Since returning to the White House, Tr**p has quickly initiated his plan to dismantle the government, seek retribution against those he feels wronged him, instill fear across the country and, most disgustingly, directly attack Black and Brown populations in every racist way possible.
He immediately waged war against DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), which sought to include qualified members of marginalized groups in the conversation without discriminating against other groups.
But MAGA lovers and conservatives pounced out of fear and weaponized DEI into Scarecrow’s fear poison and spread the ridiculous idea across the country that it discriminates against white people.
In response, all federal agencies have eliminated DEI efforts and some companies have followed suit.
Now, in his effort to Make American Ignorant Again, he’s moving forward with his pledge to shutter the Department of Education.
The Weaponization of the DOE
This week he instructed the department to tell colleges and universities that they are prohibited from “using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
He’s even given a two-week mandate for these practices to be ended otherwise offending institutions would lose their federal funding.
This has disrupted campus life and even put fear into HBCUs despite HBCUs being open to all students from all walks of life; just look at some of the HBCU baseball, bowling and volleyball teams for proof.
His attempt to destroy democracy and the lives of Black and Brown communities shows no signs of stopping and the resulting anger has yet to deter his agenda.
This is why colleges, athletic departments and athletes must unite and fight back.
Money has transformed college sports into a professional model, with athletics budget soaring past $200 million and many athletes earning millions through NIL.
And while sports are somewhat shielded from these attacks on DEI and Higher Ed, the college classrooms that student-athletes sit in during the day are not.
That’s why athletes, coaches and athletic departments must stand alongside administrators and faculty and fight back against these racist attacks.
Student-Athlete Activism Works
There is precedent and concrete results from athletes taking a stand.
In 1946 and 1947, Penn State’s football team was told not to bring its Black players to Miami and the Cotton Bowl, respectively. In response, the Nittany Lions canceled the game against the Hurricanes and traveled to the Cotton Bowl with Black players Wally Triplett and Dennie Hoggard, who made history as the first Black athletes to play in the Cotton Bowl.
The program’s defiance against the Cotton Bowl brithed the famous “We are Penn State” chant when team captain Steve Suhey reportedly said “We’re Penn State,” to demonstrate unity in the face of the organizer’s racist demand.
In 1992, Black UNC football players banded together with Black students to fight for a free-standing Black cultural center and other changes to improve the lives of Black students. The movement attracted the attention of Spike Lee, who showed up at a rally on campus with some 7,000 people in support of the cause.
In 2004, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History was officially opened on the Chapel Hill campus.
A similar protest transpired in 2015, when Black football players at Missouri threatened to boycott a game after the school fumbled its response to a racist incident on campus. Recognizing that the boycott would have cost them “more than $1 million if the team forfeits a game scheduled for Saturday,” the school promised to address the issues.
These players, who were joined by their coaches and white players, stood fast with Black students despite the hate they received and the threat of having their scholarships rescinded if the game was forfeited.
Ultimately, the university’s president stepped down and changes were made.
Three years ago, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley canceled a home-and-home series against BYU after a Duke volleyball player was targeted with racist taunts while playing against the Cougars.
Institutions, organizations, clubs, athletes and individuals can no longer afford to remain silent for as each day passes, more history and futures are being snatched away.
So what’s happened to athlete activism?
Over the last few years, athletes at schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama remained silent as anti-DEI and anti-Woke movements swept through campuses across the states, eliminating DEI offices and jobs, Black student unions and Black history courses.
This was an opportunity to revive activism of the past.
Instead, the activist fire athletes once possessed was neutered. Much of that, I suspect, is due to NIL, which has made athletes rich while abating the passion to take a stand.
The Need to Fight Back
College sports as a whole must band together and fight back, and the NCAA, which earlier this month bowed to Tr**p’s Executive Order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, is not exempt.
In 2016, it stood up to North Carolina’s HB2, aka “The Bathroom Bill” by removing several of its championships out of the state, including the men’s basketball tournament.
I previously wrote that the NCAA needs to take a stand against the Republican attacks on education and that still holds true.
We are at a dangerous time in the world that will only get worse unless powerful forces like sports finds its resolve, unites and fights back.
College athletes, especially Black athletes, wield the power and influence to do just that and they must be reminded of history to awaken the fight they once displayed.
They’re fearless on the field of play, and now they must be the same off of it.
