The Shadow League has written endless pieces highlighting the lack of diversity at the head coaching position at the college and pro levels. It is the never-ending saga, featuring a see-saw battle between two sides.
Those rare universities which truly represent America and seek out qualified candidates of all ethnicities and an outdated machine of comfortability with familiarity that tends to keep power contained among a certain group of people.
Since the advent of sports as corporate business, impenetrable ole’ boys networks controlled the hiring for leadership positions. Here and there we see evidence of minorities breaking ground and pioneering advancements in coaching and the front office at the pro level, but overall most African-Americans arent happy with the fact that the majority of the players are Black and most of the coaches are white.
Its almost an accepted reality and practice from the youth level on up through the pros in many instances. Doesnt matter if you are a Black woman or man. The same setbacks apply.
We tend to overlook the realities of college athletics, which has become a billion dollar business where predominantly white coaches have been able to live affluent existences off the backs of poor black athletes.
This chart by @NCAAResearch is statistical and historical proof that there is still something inherently wrong, oppressive, biased and corrupt about the hiring process for potential African-Americans and women to the plush leadership gigs in college athletics.
On the whole, the demographics of NCAA head coaches have changed little over the past twenty years. #BHM2017pic.twitter.com/wECQIWLtsW
NCAA Research (@NCAAResearch) February 23, 2017
You mean to tell me that just 8 percent of all head coaches at NCAA institutions in the 2015-16 season were Black? And aint a damn thing change since 1995 ?
It hasnt gotten much better for women who comprise just 24 percent of NCAA head coaching gigs, a 1 percent rise from the 1995-96 season.
Theres no other way to say it; this is really bad. The NCAA and other sports entities try to portray themselves as advocates of increased diversity and expanding the head coaching pool, but its all in an effort to mask the inherent racism that still exists in the hiring practices of NCAA Athletic Institutions.
The NCAAs belief in The Black Coach seems nonexistent and hypocritical. The governing body encourages Black players to risk their health while being cash cows for their university with no guarantees for the future, but are reluctant to take a chance on a black qualified candidate as head coach.
According to the startling stats, the NCAA is more likely to hire a white woman as a head coach. This date is just further evidence of how far we still have to go as a country and also helps you understand why pro players are getting increasingly more vocal and conscious. They see how the game is structured and how African-American men with an abundance of talent are often at the whim of a white person who can make or break them in a lot of ways because they hold all of the influence.
Its been time for the NCAA to break this vicious culture that has turned college sports into a billion dollar factory that exploits African-American bodies, but does very little to feed the mind or allow for a future of any substance.
