Black Athletes: A Peculiar Kind of Privilege

[Dr. Narcisse]

Was going to add this to sports section. Specifically the "Cacs hate Jameis Winston thread"

However, this touched on a broader subject that seemed more TLR worthy.

It is impossible to write about this story and not reflect on the national wave of protests taking place against the police terror inflicted primarily on young black men. As stories of unequal and deadly treatment by cops flood into social media, here is Jameis Winston actually being protected by the Tallahassee police, his college small-town God status giving him benefits that the late Eric Garner, Michael Brown or Tamir Rice could not hope to imagine. But while Winston might be sheltered and protected, do not think for a moment that it springs from the post-racial hearts of the powers-that-be in Tallahassee. What you see in Florida’s state capital is the "gutter-economy” that secretly runs NCAA sports.

Of course, Jameis Winston does not see a dime. He is paid in protection and privilege, guilty or innocent. His humanity morphs and he becomes a new creature: something near mythological best described as half God/half chattel. That’s the gutter economy at work. The relationship has disturbing similarities to the ones outlined by William Rhoden in his book Forty Million Dollar Slaves about the ways that the enslaved stars of plantation sports were given tastes of luxury that others in bondage could not imagine. No, I am not arguing that college athletes are slaves. But as civil rights historian Taylor Branch has written, it certainly does have “more than a whiff of the plantation.” In other words, the power relationships that defined 350 years of black existence in this country can certainly change. But especially when profits loom, they can also mutate like a virus, adapting and taking different forms to meet a new set of masters.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/192033/jameis-winstons-peculiar-kind-privilege


There are some interesting points made. But I still dont like how they assume guilt on him.

Also, no matter how good of an athlete you are. Its just hard to believe that an entire university, cops, etc would really cover up a white woman being raped by a black man. In the south of all places. If they had any proof he'd be in jail. I dont care how good a football player he is (even though when he was first accused he never played a snap)

You do gotta wonder what would have happened had he just been a regular student though