Fender,
and Shelton found that extensive hours in athletics, the failure to exam-
ine different roles, and the belief that one’s career is unaffected by one’s
actions are associated with lower self-efficacy for career decision-making.44
In short, educational decisions become secondary to athletic exposure.
Moreover, students who tend to favor education may be stigmatized for
doing so, and therefore choose to favor the sport.
NOTES
1. Dolores D. Bernal, “Critical Race Theory, Latino Critical Theory,
and Critical Race-Gendered Epistemologies: Recognizing Student
of Color as Holders and Creators of Knowledge,” Qualitative
Inquiry 8, no. 1 (2002).
2. Kwame Agyemang, John N. Singer, and Joshua DeLorme, “An
exploratory study of black male college athletes’ perceptions on
race and athlete activism,” International Review for the Sociology of
Sport 45, no. 4 (2010), doi: 10.1177/1012690210374691; Shaun
R. Harper, “Race, interest convergence, and transfer outcomes for
black male student athletes,” New Directions for Community
Colleges 2009, no. 147 (2009), doi:10.1002/cc.375.
3. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic, The Critical Race Theory: An
Introduction (New York: New York University Press, 2012).
4. Keith C. Harrison and Suzanne Malia Lawrence, “African American
Student Athletes’ Perceptions of Career Transition in Sport: A
RACE AND RACISM: THE BLACK MALE EXPERIENCE IN SPORTS 163
nytimes.com/2014/03/27/sports/ncaafootball/national-labor-
relations-board-rules-northwestern-players-are-employees-and-
can-unionize.html?_r=0.
30. D. Stanley Eitzen, Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes
of Sport (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009).
31. Comeaux, “Black Males in the Classroom”.
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32. Isiah Thomas and Na’ilah Suad Nasir, “Black Males, Athletes and
Academic Achievement,” Huffington Post, last modified July 7,
2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isiah-thomas/black-
males-athletes-and-_b_3232989.html#.
33. NCAA Research, “Estimated probability of competing in athletics
beyond the high school interscholastic level,” NCAA, last updated
September 24, 2013. https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/
Probability-of-going-pro-methodology_Update2013.pdf.
34. Singer, “Benefits and Detriments”.
35. Doris R. Corbett, “Academic integrity and the plight of the African
American college athlete,” in Racism and College Athletics, eds.
Dana Brooks and Ronald Althouse (Morgantown, WV: Fitness
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36. Comeaux, “Racial Differences”.
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sports-continue-failing-black-male-college%20athletes/.
40. Harrison and Lawrence, “Perceptions of Career Transition”.
41. Eldon L. Snyder, “A Theoretical Analysis of Academic and Athletic
Roles,” Sociology of Sport Journal, 2 (1985): 212.
42. Allen J. Good et al., “Identity Foreclosure, Athletic Identity, and
College Sport Participation,” Academic Athletic Journal Spring
(1993).
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Comeaux, Eddie, and C. Keith Harrison. 2008. Black males in the classroom: A
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CHAPTER 7
Sarah K. Fields
INTRODUCTION
In 1982, Kevin Ross left Creighton University, after playing varsity basketball
for four seasons. When he departed, his language skills tested at the fourth-
grade level. He enrolled at the Westside Preparatory Academy in Chicago,
Illinois, where he learned to read, write, think, and analyze. His enrollment
and the image of a very large African American man sitting in a classroom
with small children captured the nation’s attention and re-energized a dis-
cussion about the apparent conflict between education and college sport in
America. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) changed its
eligibility requirements for first-year athletes soon after Ross’s story went
public. Ross himself sued Creighton for a variety of things, including negli-
gent admission and breach of contract. Various media outlets reported the
entire story, but interestingly those reports rarely acknowledged race. At
most, the stories included a photo of Ross in the classroom.
I first became interested in Ross’s story as a high school basketball
player myself. I had seen his photo and some of the news stories about
S.K. Fields (
)
Department of Communication, University of Colorado Denver,
Denver, CO, USA
e-mail: sarah.fields@ucdenver.edu
of Creighton’s students were Black.10 It seems unlikely that the school had
a significantly larger Black population when Ross was a student 30 years
earlier, although it never prohibited African Americans from enrolling.
The school was small, but it had a strong athletic program and had a long
history of success in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).
Kevin Ross was admitted primarily as an athlete; he was enrolled in
Creighton as a “special permission” student after appeals from the ath-
letic department to the academic vice president, because although he had
a 2.0 grade point average in high school, his ACT score of 9 was well
below Creighton’s 23.2 average.11 The numbers were concerning, but
Creighton would later justify his acceptance, arguing that about 500 spe-
cial cases, or “students from underprivileged areas,” enrolled each year,
and many eventually graduated. Further the school noted that only ten
percent of those 500 special cases were athletes, implying that Ross’s
admission had less to do with his status as a basketball player than other
undefined issues.12 Perhaps his application was aided by his race and socio-
economic status, but his athletic skills also likely played a role. Ross later
claimed that Creighton knew of his academic limitations and that they had
promised him appropriate tutoring, academic support, and a “meaningful
education.”13
Ross spent four basketball seasons and a little less than four years at
Creighton from 1978 to 1982 but served mostly as a reserve on the team,
averaging about four points a game. During his time at the university, Ross
enrolled in what he called “bonehead” courses like theories of basketball
and football as well as marksmanship, courses the athletic department
advised him to take. Athletic department personnel taught many of these
courses and few counted toward a degree. Ross also received additional
help: an athletic department secretary read his assignments and wrote his
papers, and when he had tests, the answers were already filled out. Until
his fourth year when his grade point average dropped, he maintained a D
average; however, his reading skills were those of a seventh grader and his
overall language skills those of a fourth grader.14
“We tried to help Kevin become a better student, and we didn’t keep
him here just to play basketball,” said Robert J. Gerraughty, vice president
for administration.15 Athletic Director Dan Offenburger claimed he had
encouraged Ross, after his second year, to transfer to a different school
where he would have more success in the classroom and perhaps more
playing time on the basketball court. But the University insisted that Ross
at the time had pleaded for a second chance, which he was granted.
THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF RACE: ROSS V. CREIGHTON... 175
To Creighton’s credit, when Ross left the school with his deficient skills,
Creighton paid for Ross to attend renowned educator Marva Collins’s
Westside Preparatory Academy in Chicago. Collins, an African American
teacher, had established Westside Prep in 1975 after becoming frustrated
in the Chicago city schools. She garnered national attention when the CBS
news show “60 Minutes” profiled her successful work with predominantly
African American children who had often been unsuccessful in the public
schools.16 Creighton paid for Ross’s tuition, tutoring, books, and living
expenses at the famous school. The national press documented his atten-
dance. Ross spent a year at Westside working closely with tutors,17 and
after progressing academically to levels expected of college sophomores,
he was the students’ choice to speak at their commencement in 1983.18
ROSS’S LAWSUIT
In 1988, Ross filed a complicated and novel lawsuit against Creighton.
Ross, through his lawyer, argued that the university had been negligent in
his admission and in his subsequent education at the school. The lawsuit
entwined issues of negligent infliction of emotional distress with educa-
tional malpractice to prove that recruiting Ross and keeping him enrolled
despite his academic problems without supplying tutoring contributed to
the depression and emotional problems from which Ross suffered as an
adult. Ross also argued that Creighton had breached its contract with
him to provide educational and financial support to allow him to obtain a
“meaningful education.”35
In 1990, Federal District Court Judge John A. Nordberg rejected Ross’s
educational malpractice claim. He noted that the term had a “seductive
ring to it: after all if doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals
can be held liable for failing to exercise due care, why can’t teachers?” But
he concluded that the nature of education was different because educa-
tion was profoundly collaborative with the teacher and the student both
capable of dramatically effecting the quality of the experience. He con-
cluded that “the ultimate responsibility for success remains always with the
student,” which would make educational malpractice almost impossible.
Further, Nordberg worried that if such a cause of action were allowed,
the courts would be flooded with cases from every student who felt that
teachers or administrators had not provided an appropriate education
without putting any onus on the students themselves.36
THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF RACE: ROSS V. CREIGHTON... 179
The Seventh Circuit also feared a flood of lawsuits, which would force
the courts to oversee the daily operation of the educational system. Thus,
the appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss this
claim.40
Similarly, Judge Ripple and his colleagues rejected Ross’s negligent
admission theory. Ripple wrote that determining who is a reasonably
qualified applicant is “subjective” and not easy to assess. Further, Ripple
worried that if this new concept were adopted not only would universities
be reluctant to admit marginal students (harming these individuals), but
the lack of disadvantaged students would hurt the diversity of the institu-
tion and limit the experiences of the other students. Finally without any
negligence, Ross would be unable to recover for his claim of negligent
infliction of emotional distress. Thus, all of Ross’s negligence claims were
dismissed again.41
The appellate court then addressed Ross’s claims that Creighton had
breached their contract with him. Ross argued that the breach had come
because of five things that the university failed to do: (1) it failed to provide
him with appropriate tutoring; (2) it failed to require that he attend those
tutoring sessions; (3) it failed to give him the opportunity to take advan-
tage of the tutoring sessions; (4) it failed to red-shirt him to allow him to
adjust to the college’s academic expectations; and (5) it failed to fund his
attempts to complete his college education at Roosevelt University.
Judge Ripple noted that the relationship between students and pri-
vate universities are contractual, with all catalogs, bulletins, and regula-
tions being part of that contract. He also commented, however, that to
state a claim for breach of contract, the complaint must allege more than
a failure to educate generally: it must identify specific areas where the
university promised educational services that were not performed. The
appellate court believed that Ross’s claim had done just that. The court
overruled Judge Nordberg and ordered the breach of contract issue to
be reheard on its merits. The panel told Judge Nordberg to look at the
narrow claim that Ross was “barred from any participation in and benefit
from the University’s academic program.”42 Ross’s race was absent from
both legal decisions.
Less than two months after the appellate court’s decision was published
and the day before the parties were to return to court in April 1992,
Creighton University and Kevin Ross reached a settlement. Creighton
admitted to no liability of fault but gave Ross $30,000 in exchange for
Ross dropping the breach of contract lawsuit.43
THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF RACE: ROSS V. CREIGHTON... 181
Although Ross failed to have his causes of action for educational malprac-
tice or negligent admission recognized, he convinced the Seventh Circuit
to recognize that as a student and an athlete at Creighton University, he
had a contract with the school. This provided a future cause of action for
athletes who did not receive the benefits that they had been promised dur-
ing the recruiting process when, in 2015, two former basketball players
at the University of North Carolina filed a class action lawsuit alleging,
among other things, that the school had breached its contract with them
to provide an “education that included academically sound classes with
legitimate educational instruction.”44
Legal scholars at the time were skeptical of the practical blueprint Ross
v. Creighton provided. Harold Hilborn, for example, argued that the
Seventh Circuit’s narrow ruling requiring student-athletes to bargain for
specific terms was problematic because recruits were usually given stan-
dard scholarship contracts and standard National Letters of Intent to sign.
Plus Hilborn saw no equity in bargaining power between the student and
the university during the recruitment process. He feared that as long as
the courts failed to find a duty to educate, the Ross ruling was a hollow
victory for future athletes.45
Another legal scholar Hazel Glenn Beh critiqued the Seventh Circuit’s
failure to provide any real guidance to other courts as to how to deter-
mine if a school has violated the terms of the contract with an athlete. Beh
suggested using a good faith standard. Specifically, she suggested a court
could consider if a university offered any tutoring program whatsoever,
what its funding source was, and whether the quality and availability was
similar to the tutoring offered to other student-athletes at other schools.
Further a court could examine if Ross’s basketball schedule allowed time
to attend classes and tutoring sessions or to study. She suggested that
courts inquire if a college’s behavior toward student-athletes was ethical
and fair. She argued that a good faith evaluation comparing one school
to others would eliminate the risks that a court would be evaluating the
substantive quality of the education being offered.46
CONCLUSION
Kevin Ross’s story had an impact. His experience not only changed his
own life, but it changed the law, a university, and the NCAA. The press’s
failure to acknowledge his race when it came to his story does not under-
mine the significance of race. Kevin Ross was a Black college athlete at a
time when colleges tended to use the players, many of whom were Black at
White institutions, and discard them when they were finished. Creighton
did more than most, however, when it sent Ross to Westside Prep. Even
then though, Creighton sent a Black man to a predominantly Black school
in a city far away from campus and from his home. Why Creighton picked
Westside, whether it was because of Marva Collins’s fame or some other
reason is not clear, but it is significant.
Kevin Ross still had not gotten his college degree in 2006, the last ref-
erence to him in the public press. He had held a series of relatively menial
jobs. In 2002, Ross was a night shift custodian at his old middle school
in Kansas City. He had enough college credits (but no certification or a
degree) to do some part-time substitute teaching work.63 In 2006, Ross
was a cab driver in Kansas City and trying to do some motivational speak-
ing. At the time he had a website advertising his services and still hoped to
finish his degree,64 but that website was no longer active by 2011.
