The revolt of the black athlete harry edwards pdf

"Black Fists and Fool's Gold: The 1960s Black Athletic Revolt Reconsidered"

The LeBron James Decision and Self-Determination in Post-Racial America

by Jamal L. Ratchford

TIMES sure have changed. Forty years aftercritics blasted two athletes' silent protest at the 1968 Olympics — when they flung their tightened black-gloved fists into the Mexico City evening sky in the Black Power salute to call attention to human rights con- cerns and received a chorus of boos'—white journalists, spectators, athletes and adminis- trators honored Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Excellence in Sports Perfor- mance Yearly (ESPY) Awards. In 2008, the Entertainment Sports Programming Net- work (ESPN) held their annual gala at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Numerous sports and entertainment dignitaries attend- ed and celebrated the apex of athletic accomplishments. Singer and actor Justin Timberlake entertained the audience and hosted the sports premier award show. The evening is normally a jovial and lighthearted attempt to recapture the best athletic achievements from the calendar year. Tim- berlake's comedie opening remarks featured song and dance, and also brought laughter to the audience at the expense of National Football League (NFL) stars Brett Favre and Eli Manning, and member of the reigning National Basketball Association (NBA), champion Paul Pierce.

The awarding of Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, an honor presented to persons who made the most significant humanitarian contribution to sports and society, shifted the playful tone to a serious and reflective remembrance of a historical moment. Actor Samuel L. Jackson and NBA All-Star and two- time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash gave

the preliminary remarks and introduced the awardees. Jackson said the silent protest remained fresh in his mind. 1968, he recalled, "may have been forty years ago but for many of us, like me, a nineteen-year-old student at Morehouse College at the time, the events were so vivid, so personal that they could have occurred yesterday."^

THE CEREMONIES continued with actor TomCruise narrating a nine-minute clip that documented events leading up to the silent protest. When the film concluded, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were introduced and received the Arthur Ashe award. The audi- ence erupted and gave a standing ovation. A racially and politically diverse crowd that included auto racer Dánica Patrick, NFL all- time great Jerry Rice, and internationally renowned English soccer star David Beck- ham unanimously rose and cheered the two men. The two men gave another raised fist salute in appreciation of the audience. At the microphone. Smith spoke of sacrifice and Carlos reminded current athletes to use sports as a vehicle for social change. ESPN recognized them three years after San Jose State (SJS), their alma mater, erected a statute in their honor. Indeed, American responses to the silent protest were far differ- ent in 2008 than in 1968. After their demon- stration in the Estadio Olympico during the 200 meters medal presentation and playing of the American national anthem, writers vir- ulently criticized Smith and Carlos. Chicago Daily News sports writer and later American Broadcasting Company (ABC) play-by-play

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man Brent Musburger disparaged the protest, saying:

Smith and Carlos looked like a couple of black skinned storm troopers (Nazis), holding aloft their black gloved hands during the playing of the National Anthem. It's destined to go down as the most unsubtle demonstration in the history of protest...and it insured maximum embarrass- ment for the country that picked up their room and board bill in Mexico."'

In Other words, how dare these black athletes rebel against a country that Tommie Smith said, "Treated him like just another nigger off the track?"

How and why were Smith and Carlosbanned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1968 but appreciated in 2008? Have Americans become more racially tolerant of black athletes and the decisions they make? As historian Urla Hill suggested, "Smith and Carlos have transcended their place as villainous traitors to become a sort of brand for gallantry and pluck in the face of inestimable odds." Their action, argues sociologist Douglas Hartmann, diminished their place in American cultural history. In other words, the recognition of Smith and Carlos at the ESPYs alluded to the ways American sports media specifically, and white masses more broadly, determine when and how black protest and self-determina- tion are acceptable in national contexts."* The use of self-determination in this article differs contextually and thematically from the cultural, psychological, socio-economic, and political veneration that the term repre- sented in the late 1960s as articulated by Stokely Carmichael and others. Rather, as suggested later in the article, the implemen- tation of self-determination by black athletes serves in tandem with what I frame, borrow- ing from historian and black studies scholar Derrick White, as pragmatic black national- ism; in this case, the broad use of celebrity to engage social responsibility of black commu- nities and underrepresented groups.

Despite infringements, criticisms, and sanctions against them. Smith, Carlos, and a host of other black athletes in the late 1960s extended a tradition of black self-determina-

tion in sports that tested the limits of Ameri- can participatory democracy. In 2008, the recognition of Smith and Carlos at the ESPYs elucidated the ways black self-determination is currently understood in American sports and society. In ways similar to the cooption of the late Martin Luther King Jr., American popular culture historically de-radicalized black protest in myth and memory and repackaged it in ways removed from its origi- nal and contextual intentions. On the other hand, perhaps recognition at the ESPYs tacit- ly provided opportunities for spectators td engage historiography on race and sports in the American experience. Eor the purpose of this article, reactions to the silent protest shed light on public interpretations of self- determination by black athletes in the age of Obama — sometimes referred to as the "post-racial era. "̂

