Mikkey Halsted

Who’s Using Who?

            New York times sportswriter, William C. Rhoden, recently penned a book entitled Forty Million Dollar Slaves.  The book presents Rhoden’s central argument, using post-civil war plantations as a metaphor for the modern sports industry.  Rhoden compares the plantations of the late19^th and early 20^th centuries that were run by White males, to modern sports team franchises, predominantly owned by affluent White males.  In making this analogy, the author also compares Black slaves with modern Black athletes.  Rhoden’s central argument is that the team sports industry is dominated by the performances of highly paid Black and Latino athletes while the higher paid majority White franchise owners exploit these athletes by never allowing them to wield any direct power with regards to franchise direction or ownership.  While Rhoden’s book provides many arguable points of conversation, after reading, my focus remained on the Black community and its dependence on sports as a means to escape poverty.  So, this month’s TWII focuses on two pivotal issues, 1) is the urban Black community exploiting itself by focusing our youth’s attention to sports rather than academics? 2) Is the socio-economic disparity that exists within many Black communities a true roadblock to education?  Earlier this week, I conversed with several good friends these topics and it was interesting to see how people from different background viewed the same problem.  My major points are as follows. 

            Firstly, addressing one of Rhoden’s arguments, I find it very hard to include the word “slave” in any sentence with “forty million dollars”, although the author does stop short at calling them slaves within the book, it’s just not a comparison that I’d make.  The slave lifestyle is quite far from that of pampered millionaire athletes despite the fact that they’re very few majority Black sports franchise owners (Bob Johnson, owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, is the lone majority Black franchise owner) and Black athletes provide the lion’s share of the entertainment.  Shaq is not a seven-foot tall sharecropper.  Shaq is a highly paid athlete that chose his profession early on like so many other professional athletes.  I do agree, however, that sports has damaged the Black community but not because of the lack of minority franchise owners.  Once recruited to play for colleges (sometimes scouted as young as 11), it is the treatment of these athletes by coaches, agents, and boosters that often alters the athletes’ perceptions of the importance of education and even the sport itself, as money eventually becomes the focus.  Some would argue that the lack of Black males to provide guidance is the reason many athletes see coaches and agents as “father-figures” and go with any advice given.  However, when is the onus on us?  At what point should we all (not just Black males) be accountable for our own actions? 

There is a huge elephant in the room of the African American (Black) community.  This elephant represents our reliance on sports and music to escape poverty.  When nationwide testing suggests that we read, write and perform math at lower levels than other groups, the first thing we shout is “Economic Disadvantage” or “Broken Home”.  Yet the same people, who scream that their academic performances are due in part to poverty or lack of role models, seem to overcome these disadvantages to play college and professional level sports.  It appears that poverty can only be overcome by athletic prowess.  I am not saying that poverty and broken homes play absolutely no part in poor academic performance, but should not be used as an “obstacle” illusion.  Of course public schools are less funded than their private counterparts but does this prevent students from taking the initiative to learn? A friend of mine made an interesting analogy about schools.  He compared public schools to a free food market that offers generic goods and average to poor quality meats.  Private schools were represented by Whole Food stores that had much better produce and meat but at a hefty financial cost.  Just because your food isn’t organic, does not mean that you cannot eat well and grow.  I thought this served to be a well-made analogy. 

My biggest frustration lies within the fact that in general, our community does not put a premium on academic achievement.  When proper English is mocked as “talking like you’re White”, we are truly lost.  We must emphasize academics more than sports.  The irony is that with approximately 350 NBA jobs available, the odds of succeeding as a mathematician, physician, lawyer, or businessman are much higher than becoming a professional basketball player.  Yet, these odds are often overlooked until it is too late.  Even making it to the professional ranks does not ensure lifetime financial stability as mismanagement of funds, injury, or a very short career can limit the amount of money made through sports.  We need to start promoting academic achievement at a younger age, with some scouts building relationships with athletic phenomenoms (phenoms) as early as 11, little time exists to ensure the prioritization of education over sports and music.  I am not saying that young people should not follow their dreams of success within sports and entertainment but they must broaden their interests to include academics.  While agents, sneaker companies, and coaches are absolutely exploiting our young men and women, we are guilty of the same exploitation when we do not emphasize alternate careers to our young student-athletes.  Instead of using these athletic scholarships as a means to get a college diploma and even an advanced degree, many treat scholarships as internships, staying just long enough to determine whether or not they can become professional athletes. 

In conclusion, we, as a community must put the emphasis on education and if our children excel in a sport, make sure they are aware that they can be both athletic and academic phenoms.  I know a lot of cats who “went pro” in math and never looked back and a lot of young writers wrote their way out of the ghetto.  Until the Black commmunity realizes what our most precious resource really is, we'll keep taking free throws instead of free education.  But, I guess that's just what it is.

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