Student-athlete sounds like a clever way to get students to put their studies first. In reality, the term was a ruse intended to reinforce the NCAA's systematic denial of worker’s compensation. Ray Dennison, a white football player, became its unfortunate first victim.
Dennison was a lineman at Fort Lewis A&M whose skull shattered during a football game in 1955, resulting in his death. His family was denied worker’s compensation by the NCAA, which argued that Dennison was a student first; therefore, they were not liable for his death.
Ray Dennison’s whiteness didn’t matter in the system’s pursuit of economic conquest. Generations of Black athletes have paid this price. Today, more than half of Division 1 athletes in football and basketball are Black. Low-income students compose 86% of all college athletes. The system relies on their labor to make millions each year, so where is their piece of the pie?
Coaches, athletic officials, and university presidents, all disproportionately white, receive the most pay. NIL deals are now allowing student-athletes to also get paid, but deals averaging from $1,000 to $10,000 are minuscule compared to what universities are bringing in.
The large-scale wage theft of Black athletes will be an issue going forward. How could we support and encourage Black athletes to get what's rightfully theirs going forward?