The Black Athlete and Self-Determinatíon

THIS ARTICLE investigates the dynamics ofrace and sport from the 1968 silent protest to the 2010 LeBron James decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.^ Although contextually removed and symbolically different from the silent protest, I argue the hour-long LeBron James decision extended a lengthy tradition of self-determi- nation by black athletes. His controversial and divisive decision challenged the norma- tive player-owner-spectator relationship when James asserted control and ownership of his present and future. The James decision also was particularly noteworthy because he is a black athlete. Historically, the agency and opportunities for black athletes has been restricted. In the twentieth century many white critics, both players and officials, would not accept integrated competition and discouraged activism in sports. So, it is plausible to situate reactions to the James decision in a legacy of criticism against black athletes. Although James was not the first free agent to switch teams, his decision on national television disrupted the age-old American sporting tradition of the player and owner relationship when James publicly shaped his own destiny. I end this article with a brief examination on the ways the James

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decision overlaps with pragmatic black nationalism, and serves as a catalyst for social responsibility and community engagement for black athletes in the age of Obama.

In 1968 white politicians, journalists, and administrators attempted to limit black agency and atbletic potential. After Smith's and Carlos's silent protest at the Olympics, many whites were perplexed and flustered. How dared black athletes use a sporting event to express dissent? To them, sport best represented American democracy. Integra- tion of athletics meant national integration. To black athletes, athletic integration, which in some ways was a fallacy, only deepened the paradox of American democracy.' Reactions to the silent protest accorded with two posi- tions on the legacy of white appropriation of black athletic self-determination. First, to whites that may have disregarded black con- cerns, integrated sport best represented the possibilities of American greatness. Second, black protest was seen as antithetical to the idea of sport as a non-political space. Fur- t h e r m o r e , black activism in sports was defined as un-American. Historically, black athletes were viewed as property rather than autonomous individuals—their sole alle- giances were supposed to be for team, sport, or country.

TO CLEVELAND CAVALIERS owner DanGilbert and most journalists and specta- tors, James was a traitor that turned his back on the team and city. The demonization of James for his self-determination in opposi- tion to the status quo is a bit ironic, contrast- ing as it does the American core values of individuality, competition, and the profit motive. Thus, I see parallels between self- determination as a contested issue for black athletes in both James's decision and in Smith's and Carlos's raising of the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics.̂

Concurrent to the legacy of appropriation and criticism against black athletes was a tra- dition of self-determination that was pro- pelled forward by them. One-hundred forty- years prior to the James decision were a tradition of American sports that privileged the owner over the athlete. In the late nine- teenth century paternalistic owners like

sports equipment mogul Albert Spalding (of the then Chicago White Stockings) exerted total control over the team. Simply, if players performed poorly, they were not paid and in some instances, fired. Despite those restric- tions, black athletes challenged the financial boundaries of white-owned sports.^ In the 1890s, Isaac Murphy overcame racial discrim- ination and made $15,000-$20,000 — $10,000 more than white jockeys.'" By the early twentieth century, the prevalence of white supremacy prohibited black athletes in the sport. When Olympic champion Jesse Owens challenged United States Olympic Committee member (and Nazi sympathizer) Avery Brundage for increased funds for a post-1936 Olympic Games tour he was shunned, scrapped to make a living, and ran against horses and cars for survival. Fven Branch Rickey, the legendary white presi- dent and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, instructed Jackie Robinson that baseball needed a black athlete that would not advocate physical violence against racism. Although Robinson became the face of integration in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1947, numerous journalists, spec- tators, and owners opposed his inclusion. With the advent of integrated professional sports in the 1950s and 1960s, black athletes began to earn high salaries."

Black Athletes and Civil Rights

ON THE OTHER HAND, numerous collegiateblack athletes tapped into sentiments espoused in the Civil Rights movement and agitated for human equality and freedom. As Stan Wright, a black track and field coacb at the 1968 Olympics said, "it's the morality involved and not the money...They'd sacri- fice to serve."'^ Although Wright was refer- encing collegiate athletes, acclaimed black professional athletes in the 1960s and 1970s including Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Wilma Rudolph, and Curt Flood also infused self-determination into their careers. In the 1990s, Michael Jordan continued a tradition of self-determination and marketed basket- ball as a global and profit-based enterprise. In spite of criticisms against him for leaving one team for another, LeBron James pro-

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longed a tradition of self-determination by black athletes and in doing so publicized that he and not others controlled his agency and destiny.

