African American athletes win challenge to racist
Proposition 16
By
Monica Moorehead
On March 8, a federal district court in Philadelphia threw
out the National Collegiate Athletic Association's requirement
that athletes earn minimum test scores to be eligible for
scholarships.
The ruling was hailed by many in the Black Coaches
Association.
Judge Ronald I. Buckwater wrote in a 54-page decision that
these test score requirements, outlined in Proposition 16, had
"an unjustified disparate impact on African Americans."
In 1996, 26.6 percent of African American students failed
Proposition 16 standards, compared to 6.4 percent of white
students.
The historic ruling came out of a lawsuit brought against
the NCAA by two African American students--Tai Kwan Cureton and
Leatrice Shaw.
Both students earned academic and athletic honors upon
graduating from their respective high schools in Philadelphia.
Neither one of them were offered financial aid by Division I
colleges due to "low scores" on the Scholastic Aptitude
Test.
A combined score of 820 points, out of a total of 1,600, is
considered a minimum requirement in the areas of math, English
and science.
Cureton and Shaw initiated the suit to expose the fact that
the SAT and other scholastic tests are culturally biased
against African Americans, other oppressed nationalities and
poor rural whites.
The court ruling concedes that Proposition 16 violates the
1964 Civil Rights Act. That legislation prohibits
discrimination based on race, sex and disability by educational
institutions that receive federal funding.
The NCAA has publicly denied that its institutions receive
federal funding. But the lawsuit unveiled that the NCAA has
received millions of dollars through the National Youth Sports
Fund.
The NCAA general counsel filed papers on March 10 in an
attempt to suspend the ruling.
These heroic students have unmasked the racist nature of
Proposition 16. But this ruling just scratches the surface of
shameful, institutionalized racism condoned by the NCAA
executives. Students and coaches of color, women and physically
challenged athletes suffer as a result of these patterns of
prejudice and discrimination.
A 1995-96 study entitled "Racial Report Card," issued by
Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in
Society, documented the racist hiring pattern in college
sports--particularly basketball, football and baseball.
African American male athletes dominate both NCAA football
and basketball in overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers.
However, the study showed that while over 71 percent of the
NCAA top executives were white, 21 percent were Black. More
than 80 percent of the NCAA's office managers were white, 9.4
percent Black and 1.9 percent Latino. Of the NCAA Division 1
basketball coaches, more than 81 percent were white.
Not only are African American athletes victimized and
exploited when it comes to academic standards, but there is
also the issue of poor health care. Just recently, John
Stewart, a talented 7-foot high-school basketball player
recruited by the 1998 NCAA-champion Kentucky Wildcats,
collapsed during a game and died from cardiac arrest due to an
enlarged heart.
According to the Medical Tribune, hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, a common cause of sports-related deaths, is
more
common among Black athletes than white--
especially in the areas of basketball and football.
The reason is that Black athletes are less likely to see a
doctor on a regular basis. Therefore, no diagnosis can be made
to prevent such a tragedy from happening.
The NCAA is a multibillion-dollar industry that
super-exploits the talents of young athletes who come from poor
neighborhoods. Mass pressure is needed to force the NCAA to
institute affirmative action programs in the areas of
academics, athletics and health care for athletes of color,
women athletes and athletes with disabilities.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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