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As Republicans across multiple states follow through on vows to ban and restrict diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Black DEI-backers have homed in on one point of leverage that can be used in the immediate term: college athletics.
NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, a University of Florida alum, released a scathing letter on Sunday that denounced his alma mater’s recent firing of all its DEI employees.
“To the MANY minority athletes at HF, please be aware and vocal about this decision by the University who is now closing the doors on other minorities without any oversight."
Smith’s comments came a little more than a week after Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he’d encourage Black athletes and their parents to avoid Alabama schools if state Republicans succeed in their push to ban DEI programs.
In a social media post, Mayor Woodfin wrote:
To the leadership, athletic directors and coaches at University of Alabama Athletics, Auburn University and UAB — The University of Alabama at Birmingham: Do you support this prohibition of diversity and inclusion? To the parents of minority athletes who are helping their children decide if they want to play sports at those institutions: Would you be cool with your child playing at schools where diversity among staff is actively being discouraged? Although I’m the biggest Bama fan, I have no problem organizing Black parents and athletes to attend other institutions outside of the state where diversity and inclusion are prioritized.
College athletes and their families shouldn’t — and won’t — be the only people using their voices and talents as leverage to punish states with racist anti-DEI policies. Rest assured, the fight to reprioritize diversity will be all-hands-on-deck, as civil rights activists, lawyers, businesses and scores of others exert pressure on lawmakers to end and correct their crusade against DEI.
But Smith and Woodfin have both keyed in on the reality that college athletics continue to be a major source of revenue for many state universities, particularly Southern states, where right-wingers are looking to impose their ahistorical whitewashing.
A ranking compiled by Business Insider in January, relying on the most recent revenue data on large universities' athletics programs, put the University of Alabama (ranked 4th, with an average annual revenue of $180 million) and the University of Florida (ranked 12th, with $147 million) both in the top 15 schools when it comes to average annual revenue generated from athletics. Business Insider notes that most of this revenue is generated by basketball and football programs.
That's a lot of money being made for public universities, largely on the backs of Black athletes. And a lot of money that could be at risk as states seek to outlaw DEI policies.
Today's college athletes have more freedom than others in recent memory. Rule changes in the NCAA have made it easier for athletes to transfer schools, and "name, image, and likeness" rules that allow athletes to profit from their reputations has made recruitment more cutthroat, igniting bidding wars to attract top athletes.
Needless to say, schools that ban (or are forced to ban) diversity programs could find attracting some of those athletes, particularly Black ones, mighty difficult. That's certainly what Emmett Smith and Mayor Woodfin are hoping for. I'm right there with them.