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Cjjarlotte #oat |
Bill Johnson, Publisher Emeritus
Gerald Johnson, Editor/Publisher Bob Johnson, Co-Publisher
Jalyne Strong, Managing Editor
CIAA Vs. Division
A headline sports story in The Charlotte
Post on March 26 raised the question, "Is the
CIAA Ready For Division I? Without even a
second thought, and even before reading the
article we offered a resounding "No!" Our
I immediate response is based largely on three
things: money, money, and money. Money to
build and maintain first class facilities,
money for athletic scholarship, and money
for top quality coaches and tutors for the ath
letes.
Having made these observations, we are V
reminded that even with more more money •'
the CIAA schools would not fair well in
NCAA Division L Why? Again we can start
with money; that is, no matter how much
money the black schools might have, the
larger, predominantly white schools will
have even more. Secondly, these other insti
tutions have the best of both worlds. They can
recruit and get the bets white and the best
black athletes. This is an option that the
black colleges don't have. • •
lhe proof of the pudding on these hard real
ities is that when black colleges have the
rare, and very rare, opportunity to compete^
against the predominantly white schools,
they do so poorly. For example, N.C. A&T
State has been to the NCAA Basketball Tour
nament at least four of the past five years and
has on each occasion list in the first round,
usually by rather big scores. Furthermore,
even when black colleges are playing white
institutions of comparable size they still usu
ally come out as losers. Johnson C. Smith
lost its post season basketball game this year
fo a Kentucky school by a wide margin. More
easily observable is the fact that the black col
leges that participate annually in the small *•'
college WBTV Basketball Classic rarely If
ever will and none has 6ven won the champi
onship. Again, it’s primarily a matter of the
best of both worlds that (tie black schools are
competing against.
More important than anything that we have
said thus far as to why black colleges, public
or private, should not even consider moving
•to an NCAA Division I level is that their con
siderable limited resources and energies
'must be devoted to far more important aspects
and priorities of institutions of higher learn
ing.
For example, a recent study revealed that a
disproportionally high percentage of the stu
dents at all the black, four-year colleges in
.North Carolina, both public and private, and
a few of the white schools, too, made relative
ly low scores on the most recent National
Teachers’ Examination (NTE). This some
, what historic pattern has resurfaced the possi
bility at such schools losing their state
certified teacher training programs.
/
While the many supporters of black higher
educational institutions in North Carolina
may take some comfort in that North Caroli
na ranked near the bottom in scores on the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) taken fay col
lege-bound students last year,the NTE results
have helped to resurface again the role and
place of the five state-supported, predomi
nantly black colleges in North Carolina. In
June, 1986, The News and Observer of Ra
leigh suggested the establishment of a broad
based commission to make recommenda
tions on how to reduce or eliminate some or
all of these historically Mack schools.
Furthermore, predominantly black colleg
es, which historically are in a never-ending
struggle for adequate financial resources,
are now facing a double-barreled problem
also involving money. While there has been
an overall 11.3% increase in black student
enrollment at the full 16 campuses of the UNC
system, pressure on the predominantly white
institutions to recruit more blacks means in
part that at least some of the black schools are
getting less talented students. This situation
results in more money needed for such things
as remedial programs to offset weak high
school academic backgrounds.
Combined with drastic cuts in federal stu
dent grants and loans many black youth are
being discouraged from seeking a college ed
v ucation. The numerical significance of the
problem is in the fact that the typical black
family income even in 1987 is only $67 for
every $100 for a white family.
With these kinds of problems and chal
lenges, and their implications for black
higher education at the dawn of the 21st centu
ry, black colleges and universities have far
more important things to sink more resourc
es into than a preoccupation with advancing
to Division I level collegiate sports.
' Let us hastily add that we are strong sup
porters of collegiate sports programs. We be
lieve such activities are vital to the moral
building of an institution's supporters, it
helps develop well-rounded students and
helps them to Appreciate the value of healthy \
competition. WO believe CIAA schools would
do better to reassess what they have and begin i
to improve on that instead of thinking that
they can ever realistically compete with the
UCLAs, Michigans, and UNC Chapel Hills of
the collegiate sports world.
•Undoubtedly, some CIAA schools would be
better off eliminating costly football pro
grams. At many large universities football
and basketball are the two revenue producing
sports that help to subsidize other intercolle
giate sports. At far too many of our small,
black schools football and, sometimes bas
ketball, must themselves be subsidized just to
reach a cost break-even point.
Let 8 face it, the CIAA is far from being as
strong as it might bo, does not compete well
with non-conference foes, lacks the resources
to elevate to a Division I NCAA, and has
within its member institutions too many
challenges of a non-sports nature that should
be the mqjor focus of these institutions' con
cerns. Lastly, for those of you who are won
dering, only one out of every 50 college ath
letes makes it into the professional ranks
and very few of these are from the CIAA.
We applaud the CIAA for what it has dene
for black youth, the development of black
coaches and the recognition of black higher
education—and we encourage more of the
same with some shifting of priorities without
dreams of Division I and contentment in im
proving on what they have where they are.
’
Covert Racism: Alive And Well
The remarks made by A!
Campanis on "Nightline" last
thursday night still looms in
the hearts and minds pf
many. The fact that he made
the remarks was shocking ...
The fact that he had no idea
that his remarks were racially
destructive was depressing.
