Those who have helped me by answering the question, hit me up via AIM (jjude188) email (mr.jdjude@gmail.com) and/or twitter (mrjjude)

THANKS!

Question #2

The second question:

Are any of you members of Jack and Jill, BGLOs (Black Greek Letter Organizations), Cultural fraternities/sororities, or any other minority social group?

Question #1

Been doing a lot of reading today and I have two questions to post to my followers.  I’ll use the questions and ideas in upcoming blog posts.  Here is question number 1:

Have you been in an interracial relationship?

Question #2

The second question:

Are any of you members of Jack and Jill, BGLOs (Black Greek Letter Organizations), Cultural fraternities/sororities, or any other minority social group?

Still working on the questions and formulating a blog post. Answer them and help me out!

Question #1

Been doing a lot of reading today and I have two questions to post to my followers.  I’ll use the questions and ideas in upcoming blog posts.  Here is question number 1:

Have you been in an interracial relationship?

Hey Sharla!

Sorry it took so long, but I finally got your post on Arena’s blog.  You, and everyone else, can check it out here.

White, American Basketball Players

whitneyj:

judesview:

So it’s not very often that I comment on any other sport but football but a recent story, on ESPN’s program “Outside the Lines,” discussed the ever decreasing prevalence on white, American basketball players.  Although it had been joked about for a while, and been the subject of movies, I never really gave it much thought. The reasoning behind their lack of participation at basketball at the highest level seemed to circulate around a perceived lack of athleticism. I won’t agree or disagree with that comment, but I will try to throw out other reasons for this widening gap.

One could point to the rise in the overall athleticism increase in sports in general, basketball specifically, for the low numbers of white players in the NBA. The main focus of the “OTL” story focused around former Norte Dame star, Kyle McAlarney, and his road to the NBA. Although praised as an epic three-point shooter, McAlarney hasn’t made it to the league because of his inability to cover the league’s quicker players. As a point guard, he would not only be able to lead a team, provide a scoring threat, but would also have to cover the likes of Rondo, Paul, Parker, Rose, Wade, etc. His race is not what has kept him back, but it is the sheer athleticism, of his competition, that has kept him out.

Why are black, american athletes more “athletic” than white, american players? They seemingly grow up in the same athletic systems but black players represent 72% of the NBA. Jon Barry, a former NBA player and current ESPN commentator, suggested that upbringing plays a HUGE role in the dynamics of the NBA. This factor, for me, is the reason for the disparity.

What opportunities do we present to young, black men? Outside of sports, not many. From the moment these kids are born, they are told, both directly and indirectly, that the need to be good a sports. We put balls in their hands way before we put books in their hands. We praise their athletic accomplishments in an overwhelmingly disproportionate way in which we celebrate and encourage their academic success.  Let’s be real for a minute, in the short-run, books don’t pay bills!  As a scholar, and former athlete, I had to use both to get me where I am today. While I was smart in school, I wouldn’t have made it from Tallahassee, Florida, to Colgate University, had it not been for football.  I digress…

Most white, American children do not have that same type of pressure.  We can speak generally and say that many more options are given to them as children. Stepping outside of the differing academic pressures, or lack thereof, faced by black and white children, let’s just focus on the sports that are offered to white children. I tweeted a while back about the lack of black, female swimmers. I talked about how it must be because of the damage chlorine can do to their hair. While a valid argument, that can’t be the only reason why their aren’t many black swimmers.  Additionally, white children are encouraged to pursue other “country club” and more expensive sports (i.e. tennis, lacrosse, golf, equestrian, skiing, etc.). I know there are black children who play, and excel, in some of these sports, but the numbers are dramatically low.

Basketball is a relatively cheap sport; doesn’t take anything more than a basketball and a hoop to play. When you add up the factors, it makes sense why black children are encouraged to play basketball, and not any of the other, more expensive sports. The lack of white, American basketball players is decreasing because of the growing influence of other sports in America. I don’t think it is a lack of overall athleticism of white players (There are hundreds of athletic white Americans playing football, hockey, tennis, baseball, et al.) but the other, societal players at work. At one time, I thought that the NBA needed more white superstars (the reasons why they kept giving Nash the MVP, the dress codes, and other policies) but I don’t agree with that any more. The NBA has changed the way they market their sport and I believe it has worked out well. The NBA is once again relevant in the American sports landscape and their tatted up, flashy, hip-hop listening black players are launching the sport to uncharted levels of popularity and importance!

“From the moment these kids are born, they are told, both directly and indirectly, that the need to be good a sports. We put balls in their hands way before we put books in their hands.”

I wholeheartedly agree, Jamil. James Baldwin calls what you describe in that quote, the Black boys’ need for a gimmick, something that will lift him out of his situation. I agree with you that most of the times, for Black men, it is sports. Baldwin says:

“Every Negro boy-in my situation during my years at least-who reaches this point realizes, at once, profoundly, because he wants to live, that he stands in great peril and must find, with speed, a “thing,” a gimmick, to lift him out, to start him on his way. And it does not matter what the gimmick is.”

Thanks Whit.  Baldwin was so spot on.  This idea of “gimmick” is crazy.  It is definitely both a gift and a curse.  Everyone wants to be successful.  When presented with a chance to be successful, who wouldn’t jump at it?  The sad part is when that “gimmick” becomes a handicap.  We, as black men (and our supporters), need to continue to use the gimmick as a ladder to get us to where we want to be (i.e Magic Johnson and countless others).