In a moment of confluence, Ross’s experience impacted the life of his
own son, Kevin Shorter. Shorter’s mother, Sheila McBride, lived sepa-
rately and Ross rarely saw their young son. Their son, like his father had
been, was a talented high school basketball player in Detroit who was
recruited by Division I schools. As an involved mother, McBride kept
detailed records of her son’s academic progress and kept well-appraised of
NCAA eligibility rules.65 Like other parents she discovered that the NCAA
clearinghouse process, which determines eligibility, was challenging. She
told a reporter, “Once I started figuring this process out and doing lots
of research, to my surprise, I found out that this entire process was put
in place in August 1986 because of my son’s father, Kevin Ross. My son
now faced meeting deadlines put in place because of his father.” To help
other parents, she formed a company in 1997 called GradeCheck® to help
navigate the process of establishing NCAA eligibility.”66
In some ways, this is a simple story about a basketball player who made
it through college without getting an education. Frankly, there have prob-
ably been many like him. The story of Kevin Ross and his mis-education
are linked to the history of his institutions and the history of discrimination
186 S.K. FIELDS
in American law and sport. All of this culminated for Ross in a lawsuit
against Creighton, but for future college athletes, it culminated in massive
reforms. But failure of the courts to recognize the role of race in the Ross
case was a failure to address the totality of Ross’s experience.
NOTES
1. See Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory and Valdes et al,
eds., Crossroads, Directions, and a New Critical Race Theory.
2. Ehlers, “Hidden in Plain Sight,” 314.
3. See Hylton, “‘Race’, Sport and Leisure,” arguing that sport, like
law, is presumed to be a level playing field and adding that CRT
answers Susan Birrell’s call for theorists to examine race in sport. See
Birrell, “Racial Relations Theories and Sport.”
4. All information regarding the Kansas City schools came from
Plucker, “Schools in Kansas City, Kansas, in Years of Change,
1962–1986” (hardcopy in author’s possession); and McGuinn, The
History of the Kansas City, Kansas Public School System, 1819–1961.”
5. Bock, “Sports News.”
6. Curry, “Suing for a 2nd Chance to Start Over,” B9.
7. Hall, “Post Graduate,” culture/sports.
8. Bock, “Sports News.”
9. For a discussion of the history of Prop 48 and Prop 16 and the fall-
out, see Brubaker, “Minimum Standard, Maximum Dispute,” D1.
10. “Creighton University.”
11. Bock, “Sports News.”
12. Berkow, “How Creighton’s Dreams Came Apart.”
13. Ross v. Creighton University, 957 F.2d 411, hereinafter Ross II.
14. Ross v. Creighton University, 740 F. Supp. 1322, hereinafter Ross I.
See also “Ex-Basketball Star Fights White School,” 52 and Cohn,
“The Story Behind Grade Check.”
15. Berkow, “How Creighton’s Dreams Came Apart.”
16. “Marva Collins Biography.”
17. Ross I at 1322.
18. “Taking the Path to Learning,” B11.
19. “Sports People,” 30.
20. “Sports News,” October 9, 1986.
21. Dishneau, “Sports News.”
22. “Sports News,” September 30, 1987.
THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF RACE: ROSS V. CREIGHTON... 187
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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2016.
Beh, Hazel Glenn. 2000. Student versus University, the University’s implied obli-
gations of good faith and fair dealing. Maryland Law Review 59: 183–224.
Berkow, Ira. 1985. How Creighton’s dreams came apart. New York Times, May
19.
Birrell, Susan. 1989. Racial relations theories and sport: Suggestions for a more
critical analysis. Sociology of Sport 6: 212–227.
Bock, Hal. 1987. Sports News. Associated Press, July 23.
Brubaker, Bill. 1999. Minimum standard, maximum dispute; freshman eligibility
rule has controversial past, contentious present and faces uncertain future.
Washington Post, July 25.
Charen, Mona. 1989. Patronizing Blacks a form of racism. The [Portland]
Oregonian, February 1.
Cohn, Lowell. 2006. The story behind grade check: Humiliation to triumph: A
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Sports people: Creighton responds. 1983. New York Times, May 28.
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in ‘paper class’ athletic scandal. Washington Post, January 22.
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Yesterday in Negro history. 1962. Jet, November 29.
CHAPTER 8
Markesha McWilliams Henderson
INTRODUCTION
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as articulated in the Declaration
of Independence are considered fundamental rights of the citizens of the
United States of America. The product of this ideology is the American
Dream. Opportunity to achieve success with the prospect of obtaining
prosperity without limitation and suppression was not a traditional model
to govern a nation. It was a meritocratic design not prevalent among estab-
lished European countries, which were heavily rooted in feudal system
social hierarchy. This concept of having jurisdiction over individual achieve-
ment uninhibited by predetermined circumstances fueled American entre-
preneurship and innovation. It would be the basis of inspiration for people
who aspired to achieve great things through hard work and perseverance.
History would teach us that, although the concept of the American
Dream was innovative as it pertained to guiding principles in gover-
M.M. Henderson (
)
Department of Sport Management, Wellness, and Physical Education,
University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, USA
e-mail: mhenders@westga.edu
nance, the fault in the design is it was not written to include everyone.
The individuals that crafted the blueprint for it were homogenous in back-
ground—White, Anglo Saxon, male, and Protestants. In a nation that also
contained women and persons of other races, ethnicities, and religions, the
absence of inclusion in the American Dream would become, and still is, the
basis for women’s suffrage, civil rights activism, and social justice agendas.
Entrepreneurship is the offspring of the American Dream. In a country
where unemployment is only at 4.9 percent, as reported by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, it would appear far more favorable to work for an estab-
lished company.1 Yet, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
(GEM), nearly 14 percent of working-age Americans are starting or run-
ning new businesses.2 College campuses are not just preparing students to
enter the job market but to become the job market. There are 224 univer-
sities that offer entrepreneurship majors worldwide and 2364 postsecond-
ary institutions offer entrepreneurship and small business certificates.3 Out
of the more than 600,000 students that took an entrepreneurship course
in college, 39 percent eventually founded a company.4
Some enterprising students take advantage of the resources and con-
nections to actually start their businesses while in school. Companies such
as Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Dropbox, Snapchat, Yahoo, and Apple
were all started by college students and are iconic brands worth billions
of dollars. College could be considered a prime time to start a business
because of the schedule flexibility, access to intellectual capital and men-
torship, and less at stake should the venture prove unsuccessful. For oth-
ers who may not have their sights on a start-up venture, college is an
opportunity to hone skills to perhaps become involved in a family business
or to engage in brand-building experiences to establish your professional
reputation.
While business-minded college students have the opportunity to utilize
their education, connections, and institutional resources to get an initial
start in business, there is a segment of the student population for which
certain professional development opportunities and related activities are
regulated and sometimes prohibited. Students who participate in inter-
collegiate athletics at National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA)
member institutions are bound by the bylaws of the association and pro-
hibited from engaging in certain employment and promotional activities
that would be considered threatening to their status as amateur athletes.
Limitations that would restrict enterprising ventures of college athletes
include the creation of a business that requires the use of their athletic skill,
NCAA BYLAW 12: THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF PROMOTION AND SUPPRESSION... 195
PROTECTING AMATEURISM
The 405 pages of the NCAA Division I Manual govern the activities and
conduct of member institutions, institutional staff and coaches, college
athletes, and prospective college athletes. Article 12 is an operating bylaw
and addresses amateurism and athletics eligibility. Operating bylaws are
adopted by the membership “to promote the principles enunciated in the
constitution and to achieve the Association’s purposes.”10 Amateurism is
considered a “bedrock principle of college athletics and the NCAA.”11
Merriam-Webster simply defines an amateur as “a person who does some-
thing (such as a sport or hobby) for pleasure and not as a job.”12 In an
effort to protect college athlete amateurism, the regulations in Article 12
outline what is permissible and impermissible for college athletes within the
boundaries of being an amateur athlete.13 Anything that does not maintain
what is considered the integrity of amateurism is considered activities of a
professional athlete and subject to harsh penalties including loss of eligibil-
ity, institutional sanctions, and vacated wins and championships.
The amateurism requirement not only pertains to active participants
in intercollegiate athletics at NCAA member institutions, but also to pro-
spective college athletes not yet enrolled. The NCAA Eligibility Center
certifies eligibility and amateurism for prospective college athletes for
intercollegiate competition. Prospective college athletes who want to play
at NCAA Division I or Division II Institutions must pay $65 ($95 for
international athletes) to have their eligibility, including amateurism cer-
tified via the NCAA Eligibility Center.14 The fee is waived for students
who received a fee waiver for the ACT or SAT college admission exams.
Prospects attending Division III institutions, which do not issue athletic
scholarships, may be certified by the institution they attend without going
through the Eligibility Center. Approximately 7.8 million students play
sports in high school.15 At $65 per person, the revenue generated from
potential athletes could be substantial.
198 M.M. HENDERSON
the team was forced to vacate all of their wins from the 2005 season. Bush
also had to vacate his Heisman honor.22 Another violation at USC, this
time involving basketball, resulted in the team vacating all 21 of their wins
in the 2007–08 season because Ovinton J’Anthony “O.J.” Mayo received
what was considered improper gifts from someone connected to a sport
management agency.23 Adriel Jeremiah “A.J.” Green, a football player for
University of Georgia, was suspended for four games for selling his jersey
for $1000 from the 2009 Independence Bowl.24 In 2010, Marcell Dareus
was suspended from the University of Alabama football team for the first
two games of the season and required to pay approximately $1800 to
charity for attending a party hosted by sport agents in Miami.25 In 2011,
The Ohio State University quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four teammates
were suspended for receiving improper benefits, such as tattoos, and sell-
ing memorabilia.26
Disproportionately, the athletes that made national news for receiving
improper benefits have been Black athletes, some of which came from
minimal resources. Reaction to these infractions varied. The participants
in the debate with the greatest platform were largely White male sports
journalists. Some feel sorry for the athletes because they realize they are
being exploited in a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Others consider the
athletes greedy and selfish for putting their individual gains ahead of the
welfare of the team. The conversation regarding what is fair for athletes
was a ping-pong of rhetoric. Then along came Johnny Manziel.
Manziel, also known as Johnny Football, a moniker his family trade-
marked, was the Heisman Trophy winner in 2012 who was investigated
for violating Bylaw 12 for signing autographs that were to be sold.27
Thus, the same debate resurfaced again, but with a lot more fervor in
favor of athlete compensation. Manziel, who is White, graced the cover
of Time magazine in the famous Heisman pose with the headline “It’s
Time to Pay College Athletes.”28 The nature of this headline begs the
question, why it was now time to pay college athletes and why was it
not time before? For years, Black college athletes have had to vacate
wins, return honors, and face penalties, but it was now time to talk
about paying athletes. Interestingly, at the time the Manziel issue hit the
newsstands, there was an NCAA case pending before the United States
Supreme Court involving the use of athlete likenesses. The primary
named litigant was Ed O’Bannon, a Black basketball star from University
of California—Los Angeles (UCLA) (1991–95), but he did not get a
Time magazine cover.
200 M.M. HENDERSON
broadcasts for which the television networks secured the rights to show
by brokering multimillion (and sometimes billion)-dollar contracts with
teams, conferences, or the NCAA. During those broadcasts, everyone
from automobile manufacturers, cell phone carriers, pizza moguls, and
quick service restaurants pay for the opportunity to sell their goods or
services during TV timeouts taken during the broadcast or other breaks
in action. If a fan were able to score a seat to the game, of which prob-
ably cost several hundreds of dollars if you are close enough to the action,
advertisers also paid top dollar to promote their business or service to fans
on signage, giveaways, in game announcements, sponsored half-time con-
tests, and even on the building itself.
The professional leagues rely on talent honed on college campuses
to recruit personnel for their enterprises. Out of the 32 players selected
in the first round of the 2015 National Football League (NFL) Draft,
29 of them are Black. Even with the popularity of international athletes
in the National Basketball Association (NBA), 24 of the 30 first round
draft picks in 2015 are Black. These facts underscore the significant role
Black males play in generating revenue in American sport. Black bodies
exert the athletic skill that makes football and basketball among the pre-
mier sources for American entertainment. Black likenesses make up the
images for promoting and selling the entertainment along with ancillary
products and services. Yet, the role Black males play in making decisions
related to American sport is relatively insignificant. If you look at every
level of the governance structure of college sport, the numbers for Black
males are quite dismal. As of October 2015, Lapchick and colleagues at
the University of Central Florida’s The Institute for Diversity and Ethics
in Sport found that 100.0 percent of conference commissioners of the
Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), 79.7 percent of athletic directors, 89.9
percent of faculty athletic representatives, and 87.5 percent of head foot-
ball coaches are White.31 Thus, Black men are not at the table in significant
numbers as leaders to make decisions pertaining to their role in the college
sports enterprise. There is a saying of unknown origin, “If you are not on
the table you are on the menu.” Hence, NCAA member institutions and
their leaders have been feasting on the lucrative exploits of Black athletes
for decades.
The attempt to cut college athletes out of profiting is not subtle. It
seems a bit disingenuous that the entity that has been entrusted to enforce
the rules governing amateurism is granted exceptions to profiting from col-
lege sport but binds the individuals participating to said rules. In general,
202 M.M. HENDERSON
there are five ways amateur status can be jeopardized: (a) receiving pay for
athletic skill, (b) accepting a future promise of pay, (c) signing a contract,
(d) getting an agent, and (e) engagement with professional teams. All of
these activities, although prohibited by the athletes themselves, are regu-
larly committed by NCAA member institutions and conferences.
First, institutions and conferences receive pay based on athletic skill
in the form of media rights, which is why the most competitive games
are selected for broadcast. If this were truly about co-curricular amateur
involvement, every game would have equal chance at getting airtime.
Media deals with institutions encompass future promises to pay and
typically involve extensive contract negotiation. The college athletes that
will play in the final year of the 14-year, $10.8 Billion deal CBS and Turner
Broadcasting have for the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship
were only five years old when the deal was inked.