James was not the only black athlete in the so-called "post racial age of Obama" that tapped into self-determination in American sports. On June 15, 2004, Rasheed Wallace won his only NBA championship when the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. For Wallace, occasionally referred to as "Sheed," the tide was only a fraction of his pro- fessional legacy. Drafted fourth by the Washing- ton Bullets in 1995, the four-time all-star was a six-foot, eleven-inch forward that could run the fast break, defend post players, and knock down the outside jump shot. Indeed, Wcdlace epitomized a new hybrid breed of NBA big men that played like guards and looked like centers. He also was passionately outspoken and infamously earned the tide as NBA all-time technical fouls leader After a loss by his then team, the Portland Trailblazers, his only response in the post-game press conference to the media was, "Both teams played hard.. .both teams played hard, my man...God bless and goodnight." The interview later became an internet sensation on YouTube and it also can be found on numerous "Sports center" top-ten reels. However, all of his commentary was not adored. In 2003, Wallace condemned NBA commissioner David Stern and his league for treating black players like slaves on a plantation. He claimed, "They don't know no better, and they don't know the real business, and they don't see behind the charade. They look at black athletes like we're shit. It's as if we're just going to shut up, sign for the money and do what they tell us."'* Similar to the 1960s, reac- tions by white commissioners, writers, and the general public were not sympathetic. Why? For many whites, one cannot be rich and also per- ceive the world as racist, so highly-paid black athletes like Wallace appear to embody a con- tradiction that they are ideologically unable to reconcile.'"'

To JOURNALIST William Rhoden, author ofa book on blacks in athletics. Forty Mil- lion Dollar Slaves, however, Wallace was on to something. Indeed, Wallace, like fellow Tar Heel and NBA star Vince Garter, were African and Afro-American Studies majors at

the University of North Garohna — a disci- pline rooted in a 1960s black freedom strug- gle that espoused academic excellence, cul- tural grounding, and social responsibility. Wallace understood those principles well before he became a millionaire. Despite the fame of numerous black athletes, Rhoden correcdy argues, they still are on the periph- ery of true power in multibillion-dollar American sports.'^Racism remains a dynamic phenomenon since institutional racism remains the most salient form of racial dis- crimination.

Sure, at the 1997 Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller commented about golfer Tiger Woods:

That little boy is driving well and he's putting well. He's doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chick- en next year. Got it?"*

Then Zoeller smiled, snapped his fingers, walked away, turned and added, "Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."" Or, in 2008, Golf Ghannel anchor Kelly Tilghman joked with former golf champion Nick Faldo that young players should, "lynch him (Tiger Woods) in the back alley."'* Both instances of appalling racist commentary were criticized by the public and then swifdy pushed aside. Why? In my Introduction to African-American Stud- ies class, one of my students commented, "it's not status quo to be racist anymore." To be more precise, it is not status quo to be overdy racist and when necessary keep it behind closed doors — more preferably, systematically interweave it into the status quo. Even if Wal- lace made mistakes, and he certainly did, the former NBA star was conscious of institutional racism in sports and society. Rhoden, in Forty Million Dollar Slaves, situated the intersection of racism and sports in broader historical con- texts and discussed that one need not be spat upon, verbally abused, or lynched to under- stand or experience racism.

The LeBron James Decision

ENTER LeBron James. For nearly a year,sportswriters, administrators, fans, and fellow athletes anticipated the 2010 NBA

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free agency period because it was highlight- ed by mega-stars including LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Dirk Nowitzki. Nearly ten million people watched the hour-long announcement of his decision. It was broad- casted live at the Boys and Cirls Club in Creenwich, Connecticut in front of a studio audience. Chaos ensued when the Akron, Ohio native left the Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs) and took his talents to South Beach and the Miami Heat. Cleveland fans cried, shouted at television screens, and burned jerseys. They removed anything connected to James as "the witness" or "king" — as he had been hailed — stripping down signs from Quicken Loans Arena days later. Some jour- nalists charged conspiracy and said Wade, Bosh, and James colluded during and after Team USA won gold in men's basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.'̂

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert incited anti- James propaganda. He said the once beloved king and savior of Cleveland basketball had become a "coward narcissist" that turned his back on his hometown. Fans agreed. Some sold lemonade to support Cilbert in opposition to NBA Commissioner Stern when he fined Cubert $100,000. The company Fathead sold replicas of Benedict Arnold for $17.41, as a play on the 1741 birth date of the so-called first American traitor in the Revolutionary War.̂ " One local brewery sold a new beer called "quimess." It was described as a beer that wiU leave a bitter taste in your mouth. White and black Cavs fens made a parody film on a LeBron James video called "What should I do?" Hit Comedy Central show "South Park" also mimicked the video in an episode. His decision to leave the Cavs also made spectators and journalists unsympathetic to James the patriot who spearheaded the return to dominance of USA basketball on the interna- tional level. Despite everything that James did "right," his one decision made him the epitome of everything wrong with sports, celebrity, and society. Self-determination was not in style for the American public.

GILBERT certainly had his critics. Somesportswriters pondered the irony in Cilbert — a man that wanted James a day prior but excoriated him when he chose

Miami. One certainty was James re-built the Cavs into a national and internationally- acclaimed franchise. One year prior to the arrival of James as an NBA professional, the Cavs finished with seventeen wins and sixty- five losses. That tied their third worst season in franchise history. After he joined the Cavs, James was billed as the savior of the fran- chise. As a high school athlete he was regu- larly promoted by national media and he also set a new trend for ESPN. His St. Vin- cent-St. Mary High School team was televised nationally often because ESPN wanted to fea- ture James. Thus, James spearheaded nation- ally-televised high school basketball. The Cavs needed a savior and James fit the role.

