ABSTRACT
The success and popularity of the African American athlete in the past three decades is unprecedented. African American athletes dominate the popular sports of professional football, baseball, and basketball in the United States today. Concurrently, American college sport plays a significant role in popularizing sport in the United States. It has gained enormous popularity since the first collegiate event in 1852, a rowing race between Harvard and Yale Universities. American college sport was a "whites only" institution with only a few African American athletes participating on teams at predominantly white colleges and universities until as late as the 1960s. African Americans played college sports at historically black colleges and universities located primarily in the South. African Americans are also breaking ground in sports other than basketball, football, and baseball. Many of the myths regarding African American athletes suffer from scientifically unacceptable assumptions and are not substantiated by research.
