Who Are We Honoring? Extending the Ebony & Ivy Discussion to Include Sport Facilities
Article
Turick, R, Weems, A, Swim, N et al. (2021). Who Are We Honoring? Extending the Ebony & Ivy Discussion to Include Sport Facilities
. JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT, 35(1), 17-29. 10.1123/JSM.2019-0303
Turick, R, Weems, A, Swim, N et al. (2021). Who Are We Honoring? Extending the Ebony & Ivy Discussion to Include Sport Facilities
. JOURNAL OF SPORT MANAGEMENT, 35(1), 17-29. 10.1123/JSM.2019-0303
One prominent, well-debated issue in the American higher education system is whether university officials should remove the names of individuals with racist pasts from campus buildings/structures that bear their namesake. The purpose of this study was to analyze basketball and football facilities at Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions to explore the racialized history of the people whom these facilities are named after. Utilizing a collective case study approach, the authors identified 18 facilities that were named after athletic administrators, coaches, and philanthropists who engaged in racist activities or harbored racist views. The authors argue, using critical race theory and systemic racism theory as interpretative lenses, that naming buildings after racist persons legitimizes their legacies, rationalizes systemic racism, and continues to unjustly enrich this particular group.
