Athletes Are (=) Scholars: (Re)Positioning Black Athletic Genius to Answer the Educational Crisis

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Given the persistent presence of Black students on K-20 athletic teams, concurrent academic performance gaps along racial lines, and resurgence of Black athlete activism in the 21st century, this session addresses a timely and important issue related to the theme of “Interrogating Consequential Education Research in the Pursuit of Truth”. Topics such as academic neglect, athletic exploitation, cognitive and behavioral misdiagnoses, mental and physical abuse, and liberatory, pedagogical, and conceptual approaches will be discussed toward the intentional centering of Black academic brilliance through athletics and as an answer to the educational crisis.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Ty-Ron M.O. Douglas, University of California - Berkeley

Papers

• Scholar Baller - Keith Harrison, University of Central Florida

• Race, Sport, and Education: Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for Black Male Athletes - John Nathaniel Singer, Texas A&M University

• Neoliberalism, Racial Capitalism, and Black Student Athlete Development - Joy Gaston Gayles, North Carolina State University

• Black Holistic (Under)Development Through Sport and (Mis)Education - Joseph N. Cooper, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Black College Athletes and the Politics of Redemption in the Athletic Enterprise - Eddie Comeaux, University of California - Riverside

Discussant

• Shaun R. Harper, University of Southern California