How would you like to be considered three-fifths of an American?
From our nation’s beginning until the end of the Civil War, that was the value that the U.S. Constitution gave to African-American slaves.
If this issue seems so long ago and not worth raising again, let me suggest that the value of African Americans is still a debated point. Those who recognize that racism is systemic, that is that racism is built into the way our society works, see this most clearly in the numerous attempts by state legislators to restrict voting.
What is on my mind in this article, however, is not politics but sports. Everyone, no matter where they are on the political spectrum, would agree that African Americans dominate in the NBA especially, but also in the NFL and track and field.
With such high rates of participation, we might think that African-American athletes fare as well as White American athletes. Certainly, the salaries suggest that. Racism, however, is like poison ivy in a garden. Just when we think we have eradicated it in one part of the garden, it crops up elsewhere.
This past week, I read an article about the NFL that reminded me the poison ivy of racism has found another foothold. Here is the background to this new appearance of racism. For many years, NFL owners and the organization refused to recognize that football can cause severe brain injuries, with many of these brain injuries surfacing in retired athletes later in life.
Even to mention the problem of brain injuries caused by football could spell a person’s professional doom. Just ask Bob Costas, once one of the premier sports broadcasters who no longer covers football games after he challenged the sport to admit this problem. But Bob Costas had a point. Try the “Bob Costas view” of the game — instead of focusing on wide receivers and those in the backfield, focus on the massive and absurdly fast linemen who bang heads on every play. That is the view that gives us a better sense of the sport’s toll on the human brain.
Finally, after dragging its heels, the NFL agreed to a billion-dollar settlement to cover brain injury claims. Problem solved, right? Think again. To determine who should receive payment for these injuries and how much they should receive, the NFL uses a system that offers less money to African-American claimants than to White Americans.
Here is how this works. To be eligible, claimants have to prove that they have dementia or other brain injuries. That makes sense, but what comes next shows the pervasiveness of systemic racism. The NFL assumes that African-American athletes begin with lower cognitive abilities than White-American athletes.
Put another way, the NFL views African-American players as less mentally gifted and agile as their White counterparts. African-American football players have to exhibit more severe dementia or other brain injuries to qualify for a payout. This means that there are retired African-American football players who receive no compensation for brain injuries that their White-American counterparts are receiving.
Various lawsuits on behalf of African-American football veterans could rectify this form of racial discrimination, but to the shame of the sport, NFL owners aren’t cooperating.
Yes, many White Americans deny the existence of systemic racism. But understanding racism as systemic isn’t rocket science. Systemic racism refers to the numerous ways that the game is rigged to the detriment of certain populations and to the advantage of others.
Rabid football fans would be the first to protest if they learned their beloved game was rigged. We demand fair referees and fair application of the rules. Think how Colts fans protested when “Deflategate” occurred.
If we don’t want the game rigged, why would we stand by when retired African-American football players are treated as “three-fifths” of their full human status?
David Carlson of Franklin is a professor emeritus of philosophy and religion. Send comments to [email protected].
