Pacific Islander Cultural Racism Theory (PI-CRiT): Athletic Laborers in U.S. Higher Education

• In Event: 58.083 - Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: 58.083-3 - Achieving the Promise for Indigenous Peoples: Research and Praxis II

Abstract

Pacific Islander (PI) high school football recruits are intentionally, and strategically, recruited due to perceived physical and cultural characteristics that make them ideal players for a collision sport such as American football, and yet, while PIs are exploited for their athletic labor, they maintain the lowest graduation rates of any group, in any sport, within the NCAA (2015). While PIs are strategically targeted for their athletic labor, their 11 percent graduation rate (2005) suggests that the relationship between the PI community and US higher education has become one of exploitation. This qualitative study investigates how PI high school football recruits’ goals and expectations play out once they get to college, and what experiences enhance or inhibit their persistence.

Author

• Keali'i Troy Kukahiko, University of California - Los Angeles