Conflicting thoughts can be
true at the same time: the University of
Colorado’s gridiron gladiators can be “Black
America’s” team, even as their games are
broadcast on a “Make America Great/White
Again” radio propaganda machine like 850-KOA.
While the “Republic of Boulder” has fewer
Black people in the town than CU has enrolled,
802, this duplicitous setting is not by chance
or happenstance, but instead is premeditated,
deliberate, and strategic.
The university, the town, and the radio station that
broadcast all the school’s athletic events are
prime examples of the exploitation and exclusion of Black people. Pimpin’ ain’t easy!
The University of Colorado’s
football team, adopted and hailed as “Black
America’s” champions, paradoxically finds
itself broadcast on the airwaves of a radio
propaganda machine known as 850-KOA. The
so-called “Republic of Boulder” - is an
exclusive bastion of elitist, liberal,
latte-drinking hipsters and wilting Flower
Children, boasting fewer Black residents than
the pathetic 802 Black students out of a
whopping 29,000 total enrolled at CU. What a
disgraceful display of performative diversity
in the face of systemic exclusion. It’s almost
comical if it weren’t so infuriating.
Last week, a bombshell was
dropped on the University as two gutsy
graduate students unleashed a damning “shadow
report” that exposed the putrefying underbelly
of racial hostility festering within the
School of Education. And it’s not just a few
isolated incidents - oh no, this is a
systematic and pervasive issue. Four women of
color in prestigious tenure-track positions
stood up and said “Enough!” as they exited the
toxic environment before the school year even
began.
Make no mistake, this was not a
case of slight discomfort or minor
disagreements - no, this was merciless
bullying, degrading treatment, and relentless
surveillance of these women. And let’s not
forget, the ruthless targeting was not simply
directed at women of color - oh no, black
women in particular bore the brunt of this
heinous behavior. It’s crystal clear that the
so-called “elite” School of Education has not
only failed to protect its valuable faculty of
color but has actively participated in driving
them out with a twisted game of discrimination
and abuse. To put it bluntly, this intolerance
and bigotry are woven deeply into the fabric
of the university, and it’s time for someone
to start unraveling this despicable thread.
If Black America tuned into iHeartRadio’s Rocky Mountain flagship station, KOA, they would be
bombarded with the same hateful rhetoric that
was spewed at a 1965 White Citizens Council meeting. This so-called “sports voice” of CU only grants
Black folks a measly two days a week to “do
their thang” and generate profits for the
station, while the rest of the week is filled
with thinly veiled bigotry and discrimination.
It’s 100 shades of White,
24/7….365/52
KOA, the radio station once
graced by the voice of Conservative darling
Rush Limbaugh, continues to be a cesspool of
bigotry and ignorance even after his demise.
It and it’s brother station, KHOW, contain
airwaves filled with hosts and callers who
revel in degrading and dehumanizing Black and
Brown individuals, serving as the breeding
ground for White America’s pervasive racism.
Not a single liberal or progressive person of
color can be found on their roster, allowing
this toxic narrative to spread like a disease
without any opposing views to challenge it.
This is a grave affront to the principles of
freedom and democracy.
The hailed “Prime”
transformation ruffled a few feathers. Behind
the Ivory walls of the institution lies a
festering cesspool of hostility towards Black
and Brown individuals. They are merely
tolerated, never truly welcomed with open
arms. The recruitment and retention of
Afro-American students, faculty, staff, and
coaches is not only pathetic but unforgivable
and has been an ongoing issue for far too
long.
The blazing flame of Coach
Prime’s national notoriety is set to shine a
spotlight on not only the football program but
also the dark history of the school’s
love-hate relationship with Black and Brown
faculty and students. The nation’s obsession
with the football team should be coupled with
an intense interest in “why” these four
academicians were wrongfully denied tenure and
pushed out. Why were they looked down upon by
the supposedly progressive and open-minded
administration? Were they too confident for
the supposedly progressive administrators? I’d
submit, like so many, it’s a disgraceful story
of hypocrisy and racism at the heart of
academia.
CU is a shining beacon of white hypocrisy, showcasing how
they will gladly parade and profit off Ebony
gladiators, as long as those same gladiators
remain silent, obedient, and solely used for
entertainment and financial gain. The CU
football team, made up of talented Black
players, is welcomed with open arms and
praised for their physical prowess, but a
couple of weeks ago Deion said: “We do things that have never
been done, and that makes people
uncomfortable. When you see a confident
Black man, sitting up there talking his
talk, walking his walk, coaching 75%
African-Americans in the locker room, that’s
kind of threatening (to others). Oh, they
don’t like that. Guess what? We gonna
consistently do what we do because I’m here
and ain’t going nowhere. And I’m about to
get comfortable in a minute.” That
perspective caused the good ol boys to fume.
And, as much as the team’s success,
those words transformed the CU football
program into Black America’s team; don’t get
it twisted.
Coach Deion Prime Sanders unapologetically and unabashedly
symbolizes audacious “Black Power.” And his quest
for respect, and power, well it’s scaring
some folks to death.
Black men are expected to have
the physical prowess of a superhero, yet our
intellectual contributions are met with scorn
and dismissal. We are nothing more than pawns
on a field, silenced and controlled by those
in power. Our voices are to be muffled, and
our minds kept in check. Don’t speak, don’t
think, just perform and entertain. Seen but
not heard. So just shut up and run, boy,
because, in this game of life, your opinions
and freedoms don’t matter.
Coach Prime has shown up, shown
out, and unleashed “Showtime” upon the
Flatirons. The recent defeats have caused the
good old boys to stir and murmur behind their
closed doors at the country club and gun club.
It’s no secret that Prime and his
predominantly Black team make some
uncomfortable. There are those who would
rather suffer defeat with a team of White
players than claim victory with a band of
Black gladiators – but I don’t have to ponder,
I know what time it is!
The spineless mainstream media
remains blissfully blind to the festering,
polarizing racism that lurks beneath Alpine
Hamlet’s glossy facade. While latte-guzzling
White hipsters and smug good old boys bask in
their privileged bubble, they continue to
gorge on the profits of marginalized Black
men’s back-breaking work. The blood, sweat,
and tears of the exploited only serve to
fatten and enrich these callous vultures. But
don’t expect the local TV stations to shine a
light on this insidious reality - their
silence is complicity in the perpetuation of
systemic injustice.
Gone are the days when the team
was filled with mediocre, white-bread players
from small-town America. Nobody outside their
parents cared about their pathetic
performances. But times have quickly changed,
and the roster is now stacked with
star-studded, black athletes from a variety of
backgrounds - some from the gritty streets
below the Mason-Dixon line, and others from
“too urban” neighborhoods for the delicate
sensibilities of CU fans. As these Buffalo
soldiers take control of the team, the dollars
start pouring in, by the millions.
White sports fans, along with non-sports fans, are some of
the same ones who claim to value justice and
equality but turn a blind eye to the rampant
injustice and bigotry embedded in their own
political leaders. They cheer on King Trump
and their Republican puppet party, all fueled
by the toxic poison of White supremacy. Yet, in the same breath, they eagerly consume the
athleticism and artistry of Black players on
the CU football team. It’s sickening how these
hypocrites will bask in the glory of Black
athletes, while simultaneously opposing the
efforts of Black faculty and students to use
their platform for social progress. The stench
of hypocrisy in this country is suffocating.
Hypocrisy at its finest, folks.
America, Boulder and CU - where the pursuit of
entertainment and financial profit takes
precedence over the pursuit of progress.
Shameful.
