Legislating Enlightenment

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, the Grambling University football forfeited a football game. They forfeited it by refusing to play, not because they lacked a team. As always, Grambling has a well stocked team with plenty of good athletes, all black athletes, which may be a contributing factor,sadly,in the forfeiture. Grambling forfeited because the players voted on it, and refused to play, in protest of their inadequate support system. A football program at the college level requires a substantial quantity of physical facilities and equipment, from a stadium, locker room, uniforms, food, fitness facilities, etc. The facilities at Grambling are grossly underfunded, and have been deteriorating for a long time. IN the team's weight lifting room, the rubber floor mats are in tatters, the weight lifting machines are rusty, and the locker room is crumbling. The team does not fly to away games anymore, it rides busses for ten, tweleve, fourteen hour rides, often arriving, stiff and sluggish, just a few hours before gametime. The Grambling University football program has ceased to be of sufficient interest to anyone to attract the financial backing it, or any college football team needs. And this is a football program which has for decades been top quality, where one of the greatest coaching legends of all time (Eddie Robinson) made his magic. Black colleges across America are feeling the pinch of vanishing sources of revenue, and the question comes to mind, how much of this has anything to do with racism? For the sake of argument, for the sake of protecting the stellar reputation of the United States of America on the issue of racism, let us assume that funding and racism have nothing to do with each other at Grambling, or anywhere else. It could even be argued that in our modern age of racial tolerance, acceptance, and equaltiy, all black institutions of higher education are anachronistic, and should be phased out. Isn't it time by now to end affirmative action and segregation, even revese segragation. Let the free market rule! The only problem is, all black colleges HAVE been phased out, the free market aldready does rule; nobody is denied admission to any school in the country because of race, color, or ethnicity. However, African Americans continue to attend traditionally all black colleges, and European Americans continue to stay away from them. The free market, in the land of modern, enlightened attitudes about racial and human equality, still segragates itself. White folks give to and go to predominately white colleges, black folks go to and give to black colleges, even though everyone is perfectly free to give to and go to anywhere they please. Enlightenment might not be so easily legislated after all.