College athletes are prohibited from signing with agents but institu-
tions engage third-party agencies to help them maximize revenue from
ticket sales, merchandising and licensing agreements, fundraising, and
marketing. Larger Division I athletic departments may outsource market-
ing and ticket sales functions and the account executive, although he or
she may be employed by the agency, it is common for the account execu-
tive to work on campus in the athletic department administrative offices.
This person has the ability to cultivate relationships with sponsors, fans,
and stakeholders on the athletic department’s behalf.
College athletes are prohibited from playing on professional teams
either for pay or without pay but it is permissible for NCAA, institutions,
and conferences to accept financial sponsorship and developmental funds
from professional sport organizations. College athletes may not gain from
their athletic ability but institutions are allowed an exception for fund-
raising activities. Bylaw 12.1.4.5 specifically allows athletes to participate
in activities only if the money goes “directly to the member institution,
member conference, or the charitable, educational or nonprofit agency.”32
When institutions enter into reciprocal marketing agreements with pro-
fessional sports leagues, none of the funds can be used to support college
athletes. Bylaw 12.6.1.5 (a) stipulates:
A member institution shall not accept funds from a professional sports orga-
nization if: The funds are for the purpose of recognizing the development
of a former student-athlete in a particular sport. The receipt of such funds
by an institution would make additional money available that could benefit
NCAA BYLAW 12: THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF PROMOTION AND SUPPRESSION... 203
The rule also specifies that funds received cannot be credited for the finan-
cial assistance of college athletes. The waters are muddy when it comes to
accepting funds from professional organizations and institutions should
either be able to accept funds or not. To accept funds but stipulate they
cannot benefit the college athletes is an example of how institutions are
willing to leave the door cracked to accept money that they probably
should be declining.
Putting aside the argument that Black athletes are disenfranchised from
participating in the windfall of American sport revenue, what about the
ability to start their own businesses? This is where the double standard
of the amateurism and promotions rule becomes even more evident.
NCAA Bylaw 12.4.4 regarding self-employment specifically contains pro-
hibitions to college athletes as it pertains to entrepreneurship. It states
that “[A] student-athlete may establish his or her own business, provided
the student-athlete’s name, photograph, appearance or athletics reputa-
tion are not used to promote the business.”34 A few pages later, NCAA
Bylaw 12.5.1.8 regarding promotion of NCAA and conference champion-
ships states, “The NCAA [or a third party acting on behalf of the NCAA
(e.g., host institution, conference, local organizing committee)] may use
the name or picture of a student-athlete to generally promote NCAA
championships.”35
The NCAA is not the only entity permitted to use the names or pictures
of athletes. Bylaw 12.5.1.1. allows:
Athletes are prohibited from selling their autographs written with the
names given to them by their parents, but charitable organizations are
allowed to sell autographed memorabilia to fundraise.
College athletes have likely cultivated athletic-related knowledge since
childhood. The ability to use that knowledge for enterprising activities
204 M.M. HENDERSON
NCAA AND ANTITRUST
Antitrust laws exist to ensure anyone seeking to be a participant in
American enterprise can do so without unfair restraint of trade. NCAA is
no stranger to controversy surrounding the promotion and commercial-
ism of college athletes as evidenced by multiple antitrust lawsuits in which
they are named. When the judicial system is asked to discern whether the
protection of amateurism infringes on the protection of civil liberties, the
pendulum often swings in favor of the athlete.
O’Bannon v. NCAA is a landmark case that addresses the NCAA’s use
of college athletes’ likeness for promotional purposes.38 As previously
mentioned, Ed O’Bannon was a basketball star at UCLA that led the
Bruins to an NCAA national championship in 1995. O’Bannon noticed
a striking resemblance to a player on a college basketball video game.
O’Bannon filed a class action suit on behalf of former college athletes
against the NCAA, video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) Sports
and Collegiate Licensing Company, the company that manages NCAA’s
merchandising, citing an antitrust violation.39 EA Sports and Collegiate
Licensing Company exited as co-defendants and agreed to pay a $40 mil-
lion settlement to approximately 100,000 college athletes whose likeness
was featured in their video games.40 The NCAA was ultimately found in
violation of federal antitrust law.41 They appealed the decision but the
primary tenet of the lower court’s decision was upheld.42 It was not a total
loss for the NCAA. An appellate panel struck down the provision in the
first case requiring institutions to pay up to $5000 in name, image, and
206 M.M. HENDERSON
likeness rights fees (NIL rights) each year to Division I football and men’s
basketball players. The court instead ruled that they only needed to pay up
to the cost of attendance.43
The O’Bannon case may not have made a solid case for paying athletes,
but it did give steam to the disposition that capitalizing on college athlete
likenesses for commercial purposes is not only unethical but also unlawful.
It is important to not lose sight of the fact that the institutions themselves
are the NCAA. All rules in the governance manuals are proposed, vet-
ted, and eventually adopted by member institutions and the enforcement
staff at the NCAA that holds the institutions accountable to the rules that
they have set and, when necessary, offers interpretations based on the cir-
cumstances. The NCAA staff does not have the authority to create rules.
Imagery of this controlling and oppressive organization dictating and rul-
ing with greed and corruption is simply not accurate. This also means the
decision of whether or not to allow college athletes the agency to control
the use of their image rests with the member institutions for whom they
compete.
Arguably, the reason the rules have not changed is because the institu-
tions do not want them to change. A profound question was raised by for-
mer University of Texas at Austin President William Powers Jr. in an email
to the commissioner of the Big 12 conference regarding the O’Bannon
lawsuit: he asked, “Why should we be defendants in this, rather than plain-
tiffs representing our students?”44 The NCAA was created to protect col-
lege athletes. Recruiters authorized by member institutions sit in living
rooms across America and pledge to parents of college athletes they will
look out for the best interests of their children. However, on signing day,
with a stroke of a pen, the promised protection is bundled with exploita-
tion and the name on the signature line is no longer their own.
are limited to the amount of actual and necessary expenses for participat-
ing in the event. Once they enroll, they are limited to actual and necessary
expenses. Golf and tennis are sports where prize money is typically allot-
ted. But, these are not sports that have large Black male participation.
The effort to specifically exclude the NFL and NBA from engaging
with the institutions and enterprising opportunities is outlined in bylaw
12.6.1.8 that provides the guidelines for reciprocal marketing agreements.
It reads, “In sports other than football and men’s basketball, an insti-
tution’s marketing department may enter into a reciprocal contractual
relationship with a professional sports organization for the specific pur-
pose of marketing and promoting an institutionally sponsored sport.”46
Major League Soccer (MLS), the National Hockey League (NHL), and
Major League Baseball (MLB) can all enter into contracts with the athletic
departments but football and basketball professional leagues are specifi-
cally excluded.
The United States Olympics Committee (USOC), the standard bearer
of amateur athletics, has apparently done a better job than the NFL and
NBA in convincing the NCAA to allow for exceptions to the prohibitions
on pay. Cash or cash equivalent awards are a prohibited form of pay as
outlined in Bylaw 12.1.2.1.1.47 An exception to this rule is the Operation
Gold program that is administered by the USOC. The semantics used is
program or grant, but in essence it is a cash award for placing in the top
eight of a qualifying event or in the top three at an Olympic games. The
amounts range from $10,000 for third place to $25,000 for first place.48
Football and basketball players would not be eligible for this type of award
because American football is not an Olympic sport and the Olympic bas-
ketball team is no longer made up of amateur (college) basketball players.
There is a reoccurring theme of allowing exceptions for sports that do
not generate revenue more flexibility as it pertains to pay and promotion.
Some would argue that non-revenue producing sports need the boost
because opportunities to earn monies post-college are not as prevalent
as revenue producing sports. That logic is faulty because only 3.7 per-
cent of NCAA football athletes advance to play professional football and
11.6 percent of men’s basketball players play professional basketball.49 The
probability is even less for college athletes to go pro in the major leagues
(e.g., MLB, MLS) that offer higher incomes. For the rest of the college
athletes, college is the final stop on, what was for some, a long career of
sport participation that started in early adolescence. Another explanation is
sports that generate more revenue are also more vulnerable to corruption.
208 M.M. HENDERSON
Perhaps, but if that is the case institutions should also mitigate the risk of
becoming victims of corruption. Instead, the institutions themselves cash
in at any opportunity that is allowed by the rules, again, not losing sight
that it is the institutions that create the rules that the NCAA enforces.
Here lies the power.
Olympic and non-revenue sport exceptions could also be attributed
to advocacy. Golf and tennis are sports typically associated with elitism.
When a posture of subordination is not present in negotiations, there
could be a difference in how the request for reform is considered. In a
similar vein, The United States Olympic Committee is an entity with a lot
of influence and power and probably advocated for the Gold Medal Grant
program to receive an exemption. It is likely that even the semantics of
calling it a grant instead of a prize is deliberate so to not pose a conflict to
amateurism. College football and basketball players do not generally have
collective activism on their behalf and the parties who stand to gain from
exceptions to the amateur rule in those sports do not typically come from
spheres of influence.
CONCLUSION
Similar to the founding documents of this nation, the NCAA Manual was
never written for all participants to benefit. Through education, advo-
cacy, and civil action, such as O’Bannon v. NCAA, those on the fringes of
the sport industry can realize their full value and contributions to such a
central aspect of American culture. Playing sports are what some of these
young men do best and, for many of them, has been a central part of their
lives for as long as they can remember. Athletes should be allowed to use
210 M.M. HENDERSON
NOTES
1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary-
January 201, USDL-16-0210 (Washington, DC, 2016). http://
www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.
2. Donna Kelly, Slavica Singer, and Mike Herrington, “Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor 2015/16 Global Report,” Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor Research Association, accessed February
5, 2016, http://www.babson.edu/Academics/centers/blank-
center/global-research/gem/Documents/GEM%202015-
2016%20Global%20Report.pdf.
3. “List of Colleges With Majors in Entrepreneurship or Small
Business,” Saint Louis University, accessed February 5, 2016,
http://www.slu.edu/eweb/connect/for-faculty/infrastructure/
list-of-colleges-with-majors-in-entrepreneurship-or-small-business.
4. Ibid.
5. NCAA Sport Sponsorship, Participation and Demographics data-
base, accessed February 8, 2016, http://web1.ncaa.org/rgdSearch/
exec/saSearch.
6. Ibid.
NCAA BYLAW 12: THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF PROMOTION AND SUPPRESSION... 211
latimes.com/2010/jan/04/spor ts/la-sp-usc-basketball4-
2010jan04.
24. “NCAA Benches Georgia’s A.J. Green,” ESPN, last modified
September 11, 2010, http://espn.go.com/college-football/news/
story?id=5547721.
25. Chase Goodbread, “Marcell Dareus Suspended Two Games,”
Tuscaloosa News, last modified September 2, 2010, http://www.tus-
caloosanews.com/article/20100903/NEWS/100909925.
26. “Ohio State Football Players Sanctioned,” ESPN, last modified
December 26, 2010, http://espn.go.com/college-football/news/
story?id=5950873.
27. Daniel Uthman, “Report: Johnny Manziel Accepted Money for
Autographs,” USA Today, last modified August 5, 2013, http://
www.usatoday.com/stor y/sports/ncaaf/sec/2013/08/04/
texas-am-aggies-johnny-manziel-money-for- autographs/
2617413/.
28. TIME magazine, September 16, 2013, Vol. 182 No. 12.
29. “Number of Sports Illustrated Readers in March 2015, by platform
(in thousands)”, Statista, accessed February 10, 2016, http://www.
statista.com/statistics/191784/us-magazine-audiences-
2010-sports-illustrated/.
30. “Revenue”, National Collegiate Athletic Association, http://www.
ncaa.org/about/resources/finances/revenue.
31. Richard Lapchick, “Small Progress Throughout Collegiate Athletic
Leadership: Assessing Diversity among Campus and Conference
Leaders for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Schools in the 2014–15
Academic Year,” UCF Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport,
November 5, 2014.
32. NCAA Division I Manual, 64.
33. NCAA Division I Manual, 75.
34. Ibid., 70.
35. Ibid., 73.
36. Ibid., 70.
37. Ibid., 75.
38. O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 7 F. Supp 3d
955 (N.D. Cal 2014).
39. Ibid.
40. Tom Farrey, “Players, Game Makers Settle for $40M,” ESPN, last
modified on May 21, 2014, http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/
NCAA BYLAW 12: THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF PROMOTION AND SUPPRESSION... 213
stor y/_/id/11010455/college-athletes-reach-40-million-
settlement-ea-sports-ncaa-licensing-arm.
41. O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 7 F. Supp 3d
955 (N.D. Cal 2014).
42. Michael McCain, “What the Appeals Court Ruling Means for
O’Bannon’s Ongoing Lawsuit,” last modified October 2, 2015,
Sports Illustrated, http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/
09/30/ed-obannon-ncaa-lawsuit-appeals-court-ruling.
43. Ibid.
44. Farrey, “Players, Game Makers Settle for $40M”.
45. NCAA Division I Manual, 64.
46. NCAA Division I Manual, 75.
47. Ibid., 62.
48. USA Track and Field, “Operation Gold Grants”, accessed February
11, 2016, https://www.usatf.org/groups/elite/supportPrograms/
OperationGoldGrants.asp.
49. National Collegiate Athletic Association, “Estimated Probability of
Competing in Professional Athletics”, last updated April 14, 2015,
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-
competing-professional-athletics.
50. Billy Hawkins, “The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports,
and Predominately White NCAA Institutions. New York, NY:
Palgrave Macmillan Press. Page 105.
51. Maureen Callahan, “How Pro Athletes Lose Everything,” last modi-
fied June 14, 2015, New York Post, http://nypost.com/2015/
06/14/how-pro-athletes-lose-everything-buying-cars-jewels-
and-pet-tigers/.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2015–16 NCAA Division I manual. Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic
Association.
