Race and diversity in sports
Bob Bartlett, a former high school and college athlete, loves sports. But it's a love that comes with reservations.
Bartlett, a lecturer on sociology and justice studies at Eastern Washington University, will be the key speaker at Humanities Washington's latest Think & Drink discussion at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lindaman's Gourmet Bistro.
The timing of "Race in Diversity in Sports" during March Madness is not a coincidence. What better time, organizers determined, to take up this topic than during America's annual near-hysteria over college basketball.
"We love sports. It is the all-American pastime," Bartlett said last week in an interview. "We love to play. We love the competition. We love to support our teams. That's a good thing," he said. Bartlett acknowledges the many benefits of participating in sports at all levels. "Sports teach many life lessons. Playing on a team, winning and losing, and having leadership positions as a player," Bartlett said.
"What if something seems to be broken about it?" he asked. Sports, he said, are often seen as a way out of poverty, especially for athletes of color. "The monster has been created that fuels young minds with dreams," Bartlett said. "We should not be surprised when a 22-year-old is given a $5 million check. With no rules, no responsibilities as long as you perform on the field." Bartlett is not the first to suggest that young people raised in difficult circumstances go on to become professional athletes who don't know how to handle their financial success.
The statistics are pretty clear on one point: African-American athletes dominate the National Basketball Association rosters, but it's not the same for team ownerships. Seventy-six percent of NBA players are African-Americans, but NBA majority owners are 98 percent white. "The NBA is like watching BET," Bartlett said. The numbers are similar in the National Football League. Bartlett said as of October 2013, 66 percent of the NFL players were African-American, but ownership was 88 percent white.
Bartlett laments the fact that many pro athletes, whose careers end in their 30's, retire and find themselves broke due to poor financial decisions and with few job skills.
