Elena's Research Ideas

Works Cited  BEAMON, K. K. “Used Goods”: Former African American College Student-Athletes’ Perception of Exploitation by Division I Universities. Journal of Negro Education, [s. l.], v. 77, n. 4, p. 352–364, 2008. Disponível em: https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=37374611&site=ehost-live. Acesso em: 10 mar. 2020. Bennett, Martellus. “We Teach Black Boys Sports Are Their Only Hope. What If We Let Them Dream Bigger?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 1 Feb. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2019/02/01/feature/we-teach-black-boys-sports-are-their-only-hope-what-if-we-let-them-dream-bigger/. Branch, Taylor. “The Shame of College Sports.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Aug. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/ .  Harper, Shaun. “BLACK MALE STUDENT ATHLETES AND RACIAL INEQUITIES IN NCAA.” web-app.usc.edu/web/rossier/publications/231...

I watch The Business of Amateurs documentary for my second extra credit project. Although this did not really deal with race that much, it still gave a lot of insight into the NCAA and their corrupt nature from the start. It is just mind-blowing the number of athletes that leaving college sports with debilitating injuries, mental and physical, leaving them unable to hold a job. Junior Seau, a former player, said that he believes that his medical bills post-graduation outweighed the cost of his education. It is not uncommon for players to get injured, continue playing, and then cause a tremendous amount of wear and tear on their injury. One of the players, waited one year until going to an out of university doctor to learn that his knee was torn and that he will need surgery. Since he went out of the school, he was responsible for all the medical bills associated with the injury, even though it was the school's misdiagnosis that led him to that state of his injury. One man that was ...

Argument- Black student-athletes are treated as Migrant Laborers exploited for their athletic ability by the NCAA via the Plantation Model.  The leverage of the NCAA over these athletes stems from the overemphasis of sports in black communities leading to an enormous pool of overzealous applicants each year. Counter- Despite the corrupt nature of the NCAA, it provides players with a form of self-empowerment through academic achievement and the overall feeling of self-worth (especially if you are the first person in your family to graduate college). It also helps one build an identity and help make connections in the world beyond a small community. Overall, gaining a college degree, in general, is very beneficial in today's society and incrementally benefits those of low-income families more than those of the middle class. Additionally, there is always the chance of falling into the one percent that makes it and succeeds in the NFL/NBA and gets paid millions of dollars....

Ten years after graduating from college UCLA basketball player ed O'Bannon was at his friend’s house playing video games until his friend commented on the fact that O'Bannon was one of the players on the court. Although it did not say O'Bannon on the player's uniform, the player did happen to look like O'Bannon with the same skin tone, bald head, height, and weight. The player also the same shooting percentage, speed, team, and number. O'Bannon could not believe that the NCAA was still profiting off of his likeness even years after graduation and that he was not presented a penny of the profits. O'Bannon took this case to court for the NCAA violating antitrust laws by unlawfully conspiring to prevent players from negotiating the monetary value of their names, images, and likenesses. O'Bannon ended up winning this case, and granting universities an allowance to offer full cost of attendance and overall relax other aspects of amateurism by permitting stude...

My theoretical frame stems from The Plantation Model created by Billy Hawkins. The plantation model has several pillars however the foundation lies on the overemphasis of athletics in black communities. The backbone of this system lies in the mass media propaganda depicting sports as an accessible path for young black kids to achieve social status and class mobility. Hawkins claimed that as a male growing up in one of these communities "if you did not compete in athletics, your masculinity was questioned; consequently, if you made “too many” good grades, your masculinity was questioned" (Hawkins 5). These kids grow up seeing their idols playing on tv dreaming to be just like them, not knowing that once making it onto a college team, the chance of making it be a professional is around 1%.  The first pillar is the idea of oscillating migrant laborers in which the players are forced to sell their labor and utilize their skills in hopes of improving their financial conditions b...

I watched the HBO documentary called "Student-Athlete" in which it followed the lives of 5 or six people associated with the NCAA, whether it was an aspiring athlete, a graduate, or a coach. I think this documentary did a very good job of showing the corrupt nature of the NCAA. One of the men, John, was an NC State football coach before being fired by the NCAA due to the school allegedly framing players' grades in fake classes. Meanwhile, neither John nor the students were even unaware of what was going on. After this, John went to another school to coach, where he spoke out against the NCAA on the ridiculousness of students not being able to profit off of their ability. He was fired again. The heart of John's argument is that the NCAA racks up billions of dollars, coaches make nearly 10 million dollars, the staff in total made about 20 million,  the facility cost around 150 million, and the players typically generated at least 100 million a year. All this being said,...