Amateurism. National Collegiate Athletic Association. http://www.ncaa.org/
amateurism. Accessed 10 Feb 2017.
Callahan, Maureen. How pro athletes lose everything. New York Post. Last
Modified June 14, 2015. http://nypost.com/2015/06/14/how-pro-athletes-
lose-everything-buying-cars-jewels-and-pet-tigers/.
Delpit, Lisa. 1988. The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other
people’s children. Harvard Law Review 58: 280.
214 M.M. HENDERSON
NCAA benches Georgia’s A.J. Green. ESPN. Last modified September 11, 2010.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/news/story?id=5547721.
Sports illustrated: Audience by platform March 2015. Statista. http://www.
statista.com/statistics/191784/us-magazine-audiences-2010-sports- -
illustrated/. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 7 F. Supp 3d 955.
(N.D. Cal. 2014).
Ohio State football players sanctioned. ESPN. Last modified December 26, 2010.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/news/story?id=5950873.
Operation gold grants. USA Track and Field. https://www.usatf.org/groups/
elite/supportPrograms/OperationGoldGrants.asp. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Reggie Bush to Forfeit Heisman. ESPN. Last modified September 15, 2010.
http://espn.go.com/losangeles/ncf/news/story?id=5572827.
Revenue. National Collegiate Athletic Association. http://www.ncaa.org/about/
resources/finances/revenue. Accessed 10 Feb 2016.
Sherman, Rodger. Shabazz Napier: ‘There’s hungry nights where I’m not able to
eat’. SB Nation. Last modified April 7, 2014. http://www.sbnation.com/
c o l l e g e - b a s k e t b a l l / 2 0 1 4 / 4 / 7 / 5 5 9 1 7 7 4 / s h a b a z z - n a p i e r- u c o n n -
basketball-hungry-nights.
Time Magazine, September 16, 2013, Vol. 182, No. 12.
U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The employment situation—January 2016.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_02052016.pdf.
Uthman, Daniel. Report: Johnny Manziel accepted money for autographs. USA
Today. Last modified August 5, 2013. http://www.usatoday.com/story/
spor ts/ncaaf/sec/2013/08/04/texas-am-aggies-johnny-manziel-
money-for-autographs/2617413/.
Wharton, David, and Baxter Holmes. O.J. Mayo Scandal leads to heavy sanctions
for USC basketball; team ‘shocked and saddened’. Los Angeles Times. Last
modified January 4, 2010. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/04/sports/
la-sp-usc-basketball4-2010jan04.
CHAPTER 9
Drew D. Brown
INTRODUCTION
The assumptions and maintenance of White hegemony often overpower
the way Black masculinity is portrayed and interpreted. As a result, social
constructions of Black masculinity, especially those found in sport, con-
tinue to dwell amidst negative racial stereotyping, which consequently
helps maintain the social vilification of Black males. Many of the images
of Black masculinity in mainstream media are based on stereotypical exag-
gerations and blatant falsehoods of White imagination. Therefore, there
is a vital need for corrective images of Black masculinity that counter the
media-constructed images “of who and what we really are,” in the words
of Louis Farrakhan.1 The question is, “who is the Black man, and what is
Black masculinity?” As Black males attempt to redefine Black masculinity
in order to include control, strength (mental and physical), pride, and per-
sistence,2 it is clear that, because of the propagated beliefs about Black mas-
D.D. Brown (
)
Department of African-American Studies, University of Houston,
Houston, TX, USA
e-mail: dbrown45@uh.edu
dominant force in the socialization process for Black youth,”8 the popu-
larity of the NFL has a significant amount of influence on both Black
and White communities. ESPN, which focuses on providing a broad
array of sports coverage and has eight domestic cable networks, is the
most watched cable network in the USA.9 According to the Hollywood
Reporter,10 NFL Monday Night Football was the most watched weekly
show in 2015; NFL Sunday Night Football ranked second; NFL Thursday
Night Football ranked forth; and NFL Sunday (Afternoon) Football on
Fox ranked fifth. In online news, the top ten sports websites, combined,
received almost 400 million views per month.11 Furthermore, Black males
make up the majority of NFL rosters at over 67 percent.12 In addition to
games, Black players are also captured by the media in dressing rooms,
pre- and post-game press conferences, and promotion events. A growing
number of off-the-field images of Black NFL players are available through
marketing and public relations campaigns. Less than flattering images of
Black NFL players are also exposed. Images of players at nightclubs, get-
ting arrested, spending large amounts of money, and engaging in a host
of other provocative acts continuously fill the media. Given the popularity
of sports, the viewership of NFL games, the percentage of Black players
on NFL rosters, and various other forms of player pageantry, it is logical
to conclude that the NFL produces more images of Black males than any
other source in the US combined. These images influence the social beliefs
of Black masculinity. Unfortunately, the NFL does not display or promote
a proportionately accurate portrayal of Black masculinity.
BLACK MASCULINITY
For an in-depth understanding of the misrepresentation and negative
interpretation of Black masculinity in the NFL, it is important to define
Black masculinity and identify its influence, both inside and outside of
sports. Masculinity is most commonly defined as a socially constructed set
of role responsibilities, behaviors, expressions, achievements, and interac-
tion within men’s culture that is dependent on time and cultural space.13
I am not suggesting that all Black NFL players who are publicized exhibit
the same multisided expressions of masculinity. Nor am I implying that
a monolithic form of Black masculinity exists. However, many scholars
like C. Keith Harrison argue that the images of Black males in sports fre-
quently promote essential characteristics of Black masculinity that perpet-
uate negative social assumptions toward Black males.14
220 D.D. BROWN
A few years ago, one Black American long resident in Thailand sent me a let-
ter in which he commented on the effects of this relentless barrage of Black
athletic images. Based on what their media showed them, he reported, South
Asians had no reason to believe that African-American abilities extended
beyond the world of sports.17
The “success” associated with Black NFL players contribute to the sig-
nificance of their images. According to the US Census Bureau, the mini-
mum salary of a first year NFL player is approximately ten times that of
the average salary in the USA. They also enjoy fame, leisure time with
their families, and elite status. Yet still, the success associated with Black
NFL players has yet to translate into success for Black males outside of
the NFL. Unfortunately, outside the NFL, Black men in the USA con-
tinue to produce the highest rates of unemployment, incarceration, and
college dropout.19 The detrimental images of Black masculinity displayed
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 221
in the NFL and the affect they have on society, cannot be explained by
examining one dimension of racial oppression. They exist because of many
interlocking, interconnected sets of racist assumptions in a racialized,
oppressive society. For this reason, employing a holistic theoretical frame
such as Critical Race Theory is crucial for assessing the deep and surrepti-
tious issues of race within this phenomenon.
In fact, Black men often cope with their frustration, embitterment, alien-
ation, and social impotence by channeling their creative energies into the
construction of unique, expressive and conspicuous styles of demeanor,
speech, gesture, clothing, hairstyle, walk, stance, and handshake.41
prestige and recognition, exercise power and control, and express pride,
dignity, and respect for themselves and for their race.45
Micro-Aggressions
Although racism in the USA has perennially existed, the overt forms of
racism present in the antebellum and Jim Crow eras have become socially
rejected. Whites learned to adapt their treatment of Blacks by employing
more sublet forms of racism. These “micro-aggressions” are described by
Delgado and Stefancic as “stunning small encounter[s] with racism, usu-
ally unnoticed by the members of the majority race.”47 These unconscious
attacks include the ignorant and racially motivated labeling of Black NFL
players. For example, in 2009, NFL commentator Gus Johnson described
Chris Johnson, a Black running back for the Tennessee Titans, by saying,
“He’s got getting-away-from-the-cops speed.”48 Associating a Black man
with a person running from the police is a discreet way of criminalizing the
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 227
against him exemplified the intolerance Whites have for the “bad ni**er,”
especially in athletics.
We see this type of characterization ascribed to many Black males in the
NFL. Billy Hawkins says the “bad ni**er” is associated with the savage
athlete and is characterized as untamed, violent, and with superior physical
abilities.51 The representation of Black NFL players in media outlets such
as television shows, commercials, and films shows a caricature of the “bad-
ni**er” style in which they are creative and heavily talented, but play by
their own rules. Thabiti Lewis describes the style of the Black quarterback
in the movie Any Given Sunday as “a direct affront to Coach D’amato
and to tradition; his presence as a quarterback threatens all that is good
and correct about football and America.”52 Yet, the NFL and media com-
modify, market, and sell the style of Black masculinity as a clownish spec-
tacle. Most of the negative stereotypes placed on Black men in the NFL
stem from a failure to understand the dynamics of masculinity in Black
culture.53 Whiting and Lewis’ criticism of the “bad ni**er” image is that
it exudes hyper-masculinity and violence that is often commodified and
sold without being placed in the context of a “resistance to oppression,
or as a response to, or attempted compensation for, a perceived loss of
power, potency, and manhood in the wake of the real and perceived White
power that controls their worlds.”54 In other words, stereotyping Black
masculinity as hyper-aggressive, without acknowledging the context of
anti-Black racism, is a tactic for maintaining White hegemony and control.
Another way of controlling the images of Black masculinity in the NFL is
by perverting Black players’ expressions and socially scrutinizing them as
bad-mannered. It is common for Black players to be labeled arrogant by
the White gaze as a result of their expressions.
Arrogance
It is important to state that Black expression of spiritual joy often erupts
in stylistic dancing and spontaneous celebrations. However, according to
Phillip Cunningham, there is a double standard based on race regarding
celebration dances among NFL players.55 White players are not faced with
fines or scrutinize as arrogant. According to CRT, this is an example of
“Whiteness as property,” which is defined as the “Notion that whiteness
itself has value for its possessor and conveys a host of privileges and ben-
efits.”56 Blacks are not afforded this privilege. To many White onlookers,
this type of spirited celebration is interpreted as arrogance and self-praise.
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 229
This was the case in 2015 when images of Cam Newton, quarterback for
the Carolina Panthers, showed him dancing after every touchdown. That
year, a letter was written to Newton by a fan who argued his celebrations
were a display of arrogance and not becoming of an NFL quarterback. A
few months later, a survey was conducted of 705 people. It asked them
if they like the celebration rituals of players like Newton. The results of
the survey indicated that 85 percent of Black respondents like celebra-
tions compared to only 51 percent of Whites.57 This supports the claim
that when images are displayed of Black males expressing themselves in
ways that are culturally unique, Whites often view them as unacceptably
arrogant.
This was also apparent in the responses to a 2014 interview with
Seattle Seahawk cornerback, Richard Sherman. In this interview, minutes
after making the game-saving play to go on to the Super Bowl, Sherman
shouted, “I’m the best corner in the game!” The response to this spirited
display of emotion and confidence was racist outrage. Many people on
social media, overwhelmingly White, flung claims that Sherman is a “thug”
and “arrogant.”58 This is another example of how Whites continuously
view the images of Black masculinity that land outside of White cultural
norms as negative and defiant to the behavioral standards set by White
culture. Therefore, any form of dancing, speaking with self-affirmations,
or verbalizing confidence is seen as arrogance.
Hyper-Aggression and Violence
Another critique of Sherman’s interview was the “aggressive manner” in
which he made his comments. To the White gaze, images of aggressive
Black males in the NFL advance the stereotypes that hyper-aggression is
a natural trait of Black masculinity. This is another double standard. On
the one hand, the NFL has traditionally rewarded violent orientation in
which fans cheer at the sight of violent play. For White players, the physi-
cal toughness is cast as a positive aspect of masculinity and interpreted
by the dominant society as manly. On the other hand, the Black male
image is socially vilified based on a similar association with violence. The
defamation of Black males as overaggressive and violence-prone contrib-
utes to the dominant narrative and justifies the excessive and sometimes-
fatal force used against them outside of sports.59 Ironically, the record of
the American military, physical dehumanization of enslaved Africans, and
the brutal murder of Sean Bell, Amadou Diollo, and Trayvon Martin, in
230 D.D. BROWN
addition to the beating of Abner Louima and Rodney King, make it appar-
ent who the violent group is. Blacks have seen their oppressors deploy
violence on them for over 400 years. Because of the violence of the domi-
nant group, the oppressed groups now imitate the violent actions of their
oppressor.60
In contrast, the negative image of Black masculinity is softened by
the presence of more controllable figures, just as it was by the emer-
gence of Joe Louis a decade after Jack Johnson’s reign. Louis defended
his title against the German, Max Schmeling, during the reign of Adolf
Hitler and the Third Reich.61 Louis became the first major Black ath-
lete cheered by Whites. He demonstrated how Black athletes could
conduct themselves in a way that allowed them the benefits of White
acceptance and gain privileges by taking on Whiteness as property, as
CRT terms. Just as athletics can be used to “liberate” Black males, it
can also be used to perpetuate the images of Black masculinity that
supported the stereotypes imposed by Whites. While Johnson exhib-
ited the type of Black masculinity that would not be affirmed by the
dominant White society, Louis exemplified the type of manhood that
was tolerated by Whites. In the NFL, the more controllable Black
players are presented in a positive light. Black NFL players such as
Russell Wilson, a Black quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, are not
associated with many traditional traits ascribed to Black NFL players.
