Re “Take it from a former Division I athlete: College sports are like Jim Crow” (Op-Ed, Jan. 11): Writer and former collegiate track star Victoria L. Jackson attempts to bring to light the disadvantages placed on revenue-generating athletes by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and more specifically, how these disadvantages end up deteriorating society’s view of African-Americans.
Throughout Jackson’s explanation, there are key points that she fails to address in her argument against revenue-generating collegiate sports such as: what makes playing sports in college so appealing anyways? And why would a high-school student like myself devote so much time and effort to a game, especially when the odds of “going pro” are so
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Given that revenue-creating athletes typically have lower graduation rates, and that there are elevated number of African-American athletes in this demographic, I can understand why one might also be led to the conclusion that higher profile athletics adversely affect the futures of black athletes. However, Jackson’s statements ignore the fact that many of these players would not be attending the university in the first place had they not been involved in certain athletics that provided their scholarships. Higher profile athletics are the reason these kids are receiving an …show more content…
Accompanied with a majority of these basketball and football players being of African-American descent, it’s no surprise that when these athletes don’t “go on to make millions as pros after graduation”, the NCAA is the first to get blamed. Jackson views these scholastic opportunities given to disadvantaged minorities as a “lottery ticket out of an otherwise bleak future”. But isn’t that exactly what these humans want; a chance to escape the cycle of poverty that has punished them for generations. Yes they will be disadvantaged. Yes they will have obstacles. Yes they will have to work hard to get what they want, regardless of whether it’s fair or not. And yes, they will have to understand that they will be subjected to more difficulties than the average student.