One supporter of James was the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson understood James's impact on the Cavaliers yet framed his decision to go to the Heat in a slavery context. Jackson declared, "His (Gilbert) feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner- employee relationship — between business partners — and LeBron honored his con- tract."^' Black journalist Jason Whitlock countered, "Jesse has a constituency, a pas- sionate group of idiots who believe the best way to combat white-wing political bigots such as (Rush) Limbaugh and (Sean) Hanni- ty is with black-wing political bigotry. "̂ ^ Clearly, the James decision complicated the relationship between race and sport.

Public Outcry

THE PUBLIC was outraged. How could Jack-son identify race in a seemingly non- racial situation? NBA Commissioner Stern, a good friend of Jackson's, crafted his response carefully and politely disagreed with him. Some faulted Jackson and said his remarks were racist. Jackson became the bigot to those that advocated a colorblind agenda, or in other words, denied the persis- tence of racism in the US.^'Jackson and other critics of a colorblind framework, say it defends white advantages.^'' Some scholars parallel colorblindness to "white habitus" or the process in which whites' segregated lifestyle psychologically leads them to devel- op positive views about themselves and nega-

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tive views about racial others.^* To sympathiz- ers, Gilbert became the misunderstood owner that was wrongly compared to a slave owner because of his condemnation of a for- mer employee who happened to be black.

On the ESPN show "Outside the Lines," two of the three panelists, Dennis Manoloff and Chris Sheridan, agreed that Jackson was out of line with his comments. Host of the radio program, 'The Morning Jones," Bomani Jones differed. First, the general public misin- terpreted Jackon's criticism of Gilbert as call- ing him a racist. In actuality, Jackson referred to a "slave master mentality" in which Gilbert's letter assumed ownership of a "less than human piece of property that he lost" to free agency. Second, Jones argued that Gilbert incited public rage by posting his letter on the front page of the Cavaliers website — a ploy that cemented the owner's message as the voice of the franchise and instantly put the safety of James at risk — police units later patrolled James's multimillion dollar house. Manoloff asked, "If LeBron James were white would Jackson make the same comment?" Jones replied, "A better question is, if the slav- ery statement was semantically clumsy, then why are we discussing it and not the rest of Jackson's statement.. .much of which was accu- rate." To Jones, the bigger issues were three- fold. First, Cavaliers supporters assumed play- ers owe them loyalty. Second, Gilbert's letter incited public rage. Third, when Gilbert post- ed the letter at the Cavs website, a member organization of the broader NBA family, he cemented his sentiments as the official response of the fi-anchise.

Race, sports, and self-determination con- tinue to be hotiy contested issues in Ameri- can popular culture. During the 2011 ESPN Town Hall Meeting in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Richard Lapchick cited racial discrepancies in American media. According to Tides, in 2010, 94 percent of sports editors were white, 2 percent black, and 4 percent other. Nearly 89 percent of assistant sports editors were white, four per- cent black, and seven percent other. The trend continued in regards to columnists, reporters, and copy editors as whites repre- sented 88, 87, and 89 percent, respectively, of those types of media. Out of the five sur-

veys, blacks only comprised double-digit fea- tures in one category: 10 percent of colum- nists. Film director Spike Lee asked about the racial dynamic of athletes and media. In particular, if the majority of players were black and the majority of media was white, then in what ways did the athletes perceive media coverage? His question put the legacy of white media coverage in American sport into the spotlight. Although white spectators, administrators, politicians, and journalists were not monolithic, the findings from Dr. Lapchick elucidated realities that the liveli- hoods of black athletes often were construct- ed by persons that either were ill-concerned, or unknowledgeable of the reality faced by black athletes. In other words, media criti- cism about the self-determination of black athletes was shaped in ways that privileged experiences of white Americans.̂ ^

Youthful Delusions

BECAUSE of the historical legacy of Ameri-can institutional racism, sports became a central strategy for socio-economic vitality and success for many African-American males at the expense of the pursuit of success in edu- cation, public policy, and business. The James decision also tapped into debates on the rela- tionship between race, sports, and society in "post-racial America." Historian Steven Riess found that 70 percent of black youth between ages 13-18 expected to play professionally in tiie NBA.̂ ' The Center for tiie Study of Sport in Society claimed 66 percent of black males believed their first job would be as profession- al athletes.^* However, Prof. Earl Smith of Wake Forest University asserted that the odds of black student-athletes becoming profession- al are 20,000 to one for basketball and 10,000 to one for football.̂ ^

Harry Edwards, a sociologist and central figure in the advent of activism in 1960s sports and society, discussed the ways in which race and sports are skewed in Ameri- can culture. Edwards noted that racial dis- crimination in American labor inhibited blacks' social mobility and benefitted white Americans over African-Americans. Since sports, unlike most other forms of labor available to them, offered monetary wealth.