Because of this, Whites often socially accept these players in a limited
but public fashion. Wilson, who has a relatively light skin complexion,
has been criticized by his teammates for embracing the “non-Black”
persona that privileges him and provide cultural acceptance by Whites,
specifically the all-White ownership of the Seattle Seahawks.62 When a
Black player like Wilson does not show characteristics associated with
other Black players, such as engaging in celebration dancing, project-
ing an “urban-Black” slang/dialect, or even having a darker skin tone,
he becomes more palatable to the dominant race that look to maintain
their own superiority. By celebrating the Black NFL players who have
conformed to White culture rather than those who enjoy Black cultural
traditions is to engage in social micro-aggressions that elevate White
culture over Black. Historically, one of the most damaging stereotypes
that maintain the belief of White supremacy and Black inferiority has
been the promotion of intellectual inequality that assumes Black males
are less intelligent than Whites.
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 231
In an article entitled Race and the NFL Draft: Views from the Auction
Block, Mikaela J. Dufur and Seth L. Feinberg highlighted Black players
that were quoted making statement similar to those of slaves:
They were referred to as “young bucks” and “work horses,” and noted
that coaches and general managers were constantly coming up to them to
touch and evaluate their bodies in passing at the hotel. Players used terms
like “poke” and “prod” to describe their medical evaluations, and said the
exclusively White medical staff did not even ask permission prior to inserting
fingers into their mouths to examine their teeth.69
To simply state the matter, many people disregard the ways in which NFL
scouts devalue the academic achievements of Black athletes during the
recruiting process. While it is arguably valuable, it is not necessary for
an NFL player to academically excel in order to be successful at foot-
ball. Regardless, the perpetuation of dumb, athletic Black males resonates
through younger generations. This effect is heavily felt when considering
the percentage of players who fall short of the NFL. The number of col-
lege football players drafted into the NFL is 1.7 percent.70 The chance
of a high school player reaching draft success is astronomically low, 0.08
percent.71 Not to mention, most players that make it to the NFL only
play for an average of 3.5 years,72 just over the required three years play-
ing time needed to receive a pension that most players will not reach.73
While football is a great vocation for a few, it is not the main source of
income for most Black males who seek financial stability. Yet, the images
of Black masculinity perpetuated by the NFL influence the identity of
most Black males. Indoctrinated by the glamorized, yet anti-intelligence
and anti-education, image of Black masculinity in the NFL, Black males
are too often left unprepared to compete for viable employment or move
on to a higher level of education. However, instead of recognizing the
role of racism in creating derogative images, there is a constant claim that
race does not play a part in the portrayal of Black masculinity. In CRT,
interpreting images without regarding race is an approach termed “color
blindness.”74 This is an effort to move past racism without addressing it.
However, because of the already existing formations of racial stereotypes,
the avoidance of race merely helps excuse the negative imaging of Black
masculinity in the NFL.
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 233
Message to the Black Man. And, the owner says, ‘Well, I don’t want you
to read that.’”80 This type of depoliticizing of Black men turns them into
bodies with no voice; they are economically valuable yet socially feeble.
The goal of capitalism is maximum profit regardless of whether it encour-
ages detrimental moral character. The apolitical Black male images are
non-threatening to the White social framework; and therefore, allow for
maximum profitability. By “muzzling” NFL players’ voices, it weakens
the social influence they have and transfers it to the White team owners
and sports agents who control their image. Hence, the commodification
of Michael Jordan heavily perpetuated the benefits for White NFL team
owners to treat Black players as profitable goods.
There are those, however, whose image stand outside the category of
“marketable” and have a more cultural and social consciousness. These
players convey a different form of Black masculinity that falls outside
socially structured categories. However, bell hooks, a writer on Black mas-
culinity, cautions, “Black males who refuse categorization are rare, for the
price of visibility in the contemporary world of White supremacy is that
Black male identity be defined in relation to the stereotype whether by
embodying it or seeking to be other than it.”81 In other words, it is prob-
lematic for Black male identity to be aligned with the stereotypes. But, it
is also problematic for Black male identity to be based on opposing those
stereotypes, as it too is centered on racist assumptions.
CONCLUSION
It must be understood that there is a difference between racialization and
racism. CRT often interchanges the two, and while they are well associ-
ated with each other, they carry distinct functions. The racialized society
of sports helps shape our identities and the identity’s of others by making
race the primary component of one’s identity. The America sports indus-
try is established on the same foundation of racism that American was
built on. Like the Western definitions of Black masculinity, Western racial
ideology derives from an attempt to justify the imperialism of Whites and
the oppression of others, including Blacks.
Throughout history, the image of Black masculinity has transitioned
from the brute, stud, and “bad ni**er” of the Reconstruction Era to the
irresponsible, dumb jock of the Jim Crow days, followed by the contem-
porary images of Black masculinity that include all of the aforementioned
characteristics with the addition of rich, flashy, individualistic, womanizer,
and anti-intellectual. The NFL and various media outlets displays, per-
petuates, and advances these images of Black masculinity. The attraction
of NFL-driven forms of Black masculinity is amplified by the material-
istic climate of contemporary capitalism. Ending the negative portrayal
of Black masculinity in the NFL requires the NFL and media outlets to
promote authentic images and appropriate interpretations of Black play-
ers. However, it is very optimistic to imagine an institution that is not
connected to the anti-Black racism that pervades mostly all of US society.
Therefore, it is important for those truly committed to racial equity to
shift the pendulum—the degree to which images of Black masculinity are
portrayed—to a just and positive position. This is accomplished by over-
emphasis the positive aspects of Black masculinity, especially those found
in high-profile arenas like the NFL. In other words, those who care about
changing the way Black masculinity is portrayed in the NFL must cre-
ate a new and extremely positive image whenever possible to combat the
negative rhetoric often used to describe Black players. CRT calls this the
“counter story” and describes it as “Writing that aims to cast doubt on
the validity of accepted premises or myths, especially ones held by the
majority.”86 This is important not only to humanize the NFL players, but
also to reflect healthier images of Black masculinity to Black males and
those around them. As it stands, the current portrayal of Black masculinity
in the NFL provides some sense of dignity and self-esteem to many Black
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 237
males, but it will not help save them from facing racism, occupying jails, or
being unemployed; in many ways, the current portrayal contributes to it.
NOTES
1. Gilman W. Whiting and Thabiti Lewis, “On Manliness: Black
Masculinity Revisited,” AmeriQuests 6, no. 1 (2008), 1.
2. Richard Majors and Janet Mancini Billson, Cool Pose (New York:
Lexington Books, 1992), 2.
3. George Yancy, “Walking While Black in the White Gaze” (The
New York Times, 2013).
4. Billy Hawkins, “The White Supremacy Continuum of Images for
Black Men,” Journal of African American Studies 3, no. 3 (1998),
7–18.
5. Jay Coakley. Sports in Society. 9th Edition (New York, NY: McGraw-
Hill), 2007.
6. William C. Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar Slaves (New York: Three
Rivers Press, 2006).
7. Lewis, Ballers of The New School, 203.
8. Robert Staples, Black Masculinity: The Black Male’s Role in
American Society (San Francisco, CA: The Black Scholar Press,
1982), 11.
9. “ESPN Media Zone,” ESPN, Inc. Fact Sheet, 2016. http://espnme-
diazone.com/us/espn-inc-fact-sheet/ (accessed 01 05, 2016).
10. “TV Ratings.” 2016, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/topic/
tv-ratings (accessed 01 05, 2016).
11. “Top 15 Most Popular News Websites,” eBizMBA Inc., http://
www.ebizmba.com/articles/news-websites (accessed 01 10,
2016).
12. Richard Lapchick, et al., “The 2012 racial and gender report card:
National Football League,” UCF (Institute for Diversity and Ethics
in Sport. 09 10, 2014), http://nebula.wsimg.com/1e912077d1fd
5c5c7ee7c4633806cfb5?AccessKeyId=DAC3A56D8FB782449D
2A&disposition=0&alloworigin=1.
13. S.R. Bird, “International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.”
Masculinity studies (2008), 2nd ed.; Michael S. Kimmel, Amy
Aronson, and David Alan Sapp, Men & Masculinities: A Social,
Cultural, and Historical Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio
238 D.D. BROWN
18. “Opportunity for Black Men and Boys: Public Opinion, Media
Depictions, and Media Consumption,” The Opportunity Agenda
(New York, 2011). Retrieved from https://opportunityagenda.
org/files/field_file/2011.11.30%20%7C%20Report%20%7C%20
Oppor tunity%20for%20Black%20Men%20and%20Boys%20
%7C%20FINAL.pdf
19. Shaun R. Harper, “Niggers No More: A Critical Race Counternarrative
on Black Male Student Achievement at Predominantly White
Colleges and Universities.” International Journal of Qualitative
Studies in Education 22, no. 6 (2009): 697–712; Lance Williams,
“Cultural Interventions for Reducing Violence Among Young,
African American Males.” In Social Work with African American
males: Health, Mental Health, and Social Policy, edited by Waldo
E. Johnson, 265–292. (Oxford University Press, 2010), 273.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid., 4.
22. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An
Introduction (New York: NY, New York University Press, 2012), 3.
23. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 75.
24. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 8.
25. Joe Feagin, Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future
Reparations. (New York: Routledge, 2000), 51.
26. G. Reginald Daniel, More Than Black: Multiracial Identity & New
Racial Order. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010), 5
27. Ibid. 20.
28. David Whitley, Colin Kaepernick Ushers in an Inked-up NFL
Quarterbacking Era. 11 30, 2012. http://www.sportingnews.
com/nfl-news/4351417-colin-kaepernick-tattoos-49ers-qb-start-
alex-smith-stats-contract-draft (accessed 01 11, 2016).
29. Travis L. Dixon and Keith B. Maddox, “Skin Tone, Crime News,
Social Reality and Judgment: Priming the Darker and Dangerous Black
Criminal.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 35, 8 (2005), 1555.
30. Harry Edwards, The Revolt of the Black Athlete (New York: Free
Press, 1969), xiv–xv.
31. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 57.
32. Ben Carrington, Race, Sport and Politics: The Sporting Black
Diaspora (London: Sage, 2010).
33. David Daniel, “Freak Show: The Top 10 Players on Paper in the 2010
NFL Draft.,” 3 3, 2010. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/
240 D.D. BROWN
356098-freak-show-the-top-10-players-on-paper-in-the-2010-nfl-
draft (accessed 2 3, 2014).
34. Kevin Hylton, ‘Race’ and Sport: Critical Race Theory (New York ,
NY: Routledge, 2009), 3.
35. Joe Feagin, White Party White Government: Race, Class, and
U.S. Politics (New York: Routledge, 2012), viii.
36. Drew Brown, “Race, Colonization and the NFL Draft: A Fanonian
Analysis of the Interviewing of Black NFL Prospects.” In Race in
American Sports: Essays, edited by James L. Conyers, 254–266
(Jefferson, NC: McFarlan & Company, 2014).
37. Derrick A. Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of
Racism. New York: Basic Books, 1992; Biko, Steve. I Write What I
Like: Selected Writings. University of Chicago Press, 2002; Delgado
and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory.
38. Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well.
39. Ibid., 20.
40. Akbar, Visions of Black Men, 23.
41. Majors, “Cool Pose: Black Masculinity and Sports.”
42. Staples, Black Masculinity, 7.
43. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 57.
44. Majors, “Cool Pose: Black Masculinity and Sports.”
45. Ibid., 21.
46. hooks, We Real Cool, xi.
47. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 13.
48. MJD, Gus Johnson sorry for ‘Getting-away-from-the-cops speed’
remark. 11 04, 2009. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shut-
down_corner/post/Gus-Johnson-sorry-for-Getting-away-from-
the-cop?urn=nfl,200191 (accessed 01 11, 2016).
49. Lewis, Ballers of teh New School; Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar
Slaves.
50. Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar Slaves.
51. Hawkins, “The white supremacy continuum of images for black
men.”
52. Lewis, Ballers of teh New School. 232.
53. Staples, Black Masculinity, 8.
54. Whiting and Lewis, “On Manliness: Black Masculinity Revisited,”
8.
THE PORTRAYAL OF BLACK MASCULINITY IN THE NFL: CRITICAL RACE... 241
GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/NCAA/Academics+and+
Athletes/Education+and+Research/Probability+.
71. Ibid.
72. Ryan Guina, Sports Pensions. 2007, 13-April. http://webcache.
googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KMOp_ob_
BxIJ:cashmoneylife.com/sports-pensions/+nfl+pension+requirem
ents+of+4+years&cd=16&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.
google.com (accessed 2011, 1-April).
73. Ibid.
74. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 7–8.
75. William N. Spencer, Why Can’t We All Just Get Along: A Study of
Interpersonal Relationships In The American Workplace. Xlibris,
(2011).
76. Patricia Hill Collins,. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans,
Gender, and the New Racism (Routledge, 2004): 5.
77. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists: Color-blind Racism
and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States.
(Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), 3.
78. Ferber, “The Construction of Black Masculinity,” 14.
79. Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar Slaves, 204.
80. Third and Long: African Americans in Pro Football 1946–1989.
Produced by Theresa Moore. Performed by Walter III Beach.
2012.
81. hooks, bell. We Real Cool, x.
82. Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well.
83. John Hoberman, Darwin's Athletes: How Sports Has Damaged
Black American and Preserved the Myth of Race (New York, NY:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997), 5.
84. Ibid., 5.
85. Drew Brown, “Race, Colonization and the NFL Draft.”
86. Delgado and Stefancic, Critical Race Theory, 159.
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CHAPTER 10
Joseph N. Cooper, Geremy Cheeks,
and Jafus Kenyatta Cavil
Introduction
Throughout the history of the USA, a majority of the social institutions
(e.g., educational, economic, political, religious, and judicial) were estab-
lished for and maintained by Whites.1 Therefore, these institutions were
(and continue to be) governed by White normative values and all non-White
groups such as Blacks encountered various forms of discrimination, includ-
ing enslavement, lynching, incarceration, disenfranchisement, marginal-
are deeply embedded in the US society, CRT theorists reject any notions
of a postracial society. Within the current analysis, the authors will use the
permanence of racism, Whiteness as property norm, interest convergence,
and the critique of liberalism tenets as analytic tools to examine the rela-
tionship of the macro-, meso-, and micro-level challenges facing HBCU
athletic programs.
