The Mis-Education of the African American Student-Athlete

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Harrison ◽  
Albert Y. Bimper ◽  
Martin P. Smith ◽  
Alvin D. Logan
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Male Student ◽  
Sport Performance ◽  
African American Student ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Student Athlete ◽  
American Student ◽  
Alternative Pedagogy

The African American male student-athlete occupies one of the most peculiar positions in American society. While lauded for their sport performance, they are often viewed as problematic in the broader society. While their performance generates millions of dollars for universities and the NCAA, for most, their labor often produces comparatively little personal gain. While they are recruited as student-athletes, they soon realize that the demands of their athletic commitment renders them athlete-students. Many outside of sport would argue that this is a choice and an informed decision. But we argue much of this is a consequence of the mis-education of the African American student-athlete. We examine this phenomenon through the lens of Critical Race Theory to provide an alternative view of the issues faced by African American student-athletes and suggest an alternative pedagogy that might be investigated to meet their needs.

Democratic Pluralism: Placing African-American Student-Athletes in the Context of a New Agenda for Higher Education

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-118
Author(s):  
Harry Edwards
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Ethnic Relations ◽  
African American Student ◽  
American Student ◽  
Race And Ethnic Relations ◽  
Role Responsibilities ◽  
American Society ◽  
Education And Society

Harry Edwards delivered the NACADA Journal symposium lecture at the 1990 NACADA National Conference. He was invited by the Journal's editors to expand the ideas he presented into an article to give the entire membership an opportunity to examine these ideas. We have also included responses from several professionals who are actively involved in exploring the issues that Edwards deals with. The editors welcome further responses to this article. The character and dynamics of developments at the interface of intergroup relations, education, and sport are shown to be deeply embedded in the historical evolution and intertwined with the contemporary complexities and contradictions of race and ethnic relations more generally in American society. The proposition is developed that African-American student-athletes' patterned negative outcomes can be reliably understood and effectively addressed only if due consideration is given social, cultural, and political forces that serious-impact but that emanate far beyond the institutional functioning of academia and sport. Established and broadly accepted African-American advancement strategies and goals are critiqued and evaluated relative to their past viability and future remedial potential as adjunctive influences upon the content, contours, and direction of African-American education. Competing educational philosophies and methods are analysed and assessed as to the appropriateness and promise of each in a postindustrial, ever more ethnically diverse America. Democratic pluralism is posed as an alternative to both established Black liberal and incipient Black neoconservative integration/assimilation dispositions and change regimens, as well as to various Black separatist and separate development strategems relative to African-American individual and collective advancement in sport, education, and society. Broad perspectives and guidelines pertaining to the role responsibilities and realms of accountability of educational administrators (particularly college presidents and chancellors), counselling supervisors and academic advisors, teachers, African-American communities and families, and African-American student-athletes are discussed against a background of longstanding and ongoing Black/White intergroup tensions and heightened athletic and academic pressures upon the student-athlete.

Race, Sport, and Social Support

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Othello Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Black Community ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Professional Sport ◽  
African American Student ◽  
American Student ◽  
White Males ◽  
Socializing Agents

This study investigates whether African American student-athletes receive encouragement to participate in sport from the black community (e.g., parents) or from other socializing agents (e.g., teachers, coaches, and friends). A questionnaire was administered to 23 teams in two summer basketball leagues in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1985. The findings indicate that African American student-athletes are more likely to perceive social support for playing basketball from coaches and friends and especially teachers, who provide encouragement for African Americans to participate in sport, but not from parents. Moreover, support for playing basketball is associated with professional sport aspirations for black, but not white, males.

scholarly journals “Be Your Own Man”: Student Activism and the Birth of Black Studies at Amherst College, 1965–1972

2016 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-322
Author(s):  
Kabria Baumgartner
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
African American ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Student Activism ◽  
Male Student ◽  
African American Student ◽  
American Student ◽  
Student Activists ◽  
Amherst College

Historians have examined how social movements influenced African American student activism in mid-to-late twentieth century America. This essay extends the scholarship by telling the story of African American male student activists who led the fight for curricular reform at Amherst College, then an all-male liberal arts college in Massachusetts. This local story reveals that African American student activism was driven by social movements as well as the distinctive mission of the liberal arts college.

scholarly journals Moving Beyond the Question of Education or Exploitation: The Dynamic Experiences of Black Male Student-Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Howe ◽  
Marc Johnston-Guerrero
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Male Student ◽  
Student Athlete ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Athletic Departments ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Black Male Student ◽  
Experience Education

When discussing the Black male student-athlete, dominant perspectives argue that they are being educated while another perspective argues that this population is being exploited. This article moves beyond the question of whether Black male student-athletes are being educated or exploited as we argue that both can happen. Utilizing Critical Race Theory, we highlight dominant perspectives about Black male student-athletes as well as offer an analysis of their experiences. The article provides the presentation of a fictive counterstory that portrays the notion that this population can experience education and exploitation. We conclude by offering a discussion about approaches that institutions and athletic departments can take to better serve Black male student-athletes, including adopting the Excellence Beyond Athletics approach (Cooper, 2016).

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