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blacks over-pursued sports and viewed them as a means to thrive in American society. By contrast, according to Edwards, whites could fluidly move in and out of sports. For exam- ple, when collegiate white athletes in the 1960s fulfilled their eligibility, they could become doctors, lawyers, and politicians. Furthermore, it could be argued that Ameri- can society value..d inclusion of African Amer- icans in sports more than in its broader soci- ety. As Edwards asserts:

There is still, a disproportionately high emphasis on sport achievement in black society...relative to other high-prestige occupational career aspira- tions. Given what is happening to young black people, who have essentially disconnected from virtually every institutional structure in society, sports may be our last hook and handle.™

In the late 1960s, some African-American public figures recognized disparities in sport and society and offered suggestions that bene- fitted black people. Edwards remarked that, if Tresident Nixon can spend his time thinking about baseball and football, I can spend my time thinking about the political interests of black people."'' Earl Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise said, "In 1979, one out of 4,000 black children go on to participate in professional sport — black children unrealistically aspire for athletic careers as their only means."'̂ Tennis hall of famer Arthur Ashe wrote a letter to the New York Times arguing that "black culture expends too much time, energy and effort rais- ing, praising, and teasing our black children as to the dubious glories of sport.. .fill up at the library and speed away to Congress and the Supreme Court, the unions and the business world."'' In 1978, Tommie Smith said:

The athletic scene is worse now than it was in 1968. There's too many other acts of survival that one has to go through before he can live in this society. And equality isn't one of them. Being black in this society is very abstrac

Pragmatic Black Nationalism in the Age of Obama

SINCE sports remain over-emphasized forblack communities, it is timely for per- sons of African descent to reverse this trend for the benefit of the race and nation. Thus,

the James decision also gives credence to the necessity of public action for community engagement and pragmatic black national- ism, or enlightened self-interest, for black athletes in the age of Obama. More specifi- cally, in 2011 James donated two milhon dol- lars to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Clubs in Cleveland, his hometown of Akron, and Elyria, Ohio received approximately $500,000 of that sum. In addition to his cash contribution James also worked with Hewlett-Packard and Nike and sponsored a million dollars' worth of computers and sup plies for the clubs. All told, James assisted fifty-nine Boys and Girls Clubs across the US. Executive director Teresa LeGrair said, "It's not the first thing he had done for this com- munity and there will be many more to come...LeBron loves kids and he's proven that time and time again."'^

THE JAMES DECISION and his partnershipwith the Boys and Girls Club promote the continuation of what historian Derrick White [following Martin Delany, the nine- teenth-century black nationalist, abolitionist, journalist, physician, and writer] termed "pragmatic nationalism" in his article on the Institute of the Black World (IBW). White argues that the IBW promoted "pragmatic nationalism" or the belief that "flexible and carefully constructed social, political, and economic goals and strategies designed to improve black communities were more important than ideological pronounce- ments, conformity, and rigidity."'^ I argue that black athletes can build on concepts espoused by the IBW in the early 1970s and enga.ge pragmatic black nationalism as a framework to promote social responsibility in black communities. Indeed and to quote historian Barbara Ransby, "race is not an ahistorical phenomenon rooted in a shared genetic heritage."" Put differently, since black people are a diverse and dynamic group, then a pluralistic and pragmatic methodology for community engagement becomes useful for black athletes in the age of Obama.

NFL Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown and Tiger Woods are two examples of the necessity of diverse and inclusive approaches to commu-

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nity engagement by black athletes. In 1988, Brown started the Amer-I-Can Foundation program as a strategy to assist people, espe- cially minorities, in educational pursuits and personal confidence through overall achieve- ment. Since its inception, 500,000 students have completed the program. In tandem with this organization. Brown also is also an activist and mediator against gang violence. As a former professional athlete that compet- ed during segregation and was on the front- line of community engagement. Brown has been critical of black athletes that fail to serve underrepresented groups publicly or privately. "He'll (Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods) run you over, he'll kick your [butt], but as an individual for social change or any of that kind of [stuff] — terrible ... terrible."'^ For Brown, charity differs from social change — Jordan and Woods fail to use their celebrity to engage black communi- ties and underrepresented groups. In addi- tion. Brown said:

We are the least-respected culture of any in this country...One ofthe reasons is that we allow our- selves to feed on each other. Black kids kill black kids. We allow neighborhoods to run down. Black fathers are not at home. Education suffers. There's a dilemma, and if we don't do something about the violence, if we don't get some self- esteem, then we're going to have a war zone in every community in this country.™

J.A. ADANDE, journalist for the Los AngelesTimes and panelist on ESPN program "Around the Horn" questioned Brown's cri- tique of Woods and advocated a pluralistic approach to community engagement on the show. Spike Lee noted that:

Jim Brown comes from a different era...A differ- ent era of black men, a different era of a black athlete. These were the brothers that had to go through segregation, had to go to different hotels. They faced Jim Crow. The time when a brother could get lynched for just looking at a white woman the wrong way. It was a very differ- ent time.*

In actuality and since its inception, the Tiger Woods Foundation has assisted ten million underrepresented youth, built a 35,000- square-foot learning center, committed sig- nificant funding for the Farl Woods Scholar-

ship Program, and donates all proceeds from the AT&T National and Chevron World Challenge events to his foundation.