Macro-Level Challenges
The Permanence of Racism Since 1619, when the first Black Africans were
brought to the USA and enslaved, racism has been an integral part of
the fabric and interworking of the US culture and structures.25 Feagin
described the historical context and evolution of racial-ethnic relations in
the USA when he said,
… the reality of this whole society being founded on and firmly grounded
in, oppression targeting African Americans (and other Americans of color)
now for several centuries. Given that deep underlying reality of this society,
all racial-ethnic relationships and events, past and present, must be placed
within that racial oppression context in order to be well understood.26
Hence, Feagin argues that systemic racism is at the root of racial inequali-
ties throughout the USA, whereby the culture is shaped by the Eurocentric
worldviews and superior status at the expense of African Americans and all
people of color.27 Feagin also explained how White-controlled institutions
in the US society acquired their wealth and sustainability through unjust
CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS... 251
acts of “oppression, genocide, and slavery.”28 Given the fact that Blacks
were viewed as three-fifths of a human when the US constitution was
drafted, it is clear to see the founding fathers of the USA viewed Blacks as
forms of property rather than humans and thus not deserving of having
access to vital resources such as citizenship, ownership of land, political
representation, or economic freedom.29 Feagin explained how this process
manifests itself in the form of unjust enrichment:
Institutions that have been underfunded and underresourced for over 100
years do not just wake up overnight and have what they need in facilities,
infrastructure, and capital to catch up with institutions that have had a 100-
year head start. It would be like running the 100 yard dash with one com-
petitor starting in the locker room while the other starts right at the finish
line.32
Currently, there are 105 HBCUs in the USA and Virgin Islands.33
Between 1998 and 2013, 29 HBCUs have been placed on warning, 20
placed on probation, and 4 have lost their accreditation by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Despite constituting only
13 % of SACS membership, HBCUs accounted for 25 % of SACS sanc-
tions. Loss of accreditation means students cannot receive federal financial
aid, which in turn negatively impacts HBCU enrollment numbers and
total operating budget. In other words, accreditation has become a tool
in which the White normative standards of success are utilized to measure
HBCUs and thereby perpetuate systemic oppression in higher education.
252 J.N. COOPER ET AL.
Meso-Level Challenges
The Whiteness as Property Norm From a historical context, it is important
to recall that the same year the NCAA was founded in 1906, the first Black
athletic conference called the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association of the
Middle Atlantic States (ISSA) was established.47 Hence, in concert with
arguments from previous race scholars,48 it is clear the NCAA like many
White-controlled institutions in the USA was not created nor currently
structured to benefit Black athletes or HBCUs, but rather designed to
disregard, subjugate, and exploit them. Dr. Dennis Thomas, Mid-Eastern
Athletic Conference (MEAC) Commissioner, captured the sentiment
shared among many HBCU athletic program stakeholders about the cur-
254 J.N. COOPER ET AL.
Within the current NCAA March Madness Tournament and BCS bowl
game structures, there is an inherent inequitable structural arrangement
that situates HBCUs among other non-BCS conference schools and
LRIs as dependent on larger well-funded Division I HWCUs for funding
sources.51 Due to the lack of revenue, several members of the Division
I HBCU conferences have subjected themselves to “guarantee games”52
with the top Division I BCS schools. Lillig defined guarantee games as
“nonconference matches, usually between high-profile, high-ranking
Division I schools from BCS conferences and low-profile, low-ranking
schools from non-BCS conferences.”53 The structure of these guaran-
tee games allows Division I BCS schools to guarantee home victories for
both football and men’s basketball teams by defeating lower-tier Division
I teams such as HBCUs. These games are usually extremely lopsided and
an embarrassment for HBCUs while also serving as a form of entertain-
ment for audiences at the HWCU venues through the performances of
the famous HBCU bands. In exchange, the HBCU athletic programs are
guaranteed a sum of money, which these schools rely on to support the
operation of their athletic programs.54
Despite the conspicuous financial upside of these arrangements, these
guarantee games also create a host of negative outcomes for HBCUs. For
one, this inequitable relationship creates a level of dependency among
HBCUs and ensures that these programs remain disadvantaged compared
to larger and better-funded Division I HWCUs.55 For example, these
big-margin losses lower the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) of the par-
ticipating HBCUs, which further contributes to their struggles in terms
of competing for profitable postseason tournaments. For example, the
MEAC and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) (the only two
HBCU Division I conferences) are consistently among the conferences
with the lowest RPIs in the NCAA’s Division I level.56 In fact, the SWAC
had the lowest RPI among all Division I schools for three consecutive
seasons during the mid-2000s. This low RPI decreases the chances of mul-
tiple MEAC and SWAC teams earning higher than a 16th seed for the
multibillion-dollar NCAA March Madness Tournament and thus reduces
CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS... 255
the chances of the one or two teams that do secure a birth of advancing
in the tournament, which ultimately minimizes the revenue generating
potential for these schools. Even worse, the RPIs are so low for HBCU
football teams due to their lack of SOS that even if a HBCU football team
went undefeated, they would still not be considered for one of the lucra-
tive BCS bowl games.57
Another consequence of these guarantee games is the psychologi-
cal impact on the players and coaches.58 Former Alcorn State University
basketball player Troy Jackson described in an interview with the
Entertainment and Sport Programming Network (ESPN)’s Dana O’Neill
the team’s psyche after a blowout loss: “You just get beat up mentally … .
You start believing, ‘Man, we can’t win. We’re never going to win a game,’
and it carries over into the conference season. The losing, it just eats at
you.”59 These embarrassing losses not only affect the players temporarily
but also can have a lingering effect on their performance the remainder of
the season as well as the public perception of the institution.60 The trou-
bling arrangement surrounding these games along with the discouraging
outcomes represent a stark contrast from the success and vitality of HBCU
athletic programs pre-assimilation efforts.61
Thus, the structure of the NCAA and BCS is designed to benefit
the top Division I HWCUs, which have benefitted from years of unjust
enrichment compared to the unjust impoverishment experience by
HBCUs.62 From a CRT perspective, the leaders of the NCAA (Presidents
and Athletic Directors at Division I HWCUs) and the BCS (corporate
stakeholders) as a group of dominant Whites in the racial hierarchy in
the USA have a vested interest in persevering their property (also known
as the multibillion-dollar college sport industry, which has largely been
funded on the backs of Black athletes),63 limiting the rights of economic
profitability to a select number of Division I HWCUs’ athletic depart-
ments and corporate stakeholders, and denying access to various smaller
LRIs such as HBCUs.
The Permanence of Racism The fact that the NCAA is largely managed by
White males who have ties to large Division I HWCUs and the seemingly
“color blind” or neutral academic standards have had a disparate impact
on HBCUs reflects the permanence of racism with the NCAA structure
and organizational practices. For example, HBCU athletic programs per-
CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS... 257
sistently post the lowest APRs and graduation success rates (GSRs) among
Division I institutions.73 In 2009–2010, HBCUs accounted for nearly
one-third (33 of the 103) of the Division I institutions penalized for low
APRs.74 In 2012, HBCUs accounted for nearly 50 % (13 out of 27) of the
institutions that received level-one and level-three APR penalties (NCAA
2012). Mississippi Valley State University (men’s basketball), University
of Arkansas Pine Bluff (men’s basketball), Hampton University (football),
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (football),
and Texas Southern University (football) were all banned from postseason
play for the 2012–2013 season due to low APRs.75 In addition, the fact
that the NCAA’s academic standards do not take into account the unique
educational missions of institutions such as HBCUs or fully take into con-
sideration the reasons why some student athletes leave an institution76 is
problematic and reveals the lack of awareness of the perpetual impacts of
systemic racism, seemingly color-blind policies, and widespread inequities
among US institutions of higher education.
Micro-Level Challenges
The Permanence of Racism Within the NCAA, HBCUs constitute a dis-
proportionate number of LRIs.77 For example, citing data from a USA
Today report, Gaither highlighted how seven of the ten Division I public
schools ranked at the bottom of total operating dollars for athletic depart-
ment rankings were HBCUs.78 An example of this disparity is the differ-
ence between the revenue generated over a five-year period by Coppin
State University (Division I HBCU) and the University of Texas (Division
I PWI), $3.5 million and $150 million, respectively.79 In fact, for the 2006
fiscal year, Delaware State was the only HBCU that ranked in the top
200 (out of 331) for Division I athletic budgets and the median ranks
for athletic and recruiting budgets for Division I HBCUs was 278 and
282, respectively.80 As mentioned earlier, the structural arrangement and
revenue allocation process with the NCAA and BCS exacerbates the per-
sistent economic disparity between larger Division I HWCUs and smaller
Division I HBCUs and reflects the permanence of racism tenet.
Interest Convergence Along the same lines, several HBCU leaders, includ-
ing presidents and athletic directors, cite a lack of resources (fiscal, finan-
cial, and human) and high administrative turnover at their institutions
among the primary reasons for their persistently low APRs.87 Duer Sharp,
SWAC Commissioner, described the unique challenges facing HBCUs in
regard to the high administrative turnover when he said,
need for smart business models that allow HBCU athletic programs to
fund themselves rather than depend on donors or state legislatures.99
Kerr has credibility given his track record of increasing sponsorship dol-
lars and building a $2.4 million video system at A.W. Mumford Stadium
at Southern University (LA).100 Given the dismal financial trends experi-
enced by Division I HBCUs, many HBCU stakeholders have argued that
HBCU athletic programs are better suited for Division II, which does
not require schools to sponsor as many sports as Division I as well as they
can operate with smaller budgets rather than competing in the seemingly
endless arms race found at the Division I level.101 In other words, the
authors share the sentiments of the previous Alabama Agricultural and
Mechanical (A&M) University Men’s Basketball Coach, Vann Pettaway,
when he described his feelings about SWAC teams participating in embar-
rassing guarantee games: “If all of us need money that bad, then maybe
we shouldn’t be Division I.”102
Building on this idea as a starting point, the authors propose a two-step
secession plan for enhancing the sustainability, collectivism, and vitality of
HBCU athletic programs. The first step of the secession plan would involve
the MEAC and the SWAC relinquishing their current Division I status and
moving to the NCAA’s Division II level. Once this transition occurs, the
49 schools and 62 athletic teams that make up the MEAC, SWAC, SIAC,
and CIAA should coalesce to increase the number of inter-HBCU athletic
contests. For example, each of these conferences already hosts a plethora
of classics (e.g., Bayou Classic, Atlanta Classic, Aggie-Eagle Classic, etc.)
and basketball tournaments (e.g., CIAA, MEAC, SIAC, and SWAC tour-
naments) that generate significant revenues for their programs.103 These
contests could be held at current HBCU classic locations such as Houston
(TX), Atlanta (GA), Charlotte (NC), Memphis (TN), New Orleans, (LA),
Orlando (FL), and Washington (DC). Additional locations such as St.
Louis (MO), Chicago (IL), New York (NY), Richmond (VA), and various
cities throughout the USA could be considered as host sites. These events
could also be coordinated and/or dually promoted with other major
African Diaspora events such as annual Pan-Hellenic anniversary celebra-
tions, the famous Essence Festival in New Orleans (LA), the New Orleans
Jazz Festival, and so on. Armstrong (2008) identified the following five
themes associated with Blacks’ attendance to HBCU athletic events: (a)
Black cultural symbolism, (b) family appeal, (c) social interactions, (d)
promotions, and (e) entertainment. HBCU athletic events today are filled
with various social activities connected to the event such as pageants,
264 J.N. COOPER ET AL.
Notes
1. DuBois, W. E. B., The Souls of Black Folk (New York: Dover, 1994);
Carter Goodwin Woodson, The Mis-education of the Negro
(Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1990).
2. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk; Derrick A. Bell, Faces at the Bottom
of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (New York, NY: Basic
Books, 1992); John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, From
Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans (New York, NY:
Alfred A. Knolf, 1988); Woodson, The Mis-education of the Negro.
3. Othello Harris, “African American Predominance in Sport” in
Racism in College Athletics: The African American Athlete’s
Experience, ed. by Dana Brooks and Ronald Althouse, 2nd ed.
(Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology, 2000),
37–52; S. R. Hodge, R. A. Bennett III, and F. G. Collins,
“Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ Athletes and Sport
Programs: Historical Overview, Evaluations, and Affiliations,” in
Racism in College Athletics, ed. Dana Brooks and Ronald Althouse
(Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology, 2013),
63–104; S. R. Hodge et al., “Brown in Black and White—Then
and Now: A Question of Educating or Sporting African American
Males in America,” American Behavioral Scientist 51, no. 7
(2008): 928–52; John Lillig, “‘Magic’ or misery?: HBCUs,
Guarantee Contracts, and Public Policy,” Journal of Sports Law &
Contemporary Problems 6, no. 41 (2009): 41–71; Patrick B. Miller,
“To Bring the Race Along Rapidly: Sport, Student Culture, and
Educational Mission at Historically Black Colleges during the
Interwar Years,” History of Education Quarterly 35 (1995):
CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS... 267
h%2Bhbcus%2Bto%2Bclear%2Bapr%2Bbar riersdf30.html
(accessed May 23, 2014); Melvin Norman Johnson, “Financial
and Related Issues among Historically Black Colleges and
Universities,” Journal of Intercollegiate Sport 6 (2013): 65–75;
Lillig, “‘Magic’ or Misery”; Charles Franklin McClelland, “Athletic
Directors’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of HBCU Division
I-AA Athletic Programs” (PhD diss., Texas A&M University,
1995); Lacy Reynolds, Dwalah Fisher, and Javus Kenyatta Cavil,
“Impact of Demographic Variables on African-American Student
Athletes’ Academic Performance,” Educational Foundations 26,
no. 3 (2012): 93–111; Wiggins, “Critical Events.”
