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 . 35(1), 17-29. 10.1123/JSM.2019-0303

cited authors

  • Turick, R; Weems, A; Swim, N; Bopp, T; Singer, JN

fiu authors

abstract

  • 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.

publication date

  • January 1, 2021

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 17

end page

  • 29

volume

  • 35

issue

  • 1