Last week, the University of Alabama, in response to the state’s anti-DEI law which takes effect October 1st, shuttered the Black Student Union office and the Safe Zone Resource Center for the LGBTQ+ community and, according to AL.com, scrubbed the word “diversity” from the university’s website and facilities.
It was a shameful and despicable act perpetuated by conservative and racist Republicans across the South who are using “DEI” as a rallying cry for those who fear the beauty, perspective, inclusivity and success that diversity brings.
Instead, they label “DEI” a divisive concept, akin to their faux-outrage and crusade against CRT and the nonexistent “woke” concept.
These attacks have left Higher Ed administrators scrambling to comply with a ridiculous law that seeks to intimidate and harm.
And all who support it know it.
So now these permanent offices, which not only offer safe spaces for Black and LGBTQ+ students but also resources and information as well, are gone and won’t be replaced.
“We are saddened by this loss – not just of a physical space, but of a place where we have gathered, shared, and built a community rooted in our shared experiences, struggles, and triumphs,” wrote BSU President Jordan Stokes on Instagram last week.
Now the organization, which was established in 1968, arguably the most significant and transformative year for Black America, is essentially homeless on the University of Alabama campus.
The situation was mirrored at Auburn University where the school closed its Office of Inclusion and Diversity last month.
These decisions, deliberately taken to revive Jim Crow across the state, will have a damaging effect on the already low Black population numbers at the state’s public institutions.
According to the 2020 US Census, the state of Alabama is 27.2% Black or African American alone or in combination. Yet the University of Alabama is only 11% Black and Auburn is even worse at 5%.
So now these already small number of Black students at these campuses will be without a place to congregate safely. Even with the offered help of the NAACP, the lack of a dedicated space to gather and talk with those who look like you adds another burden to an already severely underrepresented group.
Yet despite these setbacks, one group has annoyingly remained quiet.
Black athletes.
At these universities, football players are treated as royalty, and many of them are Black.
Yet their silence further exacerbates the situation.
And that goes double for alumni who have made it to the NFL.
Jalen Milroe can have his “LANK” shirt publicized on ESPN, but he can’t create one in support of the Black Student Union at the school he’s repping? An organization he could be a part of and one that supports him?
And what about former Tide players like Will Anderson Jr., Najee Harris, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith or Derrick Henry?
Their silence could be due to a combination of factors: they’re making money and don’t want to become embroiled in politics, they’ve distanced themselves from campus, or they don’t care.
Whatever the reason, it’s a poor excuse, especially in today’s divided America.
Both current and past players should take a page from the 2015 Missouri football team. Both coaches and players collectively joined students protesting against racism on campus. They even threatened to boycott a game, which would have reportedly cost the university more than $1 million and stood firm despite calls for their scholarships to be revoked.
In the end, Tim Wolfe, Missouri’s president at the time, resigned.
I’ve written many times about the power that Black athletes have yet fail to recognize or utilize when it comes to issues outside the field of play.
Alabama athletes used that power in 2020 when they banded together after George Floyd’s murder, marched across campus with former head football coach, Nick Saban, and spoke out on the need for change.
Yet four years later, that passion and fire have been quenched by politics, NIL and a general sense of apathy.
But it needs to and can be, rejuvenated.
If Milroe and half of the Black players on the Crimson Tide threatened not to play until the Black Student Union was given new office space, what do you think would happen? Do you think they would rescind their scholarships in-season, thus causing a losing season for Alabama? How do you think that would go over?
And if their efforts are supported by powerful alumni in the NFL, what would happen? At the very least, it would shine a negative spotlight on Governor Ivy’s administration.
And as much as her supporters might rage about DEI, Woke and CRT, I promise you that having the Crimson Tide forfeit games over policy would not go over well for her.
In the aftermath of the anti-DEI policies taking effect, Stokes said that he’s been contacted by many members of the Black Alumni Association with offers of financial and organizational support.
But those efforts would most surely be strengthened if current Black athletes and alumni Black athletes joined in.
