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To what extent should the US government make sports more accessible for the

African-American youth from lower-income families?

April 16, 2021

Word count:1809
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Over the course of history, the United States has always had an ethnically and racially

diverse country, however, racial diversity has not been celebrated, thus minorities have been

economically marginalized throughout time. According to the statistics presented by the Urban

Institute, minorities in the United States have the highest rates of low-income families (Simms,

2009). African-Americans are one of the largest minority groups that come from lower-income

families (Duncan et al, 2015). Today, African-Americans remain as one of the poorest ethnic

groups in the states on average by having a median household income of $35,341, compared to

the income of the total population consisting of $51,914 (Duncan et a, 2015). They face a vast

amount of financial difficulties and the youth is often excluded from essential extracurricular

activities, including sports. Physical activities are extremely important since they contribute to

the development of mental and physical well-being (Garcia-Falgueras, 2015). In the decades

since the formation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was a landmark for the Supreme

Court of the U.S. - officially ending segregation in public facilities along with employment

discrimination in the workforce, differentiation between the salary of different groups of people

remains an issue that negatively affects accessibility to sports for minorities (Epstein, 2014). The

article “Meaning of Serena Williams'' mentions that white Americans will only recognize black

excellence after African-Americans reach the unimaginable, indicating that only a minority of

African-Americans will be able to show their abilities in sports, which leads to the development

of negative stereotypes (Rankine, 2015). Therefore, African-Americans need access to diverse

sports programs in order to establish a wider path to black excellence.

John Hosking, a Dean of Science and a Professor of Applied Computer Science in the

Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland conducted a study to establish

the correlation between parental income and the weekly use of out-of-school facilities for
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structured physical activity (Voss et al., 2008). Results indicated that children from low-income

families attended significantly fewer sessions of structured out-of-school activities than those

from wealthier families (Voss et al., 2008). The concern for making sports more accessible

extends to more than African-American youth from lower-income families (Voss et al., 2008).

Sports is often a financial burden on low-income African-American families. Otto Loewy, an

African-American player at the Major League Soccer and present-day youth sports coach recalls

his path to success through emphasizing the extreme doing of both himself and his mother

(Chang, 2020). Loewy reported that he had to give up other physical activities in order to play

soccer and even that was a financial challenge for his family due to the rising costs of sports

(Chang, 2020). He mentioned that his mother and himself would paint soccer fields, which was

an arrangement they were lucky enough to have in order for him to continue playing (Chang,

2020). Loewy’s case represents the struggle to succeed experienced by a vast amount of

low-income families, especially African-Americans. Thus, the importance of public sports

programs is extremely crucial in order to provide opportunities for African-American youth to

have the chance to take part in various fields of sports without sacrifices.

From a medical viewpoint, physical activities are highly beneficial for the physical and

mental well-being of the youth. Maureen Kroning, a nursing supervisor at Good Samaritan

Hospital, and an Associate Professor at Nyack College of Nursing along with Kayla Kroning,

studying chemistry and neuroscience at Gordon College, report that adolescent depression affects

29.9% of high school students, however, the issue remains ignored (Kroning & Kroning, 2016).

Therefore, the issue heavily targets low-income African-American families who are not capable

of providing psychological treatment to their children at critical times due to their income. Alicia

Garcia-Falgueras, professor in psychology states in her peer-reviewed article “Psychological

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Benefits of Sports and Physical Activities” that the emotional well-being achieved in long-term

participation in sports prevents depression (Garcia-Falgueras, 2015). Engaging in physical

activities reduces stress, therefore, if stress is reduced the likelihood of depression would

decrease since plasma levels of corticosteroids will not rise (Garcia-Falgueras, 2015). For the

reason that African-Americans can't afford mental health treatment and cognitive psychologists,

sports for them is more important since sports provide mental health benefits, thus, free sports

programs should be available to the youth in schools. Thus, the better the mental health of

African-American youth the more success they will be able to achieve, hence succeeding in

sports will improve their self-esteem and allow them to succeed in other fields.

