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University of Iowa football boycott suspension newspaper articles, 1969

1969-04-21 Des Moines Register Article: "Black Athletes Statement"

Black Athletes' Statement 
The Black Athletes Union at the University of Iowa was released to The Register the following statement "to clarify the issues." concerning last Friday's boycott of football practice by 16 blacks:

An open letter to the public: In regard to the existing situation at the University of Iowa, we the black athletes in question wish to release the following statement to clarify the issues. 

First, we would like it to be known that we don't have now, or never had, any intentions of not participating in the intercollegiate athletic program at the University of Iowa. Our primary concern is to demonstrate through out protest that there is an intolerable situation at the university for all black people.
   We want to have the assurance that the machinery has been set in motion to alleviate the situation as it exists. Complete satisfaction and not pacification is out goal 
    It has been stated that the university has an integrated football tea and an integrated community. We maintain that this is not completely true. 

Three years go the all-black basketball squad of the University of Texas at El Paso played the all-white squad of Kentucky for the national championship. Overjoyed white liberals claimed this as an example of racial progress. 
    "Nowhere," they said " has the black made more progress" The black athlete, however, held a different view. 
    Black people viewed the 1966 national championships as a triumph of black over white. this attitude seriously challenges allegations of great racial strides made in the area of sports. 
      Sports Illustrated (July 1, 1968) stated that "if they (white liberals) had scratched a millimeter below the surfaee, they would have realized that the victory was shallow" 
    Of the five white players who started the game for Kentucky, five graduated. Of the five black players who started the game for U. of T. at El Paso none has graduated nor have the other two sitting on the bench. 
     Graduation is the critical area of education. The history of black people at the University of Iowa seriously rivals U. of T. at El Paso in this area of education. 

Athletics and athletes play a major part in the lives of black people. Outstanding black athletes are often hero symbols to black children. The black athlete responding to his particular image in the eyes of black people, recognizes that a world sprint record a heavyweight championship or a gridiron rushing record does not represent "racial progress" The conscious black athlete is also moving in the direction of liberation, liberation of himself and of black people. The acts of Muhammed Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith were heralded by most black people. 
      Such is the case of the black athlete at Iowa. there are problems peculiar to the black athlete and those of a more general nature to black people. The resolution to both is imperative. 

Brought into focus here is the slave-master relationship. The black athlete, for example, is the gladiator who performs in the arena for the pleasure of the white masses. 

He is brought from the black colony, typically called high school, which is predominately black. By conventional standards, it is unequal to that which exists in the mother country: Notes for its out-of-date textbooks, inadequate supplies and inadequate teachers. 
    the black gladiator brought into this oppressive environment, representing approximately one per cent of the populous, is trained to razor athletic sharpness and used to thrill the white spectator masses Incidental to this razor sharpness is the problem of eligibility. Eligibility has two faces - one is the image the other is academic. 

The "image" is supposed to conform to the middle class standards, quiet and unobtrusive. The academic face represents the greatest paradox. 

The requirements of eligibility do not meet those of graduation. Why? Simply because it was not intended that the black athlete graduate? At the end of four years, the black gladiator is tossed back into the colony exhausted from his toil and exploitation in the mother country.
   It is intended that he be physically  exhausted because he potentially represents the greatest threat to the society, politically and revolutionary. However, the oppressive methods used to restrain him are out-dated. 
    When Jesse Owens resisted the white pig-master following the 1936 Olympics, he was stripped of his athletic standing and allowed only to race horses. Psychologically emasculated he represents no challenge. Today the black athlete will not accept the same treatment. 
  It can be said that if you were black, in school and not prepared to leave you should never have been there. 

DMR 
April 21,1969

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Black Athletes' Statement The Black Athletes Union at the University of Iowa was released to The Register the following statement "to clarify the issues." concerning last Friday's boycott of football practice by 16 blacks: An open letter to the public: In regard to the existing situation at the University of Iowa, we the black athletes in question wish to release the following statement to clarify the issues. First, we would like it to be known that we don't have now, or never had, any intentions of not participating in the intercollegiate athletic program at the University of Iowa. Our primary concern is to demonstrate through out protest that there is an intolerable situation at the university for all black people. We want to have the assurance that the machinery has been set in motion to alleviate the situation as it exists. Complete satisfaction and not pacification is out goal It has been stated that the university has an integrated football tea and an integrated community. We maintain that this is not completely true. Three years go the all-black basketball squad of the University of Texas at El Paso played the all-white squad of Kentucky for the national championship. Overjoyed white liberals claimed this as an example of racial progress. "Nowhere," they said " has the black made more progress" The black athlete, however, held a different view. Black people viewed the 1966 national championships as a triumph of black over white. this attitude seriously challenges allegations of great racial strides made in the area of sports. Sports Illustrated (July 1, 1968) stated that "if they (white liberals) had scratched a millimeter below the surfaee, they would have realized that the victory was shallow" Of the five white players who started the game for Kentucky, five graduated. Of the five black players who started the game for U. of T. at El Paso none has graduated nor have the other two sitting on the bench. Graduation is the critical area of education. The history of black people at the University of Iowa seriously rivals U. of T. at El Paso in this area of education. Athletics and athletes play a major part in the lives of black people. Outstanding black athletes are often hero symbols to black children. The black athlete responding to his particular image in the eyes of black people, recognizes that a world sprint record a heavyweight championship or a gridiron rushing record does not represent "racial progress" The conscious black athlete is also moving in the direction of liberation, liberation of himself and of black people. The acts of Muhammed Ali, John Carlos and Tommie Smith were heralded by most black people. Such is the case of the black athlete at Iowa. there are problems peculiar to the black athlete and those of a more general nature to black people. The resolution to both is imperative. Brought into focus here is the slave-master relationship. The black athlete, for example, is the gladiator who performs in the arena for the pleasure of the white masses. He is brought from the black colony, typically called high school, which is predominately black. By conventional standards, it is unequal to that which exists in the mother country: Notes for its out-of-date textbooks, inadequate supplies and inadequate teachers. the black gladiator brought into this oppressive environment, representing approximately one per cent of the populous, is trained to razor athletic sharpness and used to thrill the white spectator masses Incidental to this razor sharpness is the problem of eligibility. Eligibility has two faces - one is the image the other is academic. The "image" is supposed to conform to the middle class standards, quiet and unobtrusive. The academic face represents the greatest paradox. The requirements of eligibility do not meet those of graduation. Why? Simply because it was not intended that the black athlete graduate? At the end of four years, the black gladiator is tossed back into the colony exhausted from his toil and exploitation in the mother country. It is intended that he be physically exhausted because he potentially represents the greatest threat to the society, politically and revolutionary. However, the oppressive methods used to restrain him are out-dated. When Jesse Owens resisted the white pig-master following the 1936 Olympics, he was stripped of his athletic standing and allowed only to race horses. Psychologically emasculated he represents no challenge. Today the black athlete will not accept the same treatment. It can be said that if you were black, in school and not prepared to leave you should never have been there. DMR April 21,1969