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The Legacy of Brown Commodification of the African American Student-Athlete? Dana D. Brooks* and Ronald Althouse† I. Introduction P opular media thrive on the notion that “sports is the great equalizer.” Sports provide minorities , particularly African Americans, the opportunity to gain access to higher education and the “good life.” Following the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the number of African American high school and college student-athletes (male and female) increased.1 Reinforcing this notion, 2002 NCAA student participation data showed that highly skilled African American student-athletes disproportionately made up the intercollegiate student-athlete population in the NCAA revenue-producing sports.2 Indeed, based on such recent African American student-athlete participation rate data and the “merit-based sports industry,” why discuss the topic of racism in intercollegiate sports? Noted sports sociologist, George Sage, reminds us that “racial discrimination is deeply rooted in America’s society.”3 We have suggested previously that “the tendency to romanticize intercollegiate athletics by relying on myths of competitive amateurism, alluding to higher standards of academic integrity and, thus, perpetuating colorblind virtues of opportunity and justice, feeds abuses that continue for African American student-athletes on predominantly white campuses.”4 Sage concluded, “Racism that has been a salient part of college athletics throughout its history is only one dimension of an institutional racism that has been a pervasive part of the African American experience since its beginning.”5 Although exclusionary conduct and blatant discrimination are no longer legally countenanced , racism persists in sports for African American athletes. 302 Dana Brooks and Ronald Althouse II. Racing from the Past: Early African American Sport Pioneers and Scholars Historically, American colleges and universities valued athletic prowess, and occasionally, an elite college permitted the highly gifted African American student access to college. Prior to 1900, a few selected African Americans participated on integrated college athletic teams. Soon after World War II ended, some highly acclaimed African American social scientists began to systematically critique the African American sports experiences. Dr. Edwin Henderson, widely recognized as a pioneering social justice advocate, and A. S. “Doc” Young, who wrote about late nineteenth- and early twentiethcentury elite black athletes, spoke of the benefits of sports participation (e.g., skill enhancement) but underscored a myriad of social injustices associated with sports (e.g., racial stereotyping). Tracing the careers of exceptional African American athletes such as Jack Johnson, Isaac Murphy, and Rube Foster, “Doc” Young proposed that “today, more Negro athletes are playing American games as Americans and athletes first, and as Negroes second, than ever before in the history of sports.”6 But Young cautioned about the romanticized perceptions of the “level playing fields of sport in America.” Dr. Henderson’s books noted changing perceptions toward elite black athletes.7 In the preface of Dr. Henderson’s The Black Athlete, Jackie Robinson wrote that “the history of the Negro in sports is in many ways a microcosm of the history of the Negro in America. For a long time, our talents were hidden or ignored. When we received the opportunity, we showed that we would compete and excel. This is all the Negro is asking in sports or society—the opportunity.”8 By 1968, Henderson hailed the collapse of “separate but equal” but also recognized the existence of invisible, or at least less visible, discrimination in professional sports, first noting the lack of “Negro” quarterbacks (i.e., positional stacking), but also acknowledging, “Besides this discrimination in terms of leadership, Negro athletes contended that there is a quota system on most teams.”9 A year after Henderson’s publication of The Black Athlete, Dr. Harry Edwards launched the provocatively controversial critique of racism in the Revolt of the Black Athlete,10 which challenged America to question the “equal rights” notion of sports in society. Dr. Edwards asked, “What has integration meant to the Black athlete? Is the African American athlete significantly better off in predominantly white schools than in an all black institution? What has the integration meant psychologically, socially, and educationally to the African American athletes?” Edwards’s questions still resonate whenever inclusion is addressed at its most fundamental level, that is, having access to opportunities, which, of course, means creating opportunities for black student-athletes to realize their dreams in the classroom and on the playing fields. Racism in College Athletics reflects our effort to address issues of racism, social class inequality , and gender discrimination raised by Edwards and other sports scientists. It challenges the prevailing viewpoint offered...

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