In addition to Loewy’s experience of abandoning other fields of sports, Don Schumacher,

the executive director of the National Association of Sports Commissions, explains that

participation in team sports has been falling yearly (Lower-Income Students Getting Shut Out of

Sports, 2014). This means that due to financial barriers sports participation is decreasing

significantly. In agreement with Schumacher, Darryl Hill, the founder of Kids Play USA - an

organization providing access to youth sports, believes that while the government tries to seek

economic shortcuts by having cutbacks on sports programs they are actually contributing to the

formation of severe health problems in the future (Mann, 2013).Therefore, by defunding sports

programs the country will be facing a larger permanent issue, health problems, which will

require larger funds to be resolved. Additionally, Darryl Hill mentioned that through cutting back

on sports programs a vast quantity of talent will be undiscovered, thus the sports industry will

not be competitive (Mann, 2013). The ongoing cutbacks on sports programs will continue to

decrease the amount of playing, hence limit the spread of black excellence.
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The financial state of African-American lower-income families and the rising costs of

youth sports has forced families to invest in narrower fields of sports that have brought

significant success and title to African-American athletes. African-Americans have frequently

reached black excellence through becoming professional athletes in sports available to them,

however, their narrow path to black excellence has led African-American youth to pursue the

same extracurriculars as a way to break free from the financial state of their community. Scott N.

Brooks, Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate professor with the T. Denny

Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, mentions in his peer-reviewed article that

African-American athletes prioritize sports over their academic careers and other interests in

order for them to reach a level of success (Brooks, 2004). In agreement with Brooks, Harry

Edwards, African-American sociologist and a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University

of California, states in his peer-reviewed article that, unlike white Americans,

African-Americans do not have access to diverse opportunities that will allow them to achieve

desirable valuables formed by the society, which forces African-Americans into sports as one of

the only endeavors available to them (Edwards, 1971). Similarly, Earl Smith, American

sociologist and a Rubin Distinguished Professor Emeritus of American Ethnic Studies at Wake

Forest University, reports that African-Americans boys were only recruited in American football

to play running back, wide receiver, or defensive back rather than quarterback or offensive line,

today African-American youth is identified for specific sports while being discouraged from

playing others (Smith, n.d). Otto Loewy, as previously mentioned, recalls how growing up he

was always told that he chose the wrong sport, only basketball was worth pursuing since it

brought success to various African-Americans (Chang, 2020). Therefore, African-American

athletes only achieving success in certain sports due to limited opportunities has led
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African-American youth to believe that they can guarantee their success through one path to

black excellence. Thus, it is crucial to provide access to diverse sports for African-Americans to

break stereotypes and widen the path to black excellence.

However, athletic programs in schools have been facing drastic budget cuts and even the

cancelation of several sports due to the government not having funding. Tom Corbett, the

governor of Pennsylvania, claimed that since there was less money coming into the state, sports

programs in public schools will be having extreme budget cuts, thus, parents would have to

cover the expenses like fees to play sports and athletic equipment (Hello Budget Cuts, Goodbye

Sports: The Threat to Athletics, 2011). According to Corbett, Pennsylvania will in theory have

public sports programs, which means that the youth from lower-income African-American

families will be excluded from sports participation due to financial barriers placed upon them. In

addition, Mike Giruzzi, Hilton Athletic Director, claimed that the cuts on sports programs were

based on student participation, nevertheless, the Hilton Hockey Booster Club formed by a group

of parents started a movement called “Save Hilton Hockey,” they are collecting donations and

waiting for final decisions on budget cuts that will be placed on hockey (Hello Budget Cuts,

Goodbye Sports: The Threat to Athletics, 2011). Drastic budget cuts resulting in shutting down

programs or increasing expenses decreases the accessibility of diverse sports programs to

lower-income families, leading to marginalization of the African-American youth. Corbett and

Giruzzi prove the importance of Rankine’s claim, the lack of accessibility of sports programs for

African-Americans makes it more difficult to show black excellence and to build an athletic

career.

