College Basketball's Racial Culture
Racial tension spilled into the College Basketball realm just like other social institutions of the turbulent 1960s. For a time, stereotypes and prejudice prevented African-Americans from getting the same opportunities as their white counterparts at major institutions. Texas Western’s title-winning team in 1965 garnered fame because of their play, but became immortalized by being the first team to start five black players in the National Championship. The race of the sport was rapidly shifting, and this fact made many white fans uncomfortable. As a result, many players “endured multiform racism, including housing discrimination, social isolation and harsh treatment from coaches and peers.” (Clark, 2015). This quote comes from a study conducted at a PWI[1] in the same general region as Trinity that fields major conference teams to this day. In the study, the experience of the first African-American basketball player at this school is documented, also examining his sons’ time at the school to compare and contrast. Focusing on agency[2], Clark and his colleagues examine the difficulties resulting from both social and academic prejudice towards the subject, as well his contemporaries elsewhere in the country. This notion that African-American athletes receive different treatment than their white counterparts appears frequently in studies detailing today’s social climate. Jeff Stone examines this concept in the context of the student-athlete in his article, “Don’t Call Me a Student-Athlete”. Through extensive research, Stone establishes a correlation between lower grades and African Americans identifying as “student-athletes” rather than just “students” (Stone, 2012). Similarly, Eddie Comeaux explores the perceptions professors have of their students’ academic/post-undergraduate achievements in an article for the Sociology of Sport Journal. Once again, a pattern of discrimination towards minority students surfaces. Professors reacted favorably towards stories of their Caucasian students’ successes, and less enthusiastic to others (Comeaux, 2010).
In addition to academic discrimination, social acceptance plays an interesting role in the life of the African-American student athlete. Athletics played a large role in the lives of aforementioned professional athletes, paving the way for a better lifestyle that many people of their race could barely hope to achieve. Collegiate athletics presents a different narrative, as amateurs do not receive the same social mobility professional money can grant them. Aaron Klopton asserts in his article “Big Time College Sports in Black and White” that college athletics functions “primarily as a mechanism whereby poor, primarily Black students are used to finance the educational and athletic activities of wealthy White students” (Klopton, 2011). If these athletes truly are playing for their predominantly white and better off “fans”, then this assertion appears true, even negating the substantial evidence Klopton provides as justification. In these settings, athletes often receive treatment based solely on their athletic success, especially the star players. As such, the student body accepts and respects prominent athletes regardless of race, but primarily due to their achievements on the field rather than their character off it. Writing for the quarterly journal Crisis, Thabiti Lewis links this thought process to low graduation rates and academic achievement for African-American student-athletes, noting the prioritization of athletics over academics because of the social climate. Black athletes carry heavy burdens on them to perform at the collegiate level, and it could be said that in part this is due to a lack of racial acceptance otherwise (Lewis 2010).