Race Sports and Education: Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for Black Male College Athletes (Race and Education)

About this book

Race Sports and Education highlights the myriad ways in which organized collegiate sport has both positively contributed to and negatively detracted from the educational experiences of Black male college athletes. Specifically John N. Singer examines the educational experiences opportunities and outcomes of Black males who have played NCAA Division I football and/or basketball at historically White colleges and universities. Singer is intensely aware of the ways in which many Black athletes have been shortchanged by the collegiate sport system. He describes how the colleges and universities have exploited athletes for the institutions financial gain and deprived them of basic educational opportunities that ought to be enjoyed by all students. At the same time Singer argues that sports do in fact offer genuine educational opportunities and benefits for many of these athletes. He is acutely attuned to the fact that these athletes love their sports and that their participation in these sports makes unique educational experiences available to them. As Singer shows to understand the situation and to chart realistic fruitful reform measures requires a full appreciation of the complexityindeed of the many competing and contradictory elementsthat characterizes intercollegiate sport and the experiences of Black athletes at the present time. The book brings to the fore the voices stories and perspectives of twelve Black male college athletes via a case study of teammates from a big-time college football program and individual reflective vignettes of athletes across several different college programs. Through his analysis of the system and his attention to student views and experiences Singer crafts a valuable nuanced account and points in the direction of reforms that would significantly improve the educational opportunities and experiences of these athletes. At a time when collegiate sports have attained unmistakable institutional value and generated unprecedented financial returnsall while largely failing the educational needs of its athletesthis book offers a clear detailed vision of the current situation and suggestions for a more equitable way forward.