ABSTRACT
Sport in America is generally seen ‘as a positive and progressive racial force, an avenue of racial progress and an arena of racial harmony the great racial equalizer, and a leader in Civil Rights, if not a literal model for race relations in the United States’. Studies investigating African-American male participation in sport suggest that because of the legacy of racial discrimination in US education and occupational attainment, sports’ ethos of merit and emphasis on egalitarian principles make it a more appealing and viable career option. Traditionally, researchers have employed a conflict theoretical perspective to addresses the larger social structures within which college athletics and student-athletes operate and to explain the academic outcomes of student athletes. Conflict theorists specifically cite the commercialization of college football as the reason for the low graduation rates of Black scholarship football student-athletes.
