New Directions for the Civil Rights Movement: College Athletics as a Civil Rights Issue
Abstract
This article espouses an indirect argument against the Critical Legal Studies (CLS) theory that creating new or expanded rights is a futile response to the plight of the black community. The article also attempts to respond to the challenge which Professor Mari J. Matsuda made to the CLS community-to deal with the void in their literature of concrete programmatic approaches toward changing the status quo by listening to the voice of minority scholars. Instead of repeating the criticisms of CLS, which others have made quite adequately, I will set forth a problem-solving approach which I believe will add to the literature in the field. I will explore a particular subject matter, namely black youth in college athletics, and suggest a new direction that civil rights organizations could pursue with promising results, if supplemented by appropriate support.
First, the article will examine the success of the Civil Rights Movement. Next, the article will outline the exploitation of (mostly black) college athletes. Finally, the article will encourage civil rights organizations to fight this exploitation. This article examines the legitimacy of the monopolized "marriage" between pre-professional sports training and academic institutions and makes suggestions for radical reform or restructuring along with a strategy for achieving the same.