Black athletes are exploited by universities, professional teams and the media, panelists said at a discussion titled "Reflections on Race and Sport in America" held Monday night in a packed Andrews Dining Hall.
Professor of Africana Studies James Campbell mediated the discussion, which included New York Times sports writer William Rhoden, former men's basketball head coach Craig Robinson and track star Nicole Burns '09.
The issue of race in sports "has become so much a feature of our lives that we scarcely even see it anymore," Campbell said.
Rhoden drew attention to a problem with the power structures in professional sports. He said that although most athletes and some coaches are black, most team owners are white. "Who's got the real power?" he asked.
Robinson agreed with Rhoden's point and said that in his experience in college sports, most athletic directors were white.
Rhoden compared the world of professional sports to a plantation, where athletes, both black and white, are exploited by team owners. He said players are often traded like commodities and not paid as well as team owners.
Rhoden and Robinson both said it was unfair that athletes generate large amounts of revenue for colleges while often not being offered scholarships.
He said student-athletes in the Ivy League work as hard as athletes at schools in major conferences and they should therefore be offered the same opportunities for scholarships.
"A busted knee at Brown hurts just like a busted knee at Auburn," Rhoden said.
Robinson said black and white athletes face different standards as players. When asked by an audience member to describe North Carolina's star basketball player, Tyler Hansbrough, as an athlete, Robinson said, "Tyler Hansbrough is a terrific player. If he were black, he'd be an ordinary player."
Campbell began a discussion about the experience of black student-athletes by asking Burns about her experience as a sprinter and student at Brown.
"I do personally feel comfortable as a black student-athlete," Burns said, adding that she thought athletics foster unity among races. But she said that minority students often form groups off the field.
When she goes to lunch, she said, "I am sitting at a table full of black students." Burns told The Herald that though the track team is racially diverse as a whole, the athletes in her event - sprinting - are mostly black.
Robinson said when he was an undergraduate at Princeton, many people stereotyped black athletes. He said people openly suggested that "you're only here because you play basketball."
Burns said that during her freshman year at Brown, she also noticed this prejudice. "But I don't notice it anymore," she said, adding, "I'm still getting the same grades that they are."
Panelists agreed that student-athletes are not properly educated about the consequences of focusing on their sports over their schoolwork. "You can't just be good at a sport," Burns said. "You need to have some sort of education."
Burns said she works with high school athletes in Providence to teach them about the importance of completing their education.
Rhoden said many student-athletes drop out of school in hopes of becoming professional athletes, only to be injured early in their careers. Such athletes are left with nothing to fall back on, he said.
Robinson said the solution to this problem is giving student-athletes scholarships for life so they can resume their education if they return to school after playing professionally.
Ultimately, he said, only a small number of college athletes who are drafted will become successful professionals. "The others should be able to come back and get their degrees," he said. He added that a 28-year-old former athlete dedicated to getting a college degree would be a positive role model for other students.
However, Robinson said he would not be in favor of paying student-athletes. "There's a beauty to amateur athletes that I see in my players' eyes when you win a game you shouldn't have won," he said. "You don't see that in the pros."
Without athletic scholarships, student-athletes often struggle to pay for college and are steered away from Ivy League schools towards sports powerhouses that offer more generous aid.
Burns said she knows the hardship of working through college while playing a sport. "I'm working three times a week," Burns said.
She said she often finishes practice at 6 p.m. and then works from 6:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. in order to help her family pay for her education.
"Sometimes I think maybe I should have taken that scholarship and gone to another school," Burns said.
Rhoden also told The Herald that in his experience as a journalist, the predominance of whites in sports media is a recent phenomenon that must be considered when examining race and sports. He said in the past, black writers fought for the rights of black athletes to break into professional sports, but in recent years the media has become predominantly white.
When Campbell brought up last year's widely watched trial of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for his role in an illegal dogfighting ring, Rhoden argued that Vick's case demonstrated that when black athletes make mistakes, "The rug will be pulled out from under (them) so quickly."
The event drew a diverse crowd, including students, coaches and professors from other schools.
"This is the first time I've seen such a cross section of people," said Associate Athletic Director Carolan Norris. "It was really inspiring."
