Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Dr Boyce Watkins Supports Suit Against the NCAA

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

8:50 AM on 08/11/2009

NCAA treating black athletes like second-class citizens

  • In this April 3, 1995 photo, UCLA's Ed O'Bannon celebrates after his team won the NCAA championship game against Arkansas in Seattle. O'Bannon is suing the NCAA over its use of former student athletes' images in DVDs, video games, photographs, apparel and other material. (AP Photo/Eric Draper, File)

The revolution has been televised.

I always knew it would be, since African American athletes have always been center stage in the NCAA's multi-billion dollar money machine. Millions of Americans go mad during the month of March to see "Tyrone G. Anyhood", the latest corporate product being lined up on the Great American assembly line of mass exploitation and academic fraud.

The NCAA has profited handsomely from the black community's commitment to producing and delivering hoop dreams that put young black men on the court during the hours they should be spending in a book. We perform death-defying athletic circus acts for the amusement of America, while universities profit under the guise of providing education. The NCAA's professional sports league has created hundreds of multimillionaires and has facilitated the purchase of summer homes, yachts and private planes for many of the fat old men who refuse to even hire African American coaches.

Some of the players have finally said, "enough."

Ed O'Bannon, a former star for the UCLA Bruins, has put his name at the top of an historic class-action lawsuit being filed against the NCAA for the illegal use of player images in videogames. This lawsuit is significant and opens a Pandora's Box of disturbing issues, like a maid charged with cleaning out a house with dead bodies and asbestos. To make things simple, here are just a few reasons the suit may actually end up having massive implications for the African American community:

Click to read.

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