IN CONCLUSION, the relationship betweenblack atbletes and self-determination remains contested in American culture. The LeBron James decision elucidated the ways institutional racism, white privilege, and col- orblind ideas linger as prevalent themes in the intersection of sports and society. In par- ticular, many Americans attempt to define what discrimination is, who experiences it, and when they face it. Additionally, racism and specifically attempts by white spectators, fans, writers, administrators, and politics to define black self-determination are a subplot in the legacy of American racism. For black atbletes, more importantly, tbe LeBron James decision symbolically represented two sbifts. First, the spectacle that surrounded his hour-long special and decision rein- forced the empowerment and influence of black athletes in American and global cul- tures. It demonstrated the power of celebrity then, as a tool for the eradication of institu- tional racism and promotion of community engagement — two endeavors that must be tackled aggressively and publicly.

Second, tbe financial contributions by James to tbe Boys and Girls Clubs reinforced the potential of pragmatic black nationalism — a message tbat must be publicized and uti- lized for black and underrepresented com- munities. The LeBron James decision sig- naled the impact black athletes could have on spearheading efforts related to social and economic development of black communi- ties. In this capacity James was not alone. Jalen Rose, a former member of tbe acclaimed University of Michigan basketball team's "Fab Five," donated significant funds to inner-city education in Detroit. Basketball player Dikembe Mutombo started his own foundation and in 2007, the twenty-nine mil- lion dollar Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital opened in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Basketball player Vince Carter has donated in the upwards of five million dollars to education and alcohol rehabilita- tion in Florida. Basketball player Metta World Peace, formally known as Ron Artest,

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is a vocal advocate for mental health aware- ness. In December 2010 on "Sports Genter," the signature show for ESPN, Artest announced his intentions to donate millions for aid in that area. At the 2012 ESPN Town Hall Meeting in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Jamelle Hill, one of a handful of black women sports journalists in main- stream American media, stated that black athletes must continue engaging in social responsibility as a primary endeavor.

Historically, numerous African-Americans have struggled for socio-economic empower- ment of black communities. In some ways, "the decision" reinforced the importance of self-determination and community engage- ment as primary concerns for black athletes — with attempts to define the parameters of black self-determination in sport and society only contextually relevant in understanding the dynamism and struggle against American racism. Due to many of the hurdles that black communities in the nation and throughout the diaspora face, I argue that the commit- ment of black athletes to social responsibility and community building is vital and must be publicized on levels comparable to their ath- letic and celebrity accompHshments. Black athletes thus become cultivators of the impor- tance of social responsibility in black commu- nities as their infiuence could provide both direct and indirect motivation to future gen- erations of black youth to engage in their communities positively and actively. The free- dom struggle continues and to paraphrase "Sheed, just play hard, my man...God bless and goodnight."

Endnotes

1. The Protest: On the morning of 16 October 1968, US athlete Tommie Smith won the 200-meter race in a world-record time of 19.83 seconds, ™th Australia's Peter Norman second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the US's John Carlos in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to collect their medals at the podium. The two US athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to repre- sent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar work- ers in the US and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were

lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage." All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Aus- tralia's White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals. Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on 16 October 1968 were inspired by Edwards arguments. Both US athletes intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wear Smiths left-handed glove, this being the reason behind him raising his left hand, as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute. When The Star-Spangled Banner played. Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd. Smith later said, "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight." (Wikipedia. Accessed 4 April 2012).

2. Samuel L.Jackson remarks, ESPY Awards, July 16, 2008.

3. Brent Musburger, "Bizarre Protest by Smith, Carlos Tarnishes Medals," Chicago Daily News. Eor more see C.D.Jackson and John Carlos, Why? The Biography of John Carlos (Los Angeles: Milligan Books, 2000); David Steele; and Tommie Smith, Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007); Frank Murphy, The Last Protest: Lee Evans in Mexico City (Kansas City: Wind- sprint Press, 2006); Harry Edwards, The Revolt of the Black Athlete (New York: The Free Press, 1970); Kevin B. Witherspoon, Before the Eyes of the World: Mexico and the 1968 Olympic Games (DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois Press, 2008); Douglas Hartmann, Race, Cul- ture, and the Revolt of the Black Athlete: The 1968 Olympic Protests and Their Aftermath (Chicago: Univer- sity of Chicago Press, 2004) ; Amy Bass, Not the Tri- umph But the Struggle: The 1968 Olympics and the Mak- ing of the Black Athlete, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002).

4. For more on self-determination in the Black Power movement see Stokely Carmichael and Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (New York: Scribner, 2003).

5. See Ann Morning, "Toward Sociology of Racial Con- ceptualization for the 21st Century," Sodal Forces, 87 (Mar 2009), 1167-1992; David Hollinger, "Obama, the Instability of Color Lines, and Promises of a Postethnic Future," Callaloo, 31 (Fall 2008), 1033- 1037; Ricky Jones, What's Wrong with Obamamania? Black America, Black Leadership, and the Death of Politi- cal iTimgination (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008).

THE BLACK SCHOLAR VOLUME 42, NO. 1 Page 57

6. One notable article on the use of race and sport by historians is Allen Guttmann, "Sport, Politics, and the Engaged Historian," Journal oJ Contemporary His- tory, 38 (July 2003), 363-375.