It is this type of subtle ra
cism that has created a bank
ruptcy of progress for Black
Americans in this country.
Individuals in decision mak
ing positions have developed
a mindset that predetermines
an individuals ability to pro
duce at a certain lcwel based
on skin color. v
This type of covert racism
easily explains why less than
2 percent of baseball's nearly
nine-hundred management
personnel are tnindrities.lt
B explains why, after 40
since Jackie Robinson
the color line in base
ball, little progress has been
made to truly integrate the
ortunately, this type of
exclusionary practice is not
limited to baseball. It is an
attitude that exists in all
walks of life. It may help ex
plain why so few Black
Americans or other minori
ties have failed to successful
ly climb the corporate ladder.
The message Mr. Campa
ris' remarks sent to Black
Americans was indeed a sad
commentary for the land of
equal opportunity. It said in a
nutshell, if you aren't man
agement material in a field
where you have over 40 per
cent participation, then you
might as well forget any op
portunity in a field where
you have less than 10 percent
participation.
Mr. Campanis* remarks
clearly embarrassed all of pro
fessional sports. It has precip
itated conversations in the ex
ecutive offices of major
league teams. Only time will
tell if the conversations are
meaningful enough to cause
some positive results. It is my
guess that it will create short
term appeasements rather than
long term solutions.
The truth of the matter is the
front offices of professional
sports’ franchises will react to
socially redeem themselves.
History has proven time and
time again that social redemp
tion is short term in a capita
listic society. Long term re
demption requires capital (in
God we trust, all others pay
cash).
The root of this problem as
with businesses is the lack of
Black ownership. With no
Black owners in the 'good ole
boy' network, my predeces
sors will be faced with this
same dilemma 40 years from
now. Hence, Black Ameri
cans are at the mercy of the
social redemptive values of a
white majority society.
Ask yourself this question,
what if baseball's manage
ment had said "ole A1 is right,
ypu 'darkies’ are unfit to
manage in this league". What
could we do as a people?
nothing!
Yes, the players would quit
and we might strike the
games, but so what. They
played the game without us
before and they could do it
again. So, what leverage do
we have? None!
Why? Because we don’t
control any purse strings, if
enough Blacks owned enough
diverse businesses, we
would be in a position, either
directly or indirectly, to im
pact the sport. The players
have to wear uniforms, the
game requires bats and balls
which require raw materials
like wood and rubber, the sta
dium has concessions, the
teams have to travel, the list
goes on and on. I am willing
to bet that Blacks get less than
1 percent of all indirect mon
ey spent by all of sports.
-We have a ehoiee. We -oau,
continue to rely on the Gov
ernment (the last 6+ years
have shown us what that gets
you) and social organizations
to help us make it. Or we can
encourage our own to get in
business and then support
them.
The ball and chain of eco
nomical depravation that
holds our community back
can only be lifted through ec
onomical self reliance, eco
nomical self reliance is our
guarantee that more progress
for our people will be made
during the next 100+ years,
than has been made during the
last 100+.
It is our only weapon
against the covert discrimina
tion that still exist In this
country.
Will Daughter's Husband Be Black?
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To The Poet
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
proclaimed, "I have a dream
that my four little children
will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged
by the color of their skin but by
their character.” Yet this
dream still remains foreign
to many blacks because their
efforts appear directed at the
preservation of racial purify.
The March issue of the pre
stigious, black magazine EB
ONY had an example of the
unnecessary price that black
females are paying to avoid
joining America's melting
pot. In an article, "26 Ways
To Find A Good Man," the
writer offered a bone-chilling
statistic but no solutions that
addressed the problem raised.
"According to tha U.8. Cen
sus Bureau, there are 1.6 mil
lion more black women than
black men in the U.8.," re
ported EBONY. Yet this EB
ONY article offered merely
strereotypic solutions when
their data demands extraordi
nary efforts.
The above statistic suggests
that no matter what black fe
males do under the current
system there is always going
to be 1.6 million without a po
Sherman N. Miner
tential male. That iat there
juet are not enough black
males to go around. Thus,
black females wishing to get
married will have to either
push for polygamy, seek
mates in other ethnic groups,
or marry foreign, black
tnalea.
Polygamy and interracial
marriage are very radical
ideas but a Pennsylvania
white chap says some black
professional women have let
pragmatism dictate their
thinking. He made this reve
lation on a flight from Den
ver, CO, to Philadelphia
where he was returning from
a five-week vacation. This
:hap claimed that black worn
en studying to become doctors
are dating white males be
cause they recognise the se
vere shortage of professional
black males.
As the airplane rounded the
Philadelphia airport, I re
called an old friend remorse
fully reporting that a di
vorced, black woman, with
whom we had grown up, had
just married a white fellow.
On the other hand, I have ob
served or personally known,
for years, interracial couples
where the wife is black. I,
therefore, conclude that these
interracial marriages have
about as good a chance as any
other modem American mar
riage of surviving.
This, a dichotomy which
presently haunts the black
community is this: Contrary
to blacks' diligent efforts to
become assimilated into the
Mainstream American cul
ture they are trying dearly to'
forge a cultural link with Af
rica.
Will the current shortage of
males be sufficient reason to
make interracial marriage
commonplace? Or will the
marriage brokers find a boon
in arranging marriages be
tween foreign, black males
and black, American fe
males?