“The Black Athlete” page 26, SI 7/1/1968

“The Black Athlete” page 26, SI 7/1/1968

black athlete, cultural gulf, academics, money

Olsen continues to pursue the ‘cultural gulf’ between black college athletes and their white peers. Olsen is somewhat forgiving of coaches who recruit black youth who are dismally ill-equipped for college academics, noting that “coaches are paid to win, not solve social problems.” Once young black athletes arrive at universities, Olsen finds that they struggle to handle cash, something he calls “rare in their culture.” The other major problem facing the black athlete is alienation and academic disadvantage because of dialectic differences in ‘white’ and ‘Negro’ English. Olsen notes that the stark change in writing and speaking style from black community to white college is enough to convince black youth, in keeping with white racist stereotypes, that they are inherently less intelligent. Olsen offers no quotation or direct evidence for this, he simply asserts that “Negroes are just as prone as certain white to mistake the cultural gulf for a biological gulf.” Olsen again implicitly indicts racist white people, referring to them as “certain whites”, and citing scientific evidence by biologists and anthropologists that their stereotypes are pure myth. However, he also clearly and repeatedly aligns himself with white readers, probably those he considers more enlightened, by referring to “the Negro” as a standard archetypal other, and publishing the quotations of a white coach to make his point about English dialects. Additionally, Olsen, like the ‘certain whites’ he dismisses, entertains notions of distinct racial divides, though he views them as a cultural product. While Olsen seems to want to make a case on behalf of black athletes, he never identifies himself with their experience or struggles. He remains undoubtedly white.

Katherine Brown

Sports Illustrated, July 1, 1968

Time Inc.