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When citizens across the nation decided to go into a voting booth and vote for Barack Obama to run their country, their efforts resulted in America electing its first black President. The very notion of this historic occurrence is mind-boggling to most Americans, yet for sports fans, this is nothing new, for sports is a very progressive segment in American culture. Yet even despite its progressive nature, professional sports has still yet to have selected a black commissioner to run one of its four major sports.
Sports have been way ahead of the curve when it comes to promoting blacks and minorities into realms once reserved for the old guard. In fact, of the four major sports leagues, three of them have seen their rise come with the increase of black athletes in their sport. Football would not be what it is today if it weren’t for Archie Griffin breaking segregated lines and going on to win the Heisman Trophy twice. The game of basketball would not be what it is today if it weren’t for a white coach and 5 black kids who started an NCAA national championship game in 1966. And that nation’s pastime would never be what it is today if it weren’t for the inclusion of black players, most notably Jackie Robinson, who not only inspired the game, but inspired a nation.
However, despite such notable achievements and contributions by blacks in the sports world, the fight for equality in this progressive industry goes on. Studies still have to be executed to see which colleges are practicing racial equality. The NFL still has to have—for lack of a more befitting term—affirmative action in its hiring policies. And even the NBA, one of sports most progressive entities, continues to struggle to include blacks in the franchise ownership process.
But you know what?
All of that is irrelevant to me. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see more black NFL coaches in a sport where the majority of players are indeed black. And of course I want to see blacks owning more baseball, football and basketball teams. However, those are not the first things on my list when I start think about what can bring about the most change in professional sports. Because adding one token black coach here and one token black owner there won’t lead to a preponderance of black owners and coaches in sports. It will just lead to more token handouts. Instead, how about changing the game completely? How about ending the inequality at the top, so just as President-Elect Barack Obama proposes, the wealth can be spread out?
The only way that blacks can achieve true equality in sports and rid of all aspects of racism in them is to opt for a black commissioner. I am not even suggesting that each sport needs to have a black commissioner, because Lord knows it will be a cold, cold day in you know where when a black man is in charge of the NHL. Nevertheless, one—just one—black man at the very pinnacle of one major sport would change the way we do business in that sport, and perhaps that would change some of the other sports through osmosis. Because when we reach a point where a black man holds owners and league executives accountable, it becomes a lot harder for prejudice to rear its ugly head. In addition to that, seeing a black man as the leader and spokesperson for a league could inspire black youth and black athletes to seek out higher aspirations in the sports world.
And that’s what Obama’s presidency is about. It’s about the fact that blacks don’t have to settle for becoming the mayor of a black city, the governor of a progressive state, or the senator of a diverse district. Instead, blacks can reach for the top. And while not all of them will become commissioner, seeing a black person at the top of sports and aiming for that very goal, will result in blacks realizing heights that were once out of arm’s reach. Which is why I believe that having a black commissioner is the only way to achieve true equality throughout all aspects of sports.
At the end of the day though, there is no reason to believe that we are that far away from seeing a black man take over the very sports they were once told they could not participate in. In fact, word is that Jimmie Lee Solomon is possibly in line for the MLB’s top spot once Mr. Selig calls it quits. And while seeing a black man become commissioner won’t have the same ramifications as Obama winning a presidential election, a black commissioner could do something in sports that not even Obama’s presidency can do for all of America. The right black commissioner could bring about equality in all of professional sports, which is something the rest of America is likely to be battling even after Obama’s time in office is complete.
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