The overall solution to this problem seems to be providing free and diverse physical

activities in schools, which can facilitate the physical and mental development of all
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lower-income minority youth, especially African-Americans (Garcia-Falgueras, 2015). The

implications of this solution would be lowering the rates of depression in adolescents for all high

schoolers around the US (Garcia-Falgueras, 2015). In addition, improving the mental health of

African-Ameicans, thus, increasing their success in other fields of interest, along with lowering

the financial burden placed on lower-income families by having free sports lessons. Moreover,

increasing the number of participants in physical activities and escaping the health burden, which

may proceed if sports will not be accessible to African-Americans (Mann, 2013). Above all,

providing sports programs in school will allow the youth to have access to various fields of

sports, which will allow African-Americans to pursue and succeed in a wider range of sports,

hence giving rise to diverse forms of black excellence (Rankine, 2015). Based on Rankine’s

claim that black excellence takes a more challenging path to be noticed in sports, the solution to

provide sports programs in school will allow the African-American youth from lower-income

classes to excel through sports (Rankine, 2015).

On the other hand, the main limitation, which may hinder the government funding for

physical activities in schools, is the economic condition of the United States. Carrying out such a

drastic change to a high extent may not be possible due to the economic consequences and

budget cutouts (Hello Budget Cuts, Goodbye Sports: The Threat to Athletics, 2011). As

mentioned previously, the state of Pennsylvania faced the risk of defunding all sports programs

in the state due to the economic instability (Hello Budget Cuts, Goodbye Sports: The Threat to

Athletics, 2011). This means that most of the sports programs are either being defunded or shut

down, the economy of the US might not be in the correct shape to adjust to such a change (Hello

Budget Cuts, Goodbye Sports: The Threat to Athletics, 2011). However, despite this limitation, it
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is crucial to take action to support the establishment of equal opportunities in sports for

African-Americans.

In conclusion, despite psychologists, students, parents, and higher officials stretching the

importance of increasing accessibility of diverse sports programs to lower-income families, the

African-American youth struggles daily to find their way to physical activities. White Americans

only recognize black excellence after African-Americans reach the impossible, indicating that

only a minority of African-Americans will be able to show their abilities. Therefore, diverse

sports programs should be accessible to lower-income African-American youth to widen the path

to black excellence.
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References

Brooks, S. N. (2004). “Putting the Blessings on Him”: Vouching and Basketball Status Work.

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 595, 80–90.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4127611?seq=1

Chang, J. (2020, June 26). The Widening Accessibility Gap In Youth Sports. Www.wbur.org.

https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2020/06/26/otto-loewy-youth-sports-accessibility-gap

Duncan, S. C., Strycker, L. A., & Chaumeton, N. R. (2015). Personal, Family, and Peer

Correlates of General and Sport Physical Activity among African American, Latino, and

White Girls. Journal of Health Disparities Research & Practice, 8(2), 12–28.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=6f268dd7-9731-40b0-ac9e-88

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Edwards, Harry. “The Sources of the Black Athlete’s Superiority.” The Black Scholar, vol. 3, no.

3, 1971, pp. 32–41, www.jstor.org/stable/41203696?seq=1.

Epstein, R. A. (2014). Public Accommodations Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Why

Freedom of Association Counts as a Human Right. Stanford Law Review, 66(6),

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Garcia-Falgueras, A. (2015). Psychological Benefits of Sports and Physical Activities. British

Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 11(4), 1–7.

https://doi.org/10.9734/bjesbs/2015/21865
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Hello Budget Cuts, Goodbye Sports: The Threat to Athletics | PublicSchoolReview.com. (2011,

March 24). Public School Review.

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/hello-budget-cuts-goodbye-sports-the-threat-to

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Kroning, M., & Kroning, K. (2016). Teen Depression and Suicide. Journal of Christian Nursing,

33(2), 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1097/cnj.0000000000000254

Lower-Income Students Getting Shut Out of Sports. (2014, July 27). NBC News; NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/lower-income-students-getting-shut-out-sp

orts-n164941

Mann, H. (2013). Gridiron Pioneer. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 29(25), 2–2.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=94bc9cca-fad5-4b11-9a50-e8f

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Rankine, C. (2015, August 25). The Meaning of Serena Williams. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/magazine/the-meaning-of-serena-williams.html

Simms, M. (2009, August 11). Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Low-Income Families.

Webarchive.urban.org. http://webarchive.urban.org/publications/411936.html

Smith, E. (n.d.). There Was No Golden Age of Sport for African American Athletes. , Vol.

37(p45-48. 4p.). EBSCO.

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low-income families have less access to sports facilities, but are no less physically active:

cross-sectional study (EarlyBird 35). Child: Care, Health and Development, 34(4),

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