Hip Hop Hamilton, Mizzou football and race in 2015

Last week, I saw an interview that Charlie Rose, the CBS news anchor, did with Lin-Manuel Miranda, on his hit Broadway show, Hamilton, the hip-hop story of Alexander Hamilton. During the feature, they showed a clip from the show, when Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson are arguing about how to pay off the debt from the Revolutionary War. The exchange is portrayed as a rap battle, and Jefferson says something about being like Virginia, where they create. He’s bragging and claiming that he has the solution. Hamilton replies, (and I looked up the lyrics): "A civics lesson from a slaver. Hey neighbor Your debts are paid cuz you don’t pay for labor 'We plant seeds in the South. We create.' Yeah, keep ranting. We know who’s really doing the planting." Thomas Jefferson clearly isn’t the hero, and his position as a slave owner is called to the forefront. I can’t wait to see this show. Anyway… Fast forward to Saturday night; the black football players at Mizzou declare that they will not play in support of Jonathan Butler’s hunger strike to address racial issues on campus. Sunday morning, the coach states his support for the players and says the team will not play until changes are made.

Thus begins the calls for putting the players off the team and taking their scholarships. A former player tweets that the players are irresponsible and ungrateful. He says it is a privilege to play for Mizzou. {Note - he doesn't mention that the (white) coach supports their position} What’s not said is that the players earn millions of dollars for the school without sharing in the profit. Yes, they receive tuition and room and board, as some will point out. But they don’t share in the profit they generate. So what’s the connection? I looked up the earning potential of the football program. According to a January 2015 article in the Kansas City Star, the fiscal year 2014 revenues exceeded expenditures by approximately $14 million. After all sports were accounted for, the athletic department earned about $3.5 million. This white, former player is saying that the black current players, standing up to the injustice that is infecting the very environment of the campus, should be grateful to be given the opportunity to continue to generate profits for the institution. Why should they be any more grateful to generate profits and maintain the status quo than Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved laborers? Hey, they got room and board, didn’t they? For years, some of have referred to college sports as the modern day plantation. Plenty of others have referred to professional sports as such. In 2014, Donald Sterling, former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers created a fire storm when he was caught complaining about his mistress hanging out with black celebrities. He added fuel to the fire in an interview when he said about his players, “I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them?” And there you have it. Donald Sterling thought he owned the professional athletes who negotiated contracts to receive compensation for services rendered. Apparently, too many others think that universities own their college athletes because of tuition and room and board, and they expect their allegiance, even when it's not in the athletes' best interest. Source - http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/article8564105.html