Kevin P. Chavous: College Readiness Is More Than Academics
But putting all jokes aside, there is one important question that neither the Williams family, nor Tiger has been able or willing to answer: With all of the success they've experienced, where are the other black athletic superstars coming behind them in tennis and golf? Let's be real: Did you ever really think that Venus and Serena were the only two little black girls in "the hood" with Michael Jordan-like athletic ability? You probably know two or three kids like that on your own block. Even the great John McEnroe was criticized for admitting that if black kids played tennis the way we play basketball and football, we'd take over the sport. I'd hate to admit that I agree, but.......
William C. Rhoden, the respected writer for the New York Times, put together an outstanding piece on this issue. Both Rhoden and Richard Williams make the important point that for African Americans to establish reliable pipelines to professional tennis, they must own the institutions that create tennis players. Williams mentions that tennis is not inviting to African Americans in general, which is why we haven't yet seen the next Venus and Serena. If Tennis is an exclusive club, golf is that much worse.
One of the other challenges of bringing African American youth into tennis and golf is the cost. The cost of joining a country club to play golf can be quite high. I personally don't like playing golf primarily because of the time and money involved. But when I can get out there, I enjoy myself. Tennis, on the other hand, is a sport that doesn't require the expensive country club membership, as there are tennis courts in quite a few communities. Additionally, the running and jumping skills of black athletes might be well-suited for tennis. That doesn't mean, however, that we don't also possess the brilliance, focus, strength and accuracy of talented golfers.
One key here is that if we are going to play sports, we might as well play all of them. The tune of football and basketball is played out like a 1980s hit record, and it's time that we try something new. In fact, I wish I'd been exposed to either tennis or golf as a teenager instead of signing up for the same old pee-wee football and basketball leagues in my neighborhood. Being one of the shortest kids on the team is never fun when you're standing next to yet another LeBron James wannabe. Perhaps tennis and golf can be something for us short kids, as well as everybody else. Let's start thinking outside the box.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (38)
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By: Jamel on 9/10/2010 8:34PM
I think one of the big reasons why you don't see more black athletes in these two particular sports is because, at the prep level a lot of these sports don't have good high school or Jr high programs. Most schools that are majority black don't even offer golf or tennis to it's students. Now this is just my opinion but another reason may be the lack of a black father in the home. Golf and tennis are two sprots that take a lot of time and discipline to become a good player. If you learn some bad habits at a young age, it's hard to overcome them without good guidance. I'm not saying a mother can't provide that guidance but between cooking, working a 9 to 5 and all the other responsibilities related to being a mother, this can be difficult. A black kid can find a someone in the neighborhood to mentor them in Basketball, Baseball or Football pretty easily but golf and tennis is a little more difficult.
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By: jimq on 9/10/2010 8:42PM
I suggest swimming and ice skating or maybe skiing? Strange I never was led to believe the Williams sisters had a black thing while playing tennis? I think your mind is going soft Boyce you need to get off the black thing, it is getting nausiating.
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By: mswll4 on 9/10/2010 11:24PM
DR BOWAT, Get off this BLACK THING, And like i said in BASEBALL, You got to have patience. Patience is something MOST COLORED ATHELICS do not have.
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By: Paul K on 9/10/2010 8:51PM
No one should go into a sport just because there isn't enough color in it. You go into a sport because you like it and are good at it. That being said, I know there are more black tennis players and golfers out there than The Williams sisters and Tiger Woods. But apparently they haven't been good enough to get the higher echelons. I was hoping way back when that Malavai Washington would have stayed in the tennis game but by the end of the 90s, he had too many injuries that kept him out.
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By: Jewell on 9/10/2010 11:22PM
First, there are many black athletes out there that are better than Venus, Serena and Tiger. The only reason why we don't see or hear about them is because of the lack of funding it takes to nurture these type of young athletes. Venus & Serena were fortunate that their father was able to secure their funding at an early age which propel their tennis. A lot of parents today don't have the time or the means to do so. Richard and Oracene were older parents, with the time and means to spend on the girls' tennis. This cause is very close to my heart thus the reason I created
http://www.womeninsports-af.org to help bring awareness and to let people know about the young talent that is out there. Many black women have the talent equal or more to Venus & Serena but lack the finances to take their career further. Unlike team sports these young women have no financial help to help with training and traveling which is a great part of a professional's life. For this reason we are trying to bring awareness to the Government to pass a bill where young underprivileged athletes could get the financial help they need in the form of a Grant just like young people who chose to go on to college. These can be grants that can be Pell Grants or grant/loan that can be paid back. But, they should be given the opportunity to have some sort of funding available to them. We hope to reach out to Ms. Valerie Jarret so that she can understand the needs of these underprivileged talented young people and ask the Government to approve some financial help for these young women. They are after all, Americans and represent our country proudly, on Sports Arenas around the world.
Unfortunately, Venus, Serena or Tiger does not embrace or promote their blackness in these sports, but fortunately the color of their skin help carry the sport to the outside world. But Venus & Serena are old and going out and I hope that the young blacks that are coming into the sporting world embrace their blackness and promote up and coming black athletes in their sport as best they can. As for Tiger he never saw himself as a black man. I feel very strongly about this and I am glad I had the chance to speak openly about it.
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By: Jamel on 9/11/2010 1:29AM
@jewell, So what you're saying is that it's a economical issue more than a racial one? And how are they suppose to promote their blackness in a sport? I kinda understand where you're coming from but you're kinda losing me at the same time.
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By: M. Alexander on 9/11/2010 9:01AM
Economics does play a huge part in terms of buying the necessary equipment it takes to play tennis and golf and the necessary access to golf courses to play golf ! But the under lying issue is race ! There's non Blacks in this country who are loving the fact that Tiger Woods hasn't been as dominant as he has been in the past and that's ditto for the Williamses when they lose !
There's not too many golf courses or tennis courts in the inner city so Black kids have gravitated to the more popular and less economical sports like basketball and football !
It's not hard to find a basketball court or a field to play football but it is hard to find a tennis court or golf course !
We do not embrace baseball either and the amount of African-Americans in the MLB reflects this although race could be an issue as well !
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By: jim on 9/11/2010 12:35PM
jewell how do you promote blackness? If white people wanted to promote whiteness would that be racist?
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By: fishingking on 9/11/2010 8:55PM
Tiger and the sisters were lucky to have a black father that stuck around.
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