For the past three weeks -- with one more weekend to go, American college basketball fans and those who just happen to fill out one of those pesky brackets for the office pool have been transfixed on the television watching teams like UCLA and the Cinderella team of the season, George Mason who pulled off a remarkable feat by advancing to the tournament's final four teams.
But while the fans of these games seem to be the winner in it all and eventually one of the final teams will be crowned the champion of the 2006 National College Athletic Association basketball season, the players in the end -- particularly the African-American student-athletes-- may end up the real losers.
Overall the graduation rate for the 250 Division I schools which are eligible for "March Madness" is 40 percent. Individual schools have made significant improvement since the NCAA started keeping this data ten years ago and that should be applauded; but, for the most part the overall rate has stayed consistent and low.
This is worrisome when you look at the overall rate in non-athletes is at 65 percent but becomes even more troubling and even disturbing when you break it down racially. In a University of Utah study it was shown that African-American athletes at these elite sport schools graduate at below 30 percent.
So while these students may make millions for their universities, so many of these young men leave without a safety net yet alone a degree even though they may cut down the nets in Indianapolis. If this is the fate of those who get the opportunity to go to college, spend a few semesters in a classroom and talk to professors and peers with aspirations for more, it should come as no surprise that those who don't even step foot on a campus fare even worse.
New studies, by experts at Ivy League Institutions like Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, show a huge pool of poorly educated black men are becoming more disconnected from the mainstream society, and to a far greater degree than white or Hispanic men.
To be more precise the major study concluded:
* The share of young black men without jobs has climbed relentlessly, with only a slight pause during the economic peak of the late 1990's. In 2000, 65 percent of black male high school dropouts in their 20's were jobless - that is, unable to find work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent, compared with 34 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts. Even when high school graduates were included, half of black men in their 20's were jobless in 2004, up from 46 percent in 2000.
* Incarceration rates climbed in the 1990's and reached historic highs in the past few years. In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20's who did not attend college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their mid-30's, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in prison.
* In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school.
All of these probably come as no surprise to those in the African-American community who see these statistics in real-life as young men huddle on the corners or begging on subway trains. To many, the reaction to such alarming facts is, "now tell me something I don't know."
To be honest, academics and social advocates have been preaching the demise of the black male for decades. But it's not the extinction that should worry us, it's the marginalization.
We cannot allow an entire section of American society to be, as Ralph Ellison described, "Invisible." Nor can we treat the problem that way, as well -- Sweeping it under the rug doesn't make it disappear, it only creates a lump in the carpet.
Eventually, someone will trip over it and when we do,it will be a thud heard and felt throughout society. A victory on the basketball court takes a team effort. And in light of the obstacles facing the African-American community, to win the victory of society's survival, it's going to take a full court press.
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Hopefully, the mandatory minimum age will keep more young men in college to get their degree, rather than leaving school after one or two years. That may increase the numbers marginally, but there will not be any wholesale improvements in graduation rates for basketball or football players while their sports are "win like your job depends on it" industries for college coaches and athletic directors.
As long as scholarships are tied to athletic performance over scholastic performance, young men (and mainly young black men) will be recruited to play and then shown to the trash heap when they are no longer a fiscal asset to the college or university. If a college or university decides that they no longer want to honor a four-year scholarship, that young man has no alternative but to attempt to transfer to another school or dropout completely (and in either case, that student counts as one who does not graduate, even if he gets his degree at another school).
Every Division I-A school is shooting to play in a bowl game on New Years Day or have a team in the Final Four, because each generates millions upon millions of dollars for the school. College coaches have incentives which go into the millions when their their teams meet these objectives. Unfortunately, it is the poor football or basketball player who reaps none of the rewards (well, they may get a t-shirt and a shiny ring) and may well get the heave-ho if he does not perform to expectations.
The Sports Plantation System is a bitch!
Posted by: plez... | 29 March 2006 at 02:37 PM