Beyond the Field: The Need for Transparency in Sports for Black Males

In the intricate history of American society, the path to social mobility and higher education has been notably challenging for low-income Black male youth. Against a backdrop of systematic disparities, these young individuals often seek alternative routes to success, and for many, sports emerge as a compelling avenue. However, oftentimes, Black male student athletes are only valued for what they do on the field rather than their existence as a student. The promotion of professional athleticism as a financially sustainable career to Black youth needs to be reformed to include complete transparency about the legitimate challenges that come with it.

Sports emerged as a tool for upward mobility for young Black males, and served as one of few alternatives to demonstrate hopes of social ascension to a White audience. This has led to greater significance of sports within Black communities, and has played an essential role in the fight for equality because the commodity of sports has been perceived as being a way to move up the social hierarchy because anyone with “talent and is willing to work hard” has the opportunity to improve the status of themselves. Sports, especially for the young Black male, demonstrates to the world that he is capable of not only being equal to his White male counterpart in talent, but even better. Furthermore, recent survey results illustrate the perception of sports for Black families compared to White families, where parents of African American youth are more likely to rate the importance of sports for pursuit of a college scholarship by more than 23% than White parents. This shows how over time sports has become a revenue that the Black youth indulges in as a pathway to not only mobility but hope and access to higher education–This encourages many young Black males to prioritize sports, with goals of transforming it into a primary source of revenue.

While sports prove to be a social ladder for young Black males, however, we must assess the potential benefits and challenges that sports as a method for social mobility poses. School-based sports participation has been recognized as an “integral component of academic success” in recent years. In addition to academic success, sports participation also increases the likelihood that the participating students maintain positive attitudes towards school and are more engaged. This is significant for students from marginalized backgrounds, such as low-income young Black males, due to Black males hosting one of the lowest college attendance rates of 6% —this rate is even lower than their Black female counterparts. Thus, sports incentivizes Black male youth to attend college.

On the contrary, Black male athletes also face negative racial stereotypes fueled by the media. These commonly include remarks that they have nothing more going for them besides sports and that all young Black male athletes come from single-parent households who were prone to crime before being saved by their sport. This image can be extremely damaging to young Black male athletes, as it increases the likelihood of being perceived and treated much differently than White athletes. Additionally, whether the trope is true or not, many Black people are not at ease with the idea of White people viewing Black male athletes using sports as a “way out of the streets”.

While low-income Black male athletes may seek an education through their sport, one must question whether they are being exploited for their athletic ability and if they are receiving the same college experience compared to other college athletes. Specifically, Black college football players are the focus of this question because they are disproportionately represented in college sports. Black males account for 46.5% of Division I Football athletes — not accounting for the percentage of Black males that participate at a Division II or III level. Studies find that once Black males are at college on an athletic scholarship, they are often overwhelmed with strong stereotypes such as being a ‘dumb jock’ and/or “academically unqualified illegitimate students whose only interest is athletics”. While these stereotypes can be applied to any male student-athlete, Black college football players overwhelmingly experience them. In addition, Black male athletes are often perceived as being athletically superior and intellectually inferior. Furthermore, Black male student athletes in college were more likely to express feelings of isolation, have poor academic relationships with professors and experience on-campus racial discrimination This shows how Black male athletes, especially Black college football players face unique challenges that other students who utilize sports as a means of higher education do not.

These troubling university struggles by Black male athletes can also be seen in their graduation rates. The University of Georgia reported a 79% graduation rate for its undergraduate program, but only a 53% graduation rate for its football players. The graduation rate for Black male athletes is important to note because it reflects the amount who are able to use their degree to secure jobs to achieve the ultimate goal of social mobility. Even then, the options for Black male college athletes are often limited compared to other groups. Over half of Black college athletes report a major within a sports-related field, while 19% of White athletes report a sport-related field. This shows that there may be predatory practices involved when scouting Black athletes. In fact, over 80% of Black male athletes report that if they had been provided with more information prior to coming to college, they may have made a different choice in regard to their degree.

There is a clear need for greater transparency for the low-income Black youth who aspire to be college athletes. Sports have proven to be a prominent tool for access to higher education but we must not allow that to be the end point. What happens to Black male athletes once they are at the college level? Their experiences and outcomes matter and deserve to be evaluated so hundreds of Black men are not failed by a flawed system. Black male athletes experiencing racial stereotypes and being uninformed on their degree options should not be acceptable. This issue is critical to the Black community as Black men continue to be disproportionately represented in sports such as football.