24. Gaither, “Despite Great Strides”; Hosick, “NCAA Working with
HBCUs”; Johnson, “Financial and Related Issues.”
25. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk; Feagin, Systematic Racism;
Woodson, The Mis-education of the Negro.
26. Feagin, Systematic Racism, 7.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid., 9.
29. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk; Woodson, The Mis-education of
the Negro.
30. Feagin, Systematic Racism, 37.
31. Feagin, Systematic Racism.
32. Lee and Keys, Repositioning HBCUs, 29.
33. U.S. Department of Education, “White House Initiative on
Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” U.S. Department of
Education, http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/whhbcu/one-hundred-
and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ (accessed
May 23, 2014).
34. Hayes, “HBCU Presidents,” 1.
35. Decuir and Dixson, “So When It Comes Out”; Harris, “African
American Predominance in Sport.”
36. Lee and Keys, Repositioning HBCUs.
37. Ibid.
38. Gasman, “Historically Black Colleges and Universities”; Hayes,
“HBCU Presidents”; Lee & Keys, Repositioning HBCUs.
39. Feagin, Systematic Racism.
40. Gasman, “Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”
41. Hayes, “HBCU Presidents.”
270 J.N. COOPER ET AL.
63. Billy Hawkins, The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports,
and Historically White Colleges/Universities (New York, NY:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
64. Miller, “To Bring the Race Along”; Wiggins, “Critical Events.”
65. Bomani Jones, “Progress, Yes But HBCUs Paid the Price for it,”
ESPN, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blackhistory2007/
news/story?id=2780876 (accessed May 23, 2014), 1.
66. Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well.
67. Hodge, Collins, and Bennett, “The Journey of the Black Athlete”;
Hodge et al., “Black in Brown and White”; Wiggins, “Critical
Events.”
68. Hodge, Bennett, and Collins, “Historically Black Colleges”; Roger
B. Saylor, “Black College Football,” College Football Historical
Society XIII, no. III (2000): 4–7.
69. Hodge, Bennett, and Collins, “Historically Black Colleges.”
70. Donnor, “Towards an Interest-Convergence”; Edwards, “Crisis of
Black Athletes”; Hodge et al., “Brown in Black and White.”
71. Hodge, Collins, and Bennett, “The Journey of the Black Athlete.”
72. Gaither, “Despite Great Strides”; Jones, “Progress, Yes”; Lillig,
“‘Magic’ or Misery?”; Wiggins, “Critical Events.”
73. McClelland, “Athletic Directors’ Perceptions”; Reynolds, Fisher,
and Cavil, “Impact of Demographic Variables on African-American
Student Athletes’ Academic Performance,” Educational
Foundations 26, no. 3 (2012): 93–111.
74. Hosick, “NCAA Working with HBCUs.”
75. NCAA, “Most Division I Teams Deliver Top Grades,” NCAA,
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/
most-division-i-teams-deliver-top-grades (accessed May 23,
2014).
76. It has been well documented as a primary reason why students do
not finish at HBCUs is due to a lack of financial resources (Gasman,
“Historically Black Colleges and Universities”; Hayes, “HBCU
Presidents”; Johnson, “Financial and Related Issues”; Lee & Keys,
Repositioning HBCUs) as opposed to a lack of interest in graduat-
ing or experiences with a negative campus climate as identified
with Black college athletes at HWCUs (Cooper, “ Personal
Troubles”; Donnor, “Towards an Interest-Convergence”;
Hawkins, The New Plantation).
272 J.N. COOPER ET AL.
114. See Hodge Bennett, and Collins, “Historically Black Colleges” for
an extensive list.
115. Cavil, “The Case for Tennessee State University.”
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CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS... 277
Social Responsibility/Accountability
Addressing Constructs of Critical Race
Theory
Fritz G. Polite and Jeremai E. Santiago
INTRODUCTION
Critical Race Theory
Critical race theory (CRT) is a form of scholarship that is rooted in the
Civil Rights Movement and derived from Critical Legal Studies (CLS).
Though this movement was primarily grounded in the discipline of law,
CRT has now spread to other disciplines within higher education. CRT
was originally introduced in the 1970s by Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman,
Kimberle Crenshaw, Angela Harris, Charles Lawrence, Mari Matsuda, and
Patricia Williams Taylor.1 These scholars-activists recognized that CLS
failed to address the challenges that people of color endured. A person of
color is primarily described as a person who is not white. These scholars
challenges. While there are some programs being implemented and many
being valuable, many of these programs are deficient of cultural signifi-
cance and lack the capability to engage black male athletes in meaning-
ful ways. These programs do not have the understanding of what their
athletes value socially, spiritually, or culturally.9 Yet, coaches and athletic
administrators earn millions of dollars while these athletes have provided
the labor without long-term benefits. These types of power structures
must be addressed. Sadly, they will not be addressed if the oppressors do
not understand or see the issues as beneficial unto themselves.10
to discuss the concept of CSR and its relationship to college sports. This
chapter examines the organizational structure of the NCAA, its function-
ality, and the trappings of its fiscal operations. In addition, it analyzes the
role CSR plays in the shaping of social responsibility and accountability as
it relates to the CRT paradigm.
Collegiate sports are deeply engrained into the culture of our academic
institutions. College sports are extremely popular on both regional and
national scales, in many cases competing with professional organiza-
tions for prime broadcast and print coverage. Universities are also travel-
ing globally to entertain and compete internationally. This includes the
Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Jamaica, to name
a few. The average university participates in approximately 20 different
competitive sports. In total, during the 2013–2014 academic year, nearly
460,000 student-athletes competed in the NCAA. The budgets of many
NCAA, division 1 athletic departments, soar well beyond $100 million
annually and some coaches are earning more than $7 million annually.
College sports have grown from friendly competitions between rivals to
a major conglomerate of major corporate sponsors, major media outlets,
and covering multiple modes of revenue streams.
One could make a strong case that sport in the United States has taken
on a role deeply entrenched within the fiber of the society. The hiring of
coaches in the National Football League (NFL) with salaries of multimil-
lion dollars per year, as well as amateur coaches in the NCAA Power five
conferences with salaries of 4–7-million dollars per year, speaks volumes
to the value placed on the services of these coaches. From a professional
perspective, these salaries are congruent with market value swings and
demands. The challenges within the confines of the NCAA and its self-
defined amateur status are that it operates within or in conjunction with
academic institutions. With this rising emphasis in collegiate athletics,
there is a need to investigate the constructs related to social responsibility
and social accountability. College football (American) coaches make as
much as ten times what a faculty member does in salary and benefits and
five times what a president makes. Coaches are many times the highest
paid employee on campuses of institutions of higher learning and often
the highest paid state employees within their respective states. Although
there has been a recent push for more civic involvement, service, and stu-
dent participation, it has historically been the responsibility of higher edu-
cation to teach the principles of a democratic society.13
284 F.G. POLITE AND J.E. SANTIAGO
and economics, but has filtered into multiple avenues and areas of study.
However, Bowen’s book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman is con-
sidered as the academic foundation for this field of work. Bowen, often
referred to as the “father” of CSR, emphasized that CSR is based on the
understanding that
• Businesses exist at the pleasure of society and that their behavior and
methods of operation must fall within the guidelines set by society,
and
• Businesses act as moral agents within society.24
Further studies on CSR continued in the 1960s with the work of Davis,
which centered on what is now known as the “Iron Law of Responsibility.”
Davis pointed out that if corporations are unable to self-regulate their
actions, then the law should step in.25 The 1970s are characterized by the
work of Preston and Post, who analyzed two key issues: (1) the scope of
the businessperson’s social obligations, and (2) the criteria for assessing
whether a businessperson was behaving responsibly.26 In the 1980s, CSR
made a shift, with the contribution of Jones, who viewed CSR as a process
and not a static concept.27 This expanded the understanding of CSR and
led to the development of Carroll’s well-known hierarchical model of cor-
porate responsibility, in which philanthropy is viewed as the highest level
of social responsibility.28
Numerous scholars and writers have addressed the frameworks for
CSR.29 Friedman offered the view that the main goal of corporations is
profit and meeting the needs of shareholders.30 Others contend that orga-
nizations have to be more socially conscious to the impact of social contri-
butions to general society in conjunction with profits.31 Leaders in sport
must be cognizant of the past templates within the business and soci-
ology literature that has forced companies and corporations to consider
the social accountability and social responsibility aspects of a capitalistic
system. As many corporations have accumulated large amounts of capital,
profits, and financial windfalls, they have also been obligated by socially
conscious groups as well as individuals to commit resources to worthy
and needy social causes. These corporations have also been directly or
indirectly involved with sport. Sport has always shared a unique relation-
ship with corporations. Corporations came to view sport as a platform
or lens in which the product could gain maximized exposure via sport-
ing events. Utilizing the basis of ethical business imperative, companies
286 F.G. POLITE AND J.E. SANTIAGO
the early research around social responsibilities, businesses exist for the
pleasure of the society and their actions and methods of operation must
fall within the guidelines of the society itself.32 The governing body for
the NCAA is caught in a perplexing situation. How do they attempt to
reconcile a multibillion-dollar industry as still be of amateur status? How
do you attempt to justify the mega salaries of coaches on college cam-
puses while top scholars that conduct research, teach, and provide a noble
profession to the institutions of higher education makes a small fraction
of these coaches’ salaries? Does the NCAA hold true to college athletes
as legitimate stakeholders? If the construct of social responsibility encom-
passes the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary actions of the orga-
nization in relationship to the society, the NCAA is negligent and guilty of
the commoditization and counterfeiting of sports as an amateur product.
The continued corporate support of amateur collegiate athletics will con-
tinue to be a major topic of discussion. As we face a financially challenging
global society, leaders must confront the issues of strong corporate support
for sports while neglecting basic social needs such as youth education, health
disparities, poverty, and crime. How can a society consider itself socially
accountable and responsible to the people, while paying amateur coaches
millions of dollars per year while esteemed faculty struggle for resources
to train and prepare the minds of the future? Corporations support the
erection of million dollar sport facilities that get minimal use, while elemen-
tary schools remain dilapidated. Powerful companies purchase milliondol-
lar suites to entertain and host other corporate entities, while millions are
unemployed and living in poverty. These moral and ethical discussions must
take place in a Socratic forum so that we can begin to modify the leader-
ship behavior and begin the process of exercising true responsibility and
accountability in amateur and professional sports. The implementation of
a CSR strategy with constructs of integrity and honesty can limit discourse
as it relates to negative perceptions. While focusing on the CSR platform,
leaders must account for and balance the CRT paradigm as a key construct
struggle with the constant battle to maintain the balance between academic
success, competitive success, and social acclimation at their respective institu-
tions. The current discussions surrounding the lucrative multibillion-dollar
enterprise, massive coaching salaries, and the facility arms race, along with
the billion-dollar media rage, leave a void as they relate to the foundations of
CRT and the marginalization, dehumanization, and degradation of not only
the black athlete but also black athletic administrators. The black athlete is
the major contributor and participant in the production and attainment of
the huge financial windfall that is being reaped upon many white benefac-
tors. The sweat, blood, and tears of black males in primary sports (football/
basketball) are the driving engine of this economic machine. The infusion
or intersection of CRT would allow these issues to be viewed from a lens
that is inclusive of race and racism as a factor in the framework for under-
standing these occurrences. This would include the interpretation of history
and the past roles of the black athlete in contrast to today. Historically, the
black athlete was relegated to participate in Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) and their talents were not a part of the general busi-
ness model. Fast-forward today, and the black athlete is the mule for carry-
ing other non-revenue-generating sports enjoyed by many white students
and administrators.
The paradox of the black athlete as a major commodity often replicates
the role of black labor and its contributions to many whites who capitalized
on this labor. The infusion and application of CRT in direct correlation with
the CSR platforms would require a sense accountability and responsibility
in addressing the challenges of the black male athlete. This is not to disre-
gard the plight of the black female athletes and the vast struggles that they
also incur. The picture is clear; the major player in the billion-dollar game
is the black athlete as a commodity and not as a student. In other words,
black male athletes are valued as a source of revenue and not as a scholar or
potential employee with certain attained skill sets that will prepare them for
a changing complex global economy. The intersection of the CSR/CRT
platform must be utilized to ensure social justice for the black male athlete.
NOTES
1. Edward Taylor. “Critical race theory and interest convergence in
the desegregation of higher education,” In L. Parker, D. Deyhle, &
S. Villenas (Ed.), Race is—race isn’t: Critical race theory and quali-
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY/ACCOUNTABILITY ADDRESSING CONSTRUCTS... 289
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PART III
Athletic Representation
and Leadership
CHAPTER 12
Keith Michael Champagne
INTRODUCTION
During the last several decades, there have never been more than 12 Black
male sitting intercollegiate athletic directors at the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level at predominantly White
institutions of higher education (PWIHEs). The current demographics of
the nation’s intercollegiate athletic departments in terms of leadership and
who ascends to leadership positions are not reflective of the current racial
and ethnic diversity of college athletes participating in college athletics.
