More On Racial Paternalism
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Good comments from y'all on the below comments. And good recovery on FanHouse from several of the posters. Many made constructive points. Like I said, I hope we can gradually take over the comments and have some interesting conversations over there and here. Many of them will be funny, some of them will be serious, but hopefully all of them will give evidence of what I already know, the column, books, blog readership and community that we're fortunate to have is the best in sports.
Couple of things that I didn't break down further in that piece that I want to address here:
1. I think looking at the structure of the NBA and NFL vs. MLB and the NHL is instructive to a degree as it pertains to the development, i.e. minor leagues vs. using the colleges as a de facto minor league. I should have spent more time on it. So here's a discussion on that.
What I should have broken down further is that I think the structure of the league systems are intertwined with the race of the players. In other words, I truly believe that if 79% of NBA players and 65% of NFL players were white, there would be a different draft system. The NCAA in conjunction with the leagues would not have been allowed to run roughshod over those leagues and restrict the ability of the best players to make a living.
In other words the racial paternalism is so endemic that it goes to the root of the draft systems themselves. Why? Because the relative bargaining powers of the parents, the coaches, the administrators, the people in positions of power, are all structured to benefit the majority. I don't think this is racist per se, I think it's much more complicated, a systemic disadvantage.
Now, plainly minorities who play these sports benefit from the structure too. For instance an 18 year old black kid who plays baseball very well can access the market value of his skills at 18 in that sport, he can't in the NBA and the NFL.
I think it's more than a coincidence that if you you plot the racial make-up of every pro sports league, the relative bargaining power of 18 year old's corresponds almost exactly: The more young black kids play, the less bargaining position they have in the sport at the age of 18. The more white kids play, the more bargaining position all 18 year olds have.
I think that's pretty systemic.
2. Now I don't think the NCAA, the NBA, or the NFL are racist. Far from it, I think they're corporations that act in the way they see as most beneficial to them. In fact, my intent wasn't to call anyone racist, just to point out that race influences our perceptions in ways that we often don't acknowledge. For me the 26 baseball players with college degrees illuminated the disconnect. My point on the leagues is that poor minority groups can't combat them in the world of popular perception. And perception governs our reality. So the NCAA, the NBA, and the NFL can argue that players need an education and as a society we accept those arguments from them. But we don't accept that argument from the MLB or the NHL, or tennis, or golf, or you name it.
Anyway, one of the things I'll be doing as we revamp the site, is using this format to respond to interesting reader points. (Don't worry, we'll still be doing the mailbag). But if someone raises a truly engaging point, I think we can carry on the debate.
FanHouse will have a couple of thousand words up from me on athletes and Facebook shortly. In the meantime, here is Jessica Biel from behind to prove that we all still know what's most important in life, a fine ass on a woman. Labels: racial paternalism clay travis
Posted by Clay Travis at 2:35 PM
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