How Black male college athletes deal with anti-Black stereotypes on campus

Professors have lower academic expectations of Black college athletes compared with White college athletes, a study found. supersizer/E+ Collection/Getty Images by Jonathan Howe, Temple University In an effort to avoid stereotypes about Black male athletes, such as being labeled a “dumb jock,” Spike, a college football player, says he wore athletic clothes to class as little as possible. “I mean, granted, I’m a 6-foot-4, 240-pound Black kid on campus, so it’s kind of hard to get away from that,” he said. “But I didn’t want any, you know, significant confirmation that I was an athlete. So, I just wore like a collared shirt, jeans and nice shoes every day.” Trey, a baseball player, refrained from speaking up or sharing personal information – even with his teammates. He said he was often “outnumbered in opinion” as he was one of two Black athletes on a team of 40, which led to him “not even wanting to speak up” about issues that may cause conflict with others. “I’m a Black student-athlete and, like, that already makes me have to carry myself a different way,” he said. I’m a professor of sport management who researches the experiences of Black male college athletes. During...