For instance, according to the Race 2014 Racial and Gender Report Card
(RGRC) from The Institute for Diversity and Race in Sports (IDRS), 87.7
percent of the nation’s intercollegiate athletic directors were White. In
intercollegiate athletic director positions across the three NCAA Divisions
I, II, and III, 87.7 percent, 91.5 percent, and 94.5 percent of these positions
were held by White men, respectively. In comparison, African Americans
held 8.0 percent, 3.4 percent, and 4.2 percent of the intercollegiate athletic
director positions in Divisions I, II, and III, respectively.1 In addition, at
the associate director level, White men comprised 87.2 percent, 90.1 per-
cent, and 93.6 percent at Divisions I, II, and III, respectively, and African
Americans held 8.7 percent, 6.1 percent, and 4.0 percent of the associate
athletic director positions across the three divisions.
Moreover, as of January 2016, there were 12 African American inter-
collegiate athletic directors at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) insti-
tutions, and of the 128 intercollegiate athletic directors who oversaw
FBS football programs, 111 (86.7 percent) were Whites and 12 (9.4
percent) were African Americans. The 12 African Americans included
Ray Anderson, Arizona State University; Michael Williams, University
of California, Berkley; Warde J. Manuel, University of Michigan;
Stan Wilcox, Florida State University; Kevin Anderson, University of
Maryland; Sean Frazier, Northern Illinois University; Eugene Smith, The
Ohio State University; Bernard Muir, Stanford University; Kevin Clark,
Temple University; Derrick Gragg, Tulsa University; David Williams, II,
Vanderbilt University; and Craig Littlepage, University of Virginia.
It is sine qua non that the real and specific reasons for the underrepresen-
tation of Black male leaders in modern successful Division I intercollegiate
athletic departments (that are purportedly committed to diversity, inclu-
sion, and social justice on their campuses) be diligently addressed. Young
Black men have become and will continue to be major contributors to the
multibillion-dollar “economic” engine that drives today’s intercollegiate
athletic programs at the nation’s largest college and university athletic
departments. Yet, qualified Black men in the field of intercollegiate athletic
leadership and administration are not being hired for senior leadership
positions at the same rate as their White colleagues at these institutions.5
In 1996, a prominent legal scholar, Kenneth Shropshire, wrote, “In the
harshest terms, the sports industry resembles a Black-bottomed pyramid:
large numbers of African-American athlete-participants, but few African-
Americans in non-playing positions at the highest levels.”6 The disparity
in African American representatives in coaching and managerial positions
might be due to racism at the institution, and unconscious or “old boy”
sponsored mobility philosophy at the next level, thus excluding ethnic
minorities from leadership positions in sports.7
Additionally, Brooks and Althouse concluded head coaching and
administrative career paths of African Americans differ from those of White
coaches and administrators, and factors such as “old-boy networks”, “iso-
lation on campus”, “stereotyping”, “racism”, and “tokenism” have an
impact on hiring decisions.8
300 K.M. CHAMPAGNE
CRT scholars have affirmed that any examination of race and racism
must begin with the understanding that “Whiteness” has been positioned
as the optimal status criterion in our society. That is the present and pre-
vailing social order where Whites have created a system of human domi-
nation or a constellation of institutions, ideas, and practices, which have
successfully enabled “Whites” to achieve and maintain power and privilege
over other racial groups and people of color.16
found that “race” does indeed matter and that it is an important consider-
ation as we attempt to understand and address the dearth of racial minori-
ties in the head coaching ranks of NCAA college football programs at FBS
and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) levels.18
Second, Agyemang and DeLorme also sought to understand the under-
representation and paucity of Black head coaches at the NCAA Football
Bowl-subdivision level utilizing CRT. They specifically analyzed the Report
Cards on Collegiate Demographics and Hiring Practices (RCCDHP) and
found that although head coaching opportunities come open each year,
White coaches are the ones who are actually hired for these head coaching
roles as more Black coaches are passed over.19
Third, in a case study which included a single focus group and in-
depth interviews with four African American male football players in
high-profile college sports program at a PWIHE in the Midwestern
United States, Singer elucidated the experiences of these students. He
observed that these students felt that racism manifested itself in terms
of African Americans (1) being denied access to leadership and major
decision-making opportunities in college and professional sports; (2)
being treated differently than their White counterparts; and (3) having to
impress the White power brokers with their athletic prowess on the fields
of play before they are even considered for opportunities to be in high-
level management positions of leadership and authority in professional
and large college organizations.20
It is only recently that scholars have been utilizing CRT as an analytic
and explanatory tool for providing insights into the current state of affairs
in intercollegiate athletic leadership and college sports regarding issues
and problems such as the underrepresentation of Black men in intercol-
legiate athletics in highly visible positions, such as intercollegiate athletic
directors and major sports head coaches.
In summary, through the application of CRT, research on racism, dis-
crimination, and the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in intercollegiate
athletic leadership has elucidated that racism in intercollegiate athletics
operates similarly to that of the greater society. It is systemically and insti-
tutionally inherent in the world of college sports and in the profession of
intercollegiate athletic leadership. The Black male is a primary stakeholder
group in sports (particularly athletes and students of color). In essence,
CRT is a framework from which to explore and examine how racism in
our society privileges “Whiteness” as it disadvantages others because of
their “Blackness”.21
304 K.M. CHAMPAGNE
Mentoring
Mentoring was important to the early and continued success of Black
men entering the profession of intercollegiate athletics. Their mentors sig-
nificantly influenced their professional lives. For example, mentoring and
continuous mentoring influenced their pursuit of graduate degrees fol-
lowed by their career success in intercollegiate athletic administration and
leadership. The Black men that are highlighted in this study moved into
intercollegiate athletic administration at the conclusion of their college
athletic careers, which was facilitated by their mentors. The career paths
taken by these men were guided by purposeful and meaningful mentoring
and career tracking on the part of the mentor who supported them. Thus,
they were encouraged and influenced to seek employment in the field
by mentors who had contact with them during their undergraduate col-
lege athlete years. This is in line with Bandura’s SCCT, which recognizes
and acknowledges the mutual interacting influences between people, their
behavior, and their environment. Bandura identified this interaction as
“triadic reciprocality”, in which personal attributes such as internal cog-
nitive and affective states, physical attributes, external factors, and overt
behaviors or actions all operate as interlocking mechanisms that affect one
another bi-directionally as a causative agent in the process.22
Networking
Having access to a powerful network and networking were important to
Black men’s career success in the profession of intercollegiate athletics,
and being a part of a powerful network had a definite influence in the
career development and/or advancement of Black men in the profes-
sion over an extended period. These powerful networks of intercollegiate
BLACK MALE INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATORS: ASCENDING... 305
Institutional Racism
The main challenge and/or obstacle to career success that Black men
encountered and experienced along their career path is institutional rac-
ism and its manifestations. According to one Black intercollegiate athletic
BLACK MALE INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATORS: ASCENDING... 307
You are in a lonely profession; it is not that people are not nice to you. They
just appear to be more comfortable with people who look like them. I go to
308 K.M. CHAMPAGNE
conference meetings and they are always two noticeable things: there are no
women and I am the only Black person in the room.
Summary
CRT helps us to understand the findings from this study in the following
manner: First, analyzing and advocating for and/or changing those struc-
tures and cultural aspects of intercollegiate athletics that maintain subor-
dinate and dominant racial positions in intercollegiate athletic leadership.
Second, helping to make sense of and to better understand how these
exclusionary structures and practices negatively affect Black men in inter-
collegiate athletics and college sports, and what needs to be done to either
eliminate and/or dismantle these exclusionary structures and practices.
Third, including the “voices” and narratives of Black men in intercollegiate
athletics and college sports who are and continue to be the victims of insti-
tutional racism and/or others forms of discriminatory practices in college
BLACK MALE INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATORS: ASCENDING... 309
GOING FORWARD
It is critically important that all who believe in and are invested in col-
lege sports solve this problem. That is the underrepresentation of Black
men in leadership positions in the nation’s major NCAA Division I level
PWIHEs. Moreover, the only way this vexing problem can be solved is
to fully converge the interests of Black men aspiring to these high-level
athletic leadership positions with those of the powerful White men who
control college sports. Thus, the way to get more Black athletic directors
is for those in powerful leadership positions in college sports to completely
diversify intercollegiate athletics at all levels in terms race and ethnicity.
Whites will have to realize that the advancement of persons of color in
college sports is indeed in their own self-interest. Until this happens, race,
racism, and power will always be factors that matter in college sports for
years to come.
If more university presidents and provosts had been intentional, pur-
poseful, and strategic in the recruitment and hiring of Black men in
intercollegiate athletics leadership positions, the career development and
advancement narratives that this study revealed might be less a matter of
good fortune and more a matter of intention and strategy. Therefore, the
following are recommendations for moving forward:
with the requisite skills and experiences which will enable them to
gain entry into the profession at an early age.
NOTES
1. Lapchick, R., Little, E., Lerner, C., & Matthew, R. (2009 & 2010).
Racial and Gender Report Card: College Sport. Orlando: The
Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, University of Central
Florida, 1, 1.
2. Lapchick, R. (2003). Racial and gender report card. Orlando, FL:
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.
3. Brooks, D. D., Althouse, R. C., & H, S. G. (2007). Diversity and
social justice in college sports: sport management and the student
athlete. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
4. Fink, J. S., Pastore, D. L., & Riemer, H. A. (2001). Do differences
make a difference? Managing diversity in Division 1A intercollegiate
athletics. Journal of Sport Management, 15, 10–50.
5. 5 Hawkins, B. (2010). The new plantation: black athletes, college
sports, and predominantly white Institutions. New York: New York
St. Martin’s Press.
6. Shropshire, K. L. (1996). In black and white: race and sports in
America. New York: New York University Press.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what
is it doing in a nice field like education? Qualitative Studies in
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PART IV
Conclusion
Billy Hawkins
The chapters in this volume only graze the surface of the research being con-
structed using critical race theory (CRT) and its application to the sporting
experiences of Blacks in the USA. The majority of the chapters in this volume
focused on Black athletes’ intercollegiate sporting experiences; however, this
does not negate the attention that is needed in applying CRT to a broader con-
text of Black sporting experiences, specifically, and the sporting experiences of
other historically marginalized racial groups. The chapters that engaged the
female athlete experiences, professional Black athlete experiences, and inter-
collegiate Black athletic administrators are examples of applying CRT to the
broader sport practices of Blacks in the USA. Further application of CRT to
the sporting experiences of Black women sporting experiences and Black ath-
letes sporting experiences at the youth, interscholastic, and professional levels
(on the field experiences and their experiences as administrators and coaches)
is also needed. The goals of these critical examinations are to expose and
depose of racial injustices that inhibit progress to a postracial society.
As a site of resistance, sport can be a platform where Blacks are not
only using their athletic labor to generate revenue, but their administrative
B. Hawkins (*)
Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston,
Houston, TX, USA
e-mail: hjbilly@central.uh.edu
Data source: 2014–2015 Division I figures. NCAA sport sponsorship, participation and demographics
search. http://web1.ncaa.org/rgdSearch/exec/displayResultsPercents
Data source: 2014–2015 Division I figures. NCAA sport sponsorship, participation and demographics
search. http://web1.ncaa.org/rgdSearch/exec/displayResultsPercents
Knight Commission on Intercollegiate marginalized, 18, 21, 23, 30, 34, 58,
Athletics, 17, 59, 156 93, 95, 100, 106, 123, 125–7,
130, 136, 141, 142, 160, 162,
249, 315, 318
L Martin, Trayvon, 2, 229
Ladson-Billings, Gloria, 22, 30, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
46n17, 142n2, 211n7 (MIT), 62
Lamar, Kendrick, 138, 146n45 Matsuda, Mari, 18, 279
Lapchick, Richard, 12, 27, 109n19, Mayo, Ovinton J’Anthony, 199
110n26, 112n39, 165n38, 201, McBride, Sheila, 185
212n31, 237n12, 289n7, 298, McCants, Rashad, 124, 125, 134,
311n1, 311n2 135, 143n8, 147n50
Leadership Development and Training McGuirk, Bernard, 101
Institute, 309 media revenue, 69
LGBT, 22 meso-level, 29, 33–6, 44, 248, 250,
limited-resource institutions (LRIs), 253–7
248, 254, 255, 257, 259, 265 Michigan state, 73
Littlepage, Craig, 298 micro-aggressions, 86, 105, 131, 141,
Loftin R. Bowen (Chancellor), 75 226–7, 230, 233
Lorde, Audre, viin1 micro-level, 6, 25, 29, 36–8, 44, 250,
Louima, Abner, 230 257–60
Louis, Joe, 230 Microsoft, 194
Loyola, 62 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
LSU Black Male Leadership Initiative, (MEAC), 253, 254, 263
162, 166n51 Million Man March of 1995, 22
Lynn, Marvin, 19, 46n15, 48n36 minority, 13, 18, 21, 24, 62, 63, 88,
89, 95, 105, 138, 155, 225, 249,
156221
M Mississippi Valley State University,
Macalester, 62 257
macro-level, 29–33, 44, 250–3 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC),
Maddox, K.B., 222, 239n29 174, 177, 178
Madison Square Garden in New York Morgan State University, 262
City, 264 Mount Holyoke College, 88
major league baseball (MLB), 21, 67, Muir, Bernard, 298
207 multicultural services, 97
Major League Soccer (MLS), 207 multi-year scholarship, 73
Major, Richard, 225, 237n2 Muslims, 2
Mann Act, 227 Myles Brand, 15
Manning Marable, 1
Manziel, Johnny, 199
marginalization, 19, 93, 94, 280, 281, N
288 Napier, Shabazz, 39, 64, 198, 211n16
INDEX 327