The NCAA once stood up for student athletes as the rights of some were attacked by those in power looking to harm, embarrass and restrict.
Yet the organization’s days of fighting for what’s right appear to be done.
As Republicans continue to wage a fake, completely unnecessary war against diversity, Blackness, the LGBTQ+ community and their favorite coded word of “wokeness,” the organization set up to serve and protect student athletes has gone silent despite that being one of their very goals.
It explicitly says so on its own site:
“The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes.”
So what happened?
How could an organization that once stood against persecution go mute as the faux crusade against those they are designed to defend intensifies and spreads?
Hosting the tournaments in Texas, a state that has instituted severe voting restrictions, forcibly taken control of Houston schools and all but eliminated reproductive rights is contrary to the NCAA of the last two decades.
In 2001, the NCAA banned events from being held in states that flew the Confederate flag. In 2020 the NCAA Board of Governors expanded that policy to “prevent any NCAA championship events from being played in states where the symbol has a prominent presence.”
In 2016, the NCAA barred North Carolina from hosting championship events due to the state’s passage of HB2, dubbed the “bathroom bill,” which discriminated against the LGBTQ+ community.
“Current North Carolina state laws make it challenging to guarantee the host communities can help deliver on that commitment if NCAA events remained in the state,” said the NCAA Board of Governors when they announced their decision.
“Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships,” said NCAA president Mark Emmert in a statement at the time. “We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships.”
Yet a few short years later, the men’s and women’s Final Four and championship games are being held in a state that has attacked fairness for marginalized communities.
How quickly times change.
While Republican-led states wage a hypocritical culture war that aims to limit freedoms they claim to protect, the NCAA’s silence speaks volumes.
By hosting its biggest championship games in a state that has revived Jim Crow, the NCAA is enabling the war’s continuance.
And that violates the mission and priorities the organization outlines on its site:
“In 1906, the NCAA was founded to keep college athletes safe. The Association is still working hard to protect them physically and mentally. Through its Sport Science Institute, the NCAA provides recommendations and guidelines to ensure college athletes are getting the best care possible.”
By not taking a stand against states like Florida, Texas and Tennessee, the NCAA fails in its mission to safeguard the well-being of student athletes who are Black, Brown, women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
And by holding events in those states, they are doubling down on that failure.
When the NCAA previously took a stand, change followed.
Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina no longer flew the Confederate flag.
North Carolina rescinded HB2 and replaced it with a different bill.
“This new law has minimally achieved a situation where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a nondiscriminatory environment,” said the NCAA board in the aftermath of HB2’s repeal. “If we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time.”
Apparently, the Board’s expectations of a discrimination-free environment have changed for Houston and Dallas are hosting the men’s and women’s tournaments, respectively.
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people,” said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
And that’s why the NCAA’s silence speaks so loudly.
