African American lawmakers are encouraging black football recruits to stay away from The University of South Carolina. Their request comes from the school's decision to eliminate it's only black trustee. State Representative David Weeks, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, says that he doesn't believe there are enough votes to get Leah B. Moody appointed to a full term on the board next month. This has put lawmakers into action.

"We are asking young athletes to be aware ... there are folks in this state who say it's fine to play ball but not be on the governing board," Weeks said.

Several lawmakers, including former South Carolina lineman Anton Gunn, said that members of the black community were calling the families of recruits and asking them to reconsider their decision to play for the school. The South Carolina Gamecocks don't have an outstanding football program, earning a mediocre 7 - 6 win/loss record last year. But the average attendance at each game is 75,300, due to massive support from fans within the state. Like many other programs, African Americans make up a large percentage of the most productive athletes on the team.

Gunn stated that Marcus Lattimore, a top high school recruit, had been contacted. Another recruit, Brandon Golson, had not been contacted. But Golson's coach, Walter Wilson, had this to say: "My kids don't really get involved in that," Wilson said. "They're going to the school because they want to go the school. Not for who is a trustee or whatnot - that's not what it's about."

Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, says that the black lawmakers are wrong in their decision to challenge the university.

"It's unfortunate there are those that would urge the hurting of a university over one of those 16 USC seats," Simrill said. "I think it's very heavy-handed from the standpoint of a threat and it's really uncalled for.

The University of South Carolina, like other schools in the Southeastern Conference, has diversity problems that go far beyond the board of trustees. The school has a black population of 11 percent, which is far lower than the African American population in the state, which is 28.5 percent. I am also sure that, like many other institutions, they have a long list of reasons why they can't hire black professors, but are the first at the doorstep of the next great black athlete.

I applaud the efforts of South Carolina's black lawmakers. They are pointing out an unfortunate, yet glaring reality which exists in college sports: Black people are good enough to get out on the field and make money, but they are not good enough to be placed in decision-making positions within the universities they serve. They are good enough to carry footballs and basketballs, but not good enough to join the faculty, coach the team or serve on the board of trustees. The idea that there are 16 seats on the board, with none of them going to an African American, is another overwhelming reminder of the slavery and Jim Crow legacy of South Carolina and other southern states. There is almost no other way to explain away this blatant and disgusting disparity.

What's most disgraceful about the system of college sports in general is the fact that while black athletes represent the majority of those on the field earning billions for coaches and administrators, their families are not allowed to take home any of that money. The NCAA earns more money during it's post-season than the NFL, so it is effectively a professional sports league that doesn't have to pay its employees. The a-political reaction that Brandon Golson's coach had to the protest by black lawmakers is reflective of the kind of complacency that keeps African American athletes psychologically enslaved by a system that is designed to exploit them. Many of the black athletes attend universities to play sports and are not given education or degrees. Instead, their bodies are used up in an environment that encourages them to do nothing but think about football 24 hours a day. It's a tragic story that typically ends the same way, and at some point, I am hopeful that we can change the narrative. But until black athletes and families start to stand up for their rights, they will always be signing up for additional abuse.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement (ALARM). To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.