7. In my dissertation I term the dichotomy of infringe- ments on black freedom in a racially equal space "discriminative integration." More broadly, I investi- gate the symbiotic relationship between track and field and the twentieth-century black freedom move- ment. I assert that athletics was one of the first inte- grated social fields in US history. Despite opportuni- ties for integrated competition in track and field, black athletes confronted racial injustices under con- ditions that were officially framed as integrationist and racially equal. For more see Jamal Ratchford, "Black Fists and Fool's Gold: The 1968 Black Athletic Revolt Reconsidered," Ph.D. Dissertation, Purdue University, West Lafayette, 2011.

8. Despite this claim, William Rhoden noted key distinc- tions on race and sports in post-Brown America. He said integration "weakened the collective resolve of African Americans and spawned a mentality of using blackness as a way to get a piece of the pie without necessarily feeling any reciprocal responsibility to sus- tain black institutions." See William Rhoden, Forty MiUion Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete (New York: Grown Publishing Group, 2007), 256; Shaun Powell, Souted Out? How Blacks are Winning and Losing in Sports (Ghampaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008); David Wiggins, "With All Deliberate Speed': High School Sport, Race, and Brown v. Board of Education,"/ourna/ of Sport History, 37 (Fall 2010). For a general examination on race and popular cul- ture see James Stewart, Flight in Search of Vision (Tren- ton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2004).

9. Elliott J. Gornand Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of American Sport (Ghicago: University of Illinois Press, 2004).

10. David Wiggins, Glory Bound: Black Athletes in a White America (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997).

11. Richard Stone, "Negro Athletes Push For Better Treatment, Wider Job Opportunity-Black Pros Want Managerial, Top Goaching Slots; Gollege Stars Allege Discrimination-Is a Boycott Any Solution," Wall Street Journal, 19 June 1968; "Where Negroes Have 'Struck it Rich," US News &f WorldReport, 11 December 1967.

12. Bill Jauss, "Remodel: Switch Forrnat or Olympics will be Destroyed, Says Wright," Chicago Daily News, 2 November 1968; Robert Markus, "Sports Trail: Ftiture of Olympics Worries Wright," Chicago Tribune, 14 November 1968.

13. Jon Saraceno, "Keeping Score: Despite Wallace's Rant, NBA Remains a Players' League," USA Today, 14 December 2003; "Blowing Smoke," Washington Times, 12 December 2003. In 2012, Duke Goach. Mike Krzyzewski said, "We're slaves to what the NBA does with early-entry. If they ever put that in on a two-year basis, you'll see more dominant teams." Unlike Wallace, Goach K, a respected white coach in American sports media, was not criticized for com- paring NCAA basketball to slavery. See Jeff Good-

man, "Goach K Galls UNG Most Talented Team in Nation," GBS Sports, 6 February 2012. http://col- lege-basketball-blog.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/ entry/26283066/34726709 [Accessed 7 February 2012].

14. In the 1960s and due to the advent of lucrative con- tracts earned by athletes such as Wilt Ghamberlain and Hank Aaron, numerous spectators and journalists criti- cized black athletes that spoke against racism.

15. William Rhoden, Forty MiUion Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006).

16. "Golfer Says Comments about Woods 'Miscon- strued,'" GNN, 21 April 1997.

17. Ibid. 18. "Tiger OK with 'Lynch' Joke, Sharpton Isn't: Golf

Ghannel Anchor Tilghman Suspended over Gom- ments about Woods," Assodated Press, 9 January 2008.

19. J.A. Adande, "King and Go. Guilty only of Dreaming Big," ESPN, 11 July 2010; Marc Stein, "Sources: No Probe from Gavs, Raptors," ESPN, 12 July 2010; Ghris Broussard, "Time for Gavs Owner to Act his Age,", ESPN, 9 July 2010; Scoop Jackson, "LeBron's Big Move? Been There," ESPN, 10 July 2010; Tom Withers, "LeBron's Mural Goming Down in Gleveland," Yahoo Sports (online), [Accessed 10 July 2010]; "LeBron's 'Decision' Watched by Nearly lOM People," Yahoo Sports (online) [Accessed 11 July 2010]; Tom Withers, "Gavs Owner Defends Stance on LeBron," Yahoo Sports (online), [Accessed 12July2010].

20. "Fathead Suggests LeBron is the New Benedict Arnold," USA Today, 9 July 2010, h t t p : / / c o n t e n t . usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/07 /lebron-jimies-fathead-dan-gilbert-benedict-arnold/l [Accessed 6 February 2012].

