(ThyBlackMan.com) Most of you who know me personally know that I love sports. Especially Basketball, Boxing and Football college or professional, day or night that’s my thing. I love sports because of its purity, meaning that if you are better you will win. Which is why mostly all of us hate refs. But this is about something else. This is about a recent article I read by Dr.Boyce Watkins on ThyBlackMan concerning Michigan Universities Quarterback, and the fans calling him a nigger based on Michigan’s poor performance this year. Despite this disturbing account the only person who is speaking on it is Dr. Watkins because it is Michigan Alumni as well as their kids and grandkids making the remarks, which is one of the reasons the administration has remained silent. But if we look into the most recent history of Michigan University and you will begin to uncover some startling trends when it comes to Blacks.
In an ESPN 30 for 30 it was reported during the freshman run of The Fan Five ,before entering the NCAA tournament, a large amount of racist hate mail directed at the teams Black members were sent by the Alumni to coach Steve Fisher and the school administration. Much of the mail calling Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King niggers and thugs, despite them being honor students, charity workers and basically regular college kids. The school never stuck up for them and in the end erased them from the record books citing NCAA violations despite the record amount of Michigan University jerseys and apparel sold during that period and the subsequent amount of top recruits that followed due to their love for the Fab Five. In the end a historically white University got
rich off the back of young black men who eventually got shipped to a NBA plantation to be a high played court gesture for the entertainment and benefit of their “Owners“.
Recently Michigan was in the spotlight politically and academically due to a white woman from the university of Texas saying “affirmative action was unfair to her” , although white women are the largest recipient of affirmative action. Piggy backing off of this action students at Michigan University were successful in getting the Supreme Court to ban affirmative action at Michigan University. Now to most of You reading have probably just said…”That’s why your football team sucks!”. And you’re probably right,but that’s not what I’m getting at.
Last year Grambling University football players walked off because of lack of sufficient funds for equipment and facilities. Many of these young brothers are gifted athletes and talented students that major white universities either overlooked or felt they did not need. Some may have even had a chance to go to a bigger white university but chose a black college instead. And when you consider that teams like northwestern and perennial losers like Kansas have a football team that comes on television that gets millions of dollars in endorsements and funds from television rights, why can’t one of the historically best black football colleges receive money. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks we can kill two birds with one stone. We need to somehow convince the top 6 basketball recruits and some of the best football recruits in high school and convince them to go to the same black college.
Think about if we found a way to send the Harrison twins, Julius Randle and James Young to Virginia Union, think of the attention it would get, think of how groundbreaking it would be . No prominent Black-american N.B.A player has come out of a historically black college since integration, and you cant include Ben Wallace because he was not a top recruit and was a basketball free agent find. Of course I know a lot of you are thinking what would be the benefits? Well,our kids never get to leave their environment, we place them in a situation where we can protect them from the white media, the money drawn from athletics and television views, because believe me after they beat big name colleges people will watch, can be used to help fund the school, bring in better books, better equipment and better staff.
Their success can bring a generation of wealth in the form of recruiting to black colleges all across the nation. Also these colleges have hall of fame lineage from Earl The Pearl Monroe, Bobby Dandridge, to Michael Strahan to Jerry Rice. If we can use these names,faces and with funding from our community we should be able to rival any of the white colleges nation wide athletically as well as academically.
Dr. Watkins has stated on numerous occasions we need to stop breeding Our kids to be just an athletes or musicians ,which is true but when we consider the only Black Political Figure still left from the 50s’ and 60s’ is Muhammad Ali, maybe we should make more revolutionary athletes who care more about Their People then money. Because when you look back the Fan Five was almost revolutionary. 5 young black men from the inner cities make a decision on their own that they would join together for a common goal. Not only did they captivate the hearts ,mind and attention of young black America but they became trendsetters icons for many young black man who would follow their path.
Now can you just imagine the impact that would have had at an all black university? Do you see how revolutionary a statement it would have been to have some of the 5 best young black college players play on a historically black college basketball team not only would it have set a standard for players coming out of high school it also would have become a Hollywood script that white directors climbed over each other to tell. Five inner-city teens get together and make the decision,we don’t want to make a white University rich we want to make a black university rich. Think of all the extra revenue the schools would have gained all the extra maneuverability for scholarships it would have gained due to the money, think about how Shabazz Napier would not have been going hungry because at our university that were funded by our people we will take care of our future.
Think about how many black students who make these universities millions of dollars for their performance on the court or on the field who are suspended or kicked out of school for some minor NCAA violation only to have their career and future ruin wow the University continues to make hand over fist selling the jersey of the player they just ostracized (See Todd Gurley ). So I’m encouraging anyone reading this if you have a child or know a child who is actively participating in sports and has a chance to go to a major white college explain to him the history behind and the importance of HBCU’s and why its up to us to keep the image and legacy of these schools at its peak in every facet. Be it academics, athletics or school spirit such as band and cheerleading.
But first and foremost we should be the tops in recruiting no white university should have easier access to our children and first dibs on our children. In effect most parents are auctioning their kids off to a white slave master with hopes that he will be kind in return for a free education while the university gets paid off of your child’s work. So my people I challenge you all to be recruiters for your favorite or local HBCU. I also challenge you to form coalitions to act as boosters and events and fund raisers to help send our kids who need and want to go to school to school. Even if you’re like me and never even attended college when you figure Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, and stop and frisk you could at least use a good lawyer that comes from where you come from. And if you were responsible for him becoming a lawyer that’s even better.
So parents teachers friends the next time you’re at a boys club or high school sporting event pull out your pen and do some scouting. Start talking to parents and do some recruiting,and if you need to pull out this article and show them what your plan is. Because “The Greatest” is not getting any younger and its time to shake up the world.
#NEW FAB 5
Staff Writer; LeVar Smith