21. Jason Whitlock, "Jesse Jackson Way off Base on Lebrón," Fox Sports, 12 July 2010. Ironically, in 2012, Whitlock was engulfed in his own racialized contro- versy when he criticized New York Knicks sensation and first Asian-American NBA player Jeremy Lin. Whitlock said, "Some lucky lady in NYG is going to feel a couple inches of pain tonight." See Kelly Dwyer, 'Jason Whitlock Apologizes for His Unfunny Jeremy Lin Gomment on Twitter," Yahoo Sports (online) 13 February 2012; http://sports.yahoo.com/ blogs/nba-ball-dont-Iie/jason-whitlock-apologizes- unfunny-jeremy-lin-twitter-145934497.html [Accessed 14 February 2012]. See also Eric Adelson, "Floyd Mayweather Hits Jeremy Lin on Race," The Post Game, 13 February 2012, http://www.thepostgame.com/ blog/daily-take/201202/floyd-mayweather-plays-race- card-jeremy-lin [Accessed 14 February 2012].

22. Ibid. 23. For a reference on color blind debates see Mary

Williams, Discrimination: Opposing Viewpoints (San Diego, GA; Greenhaven Press, 1997).

24. Ann Ansell, "Gasting a Blind Eye: The Ironic Gonse- quences of Golor-Blindness in South Africa and the United States," Critical Sodology, 32 (March 2006), 333- 356; Ashley Doane, "What is Racism? Racial Discourse and Racial Politics," Critical Sodobgy, 32 (March 2006), 255-274; Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Radsm Without Racists:

Page 58 THE BLACK SCHOLAR VOLUME 42, NO. 1

Color-Blind Racists and the Persistence of Radal Inequality in the United States (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Litde- field, 2003); Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era (Boulder, CO: L. Rienner, 2001); David Brunsma, Mixed Messages: Mul- tiradal Identities in the "CoUrr-BUnd" Era. (Boulder, CO: L. Rienner, 2006).

25. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva; Carla Goar; and David Embrick, "When Whites Flock Together: The Social Psychology of White Habitus," Critical Sociology, 32 (March 2006), 229-253.

26. For an extensive examination on current issues in race and American sports see TIDES or The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. Dr. Richard Lapchick, http://www.tidesport.org/index.html [Accessed 6 February].

27. Steven A. Riess, "Basketball Career Still An Inner- City Dream but Only Few Achieve Star Status, Finan- cial Rewards," http://www.america.gov/st/sports- english/200/apri/20080401/2042zjsredna0.8432886 .html [Accessed 3 February 2012].

28. C. Keith Harrison, "There Is More to Life than Sports: Getting Brothers to Take the Road Less Trav- eled," h t t p : / / d i v e r s e e d u c a t i o n . c o m / a r t i c l e / 8143/l.php [Accessed 3 February 2012].

29. Earl Smith, 'The African American Student-Athlete" in Charles K. Ross, ed.. Race and Sport: The Struggle for Equality On and OfftheField (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2004), 121-145. See also David Wig- gins, "With All Deliberate Speed': High School Sport, Race, and Brown v. Board of Education, "foumal of Sport History, 37 (Fall 2010), 329-346.

30. See Dave Leonard, 'The Decline of the Black Ath- lete: An Interview with Harry Edwards," Colorlines 30 (2000): 20-24 (reprinted in David K Wiggins and Patrick B. Miller, The Unlevel Playing Field: A Documen- tary History of the African American Experience in Sport [Urbana: University of Illinois, 2003], 435-441); Wig- gins, "Deliberate Speed," 342.

31. "Black Power in Sports," New York Herald Tribune. See also Harry Edwards, "The Olympic Project for Human Rights: An Assessment Ten Years Later," The Black Scholar, 10 (March/April 1979), 2-8.

32. Wiggins, 191. 33.Ibid. 34. Neil Amdur, 'Tommie Smith at 34: His Struggle

Goes On," New York Times, 24 December 1978. 35. Mark Gillespie, "LeBron James' 'Decision' Helps

Boys and Girls Clubs in Northeast Ohio," The Plain Dealer, 27 April 2011, http://blog.cleveland.com/ metro/2011/04/boys_and_girls_clubs_in_northe.html [Accessed 6 February 2012].

36. Derrick White, "Black World View': The Insütute of the Black World's Promotion of Pragmatic National- ism, 1969-1974,"/ourna/ of African American History, 95 (Summer/Fall 2010), 369-391.

37. Barbara Ransby, "Afrocentrism, Cultural National- ism, and the Problem with Essentialist Definitions of Race Gender, and Sexuality," in Manning Marable, ed.. Dispatches from the Ebony Tower: Intellectuals Con- front the African American Experience (New York: Columbia University Press), 2000, 218.

38. Gene Wojciechowski, 'Jim Brown Won't Back Down on Tiger," ESPN, 2 July 2009, http://sports.espn.go. com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_ gene&id=4301802 [Accessed 6 February 2012].

39. Ibid. 40. J.A. Adande, "No Black or White in Life of Brown,"

Los Angeles Times, 25 April 2002, h t t p : / / articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/25/sports/sp-adande25 [Accessed 6 February 2012]. I assert pause in our memory of protest in the 1960s. Actually, many African Americans did not engage activism in the 1950s and 1960s black freedom movement. Rather, as articulated by numerous scholars in the last ten years, African-Americans understood, appropriated, and acted on the urgency of "Freedom Now" widely and diversely. The pluralistic approach to protest also involved black athletes as they agreed and dis- agreed with the infusion of activism in sports.

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