Racial Discrimination and African-American Quarterbacks in the NFL

Jason Chung, a student at McGill University, has posted an excellent piece on SSRN concerning racial discrimination and African-American Quarterbacks in the NFL. I read the piece yesterday afternoon and it is, hands-down, a must read (it is also only 18 pages, so you can read it pretty quickly). He examines the "myth of equitable integration" in the NFL, as well as the "black quarterback myth" (low on intelligence, high on athleticism) and, by examining the Wonderlic exam (which Rick Karcher recently discussed on Sports Law Blog) Jason does an excellent job in debunking the pernicious idea that race correlates with quarterback characteristics. He uses specific examples to evidence the prejudice (e.g., how African-American quarterbacks, like Tee Martin and Don McPherson, are often encouraged to become "option quarterbacks" since they can use their "athleticism" and not have to worry about "complex" pass defenses), and how some coaches, like Buddy Ryan, should be praised for not engaging in that kind of stereotypical analysis.

Here is the abstract (and like with all SSRN pieces, if you want to download the actual article, you have to go beneath where it says "suggested citation" and then you have several download options from the "SSRN Electronic Paper Collection"):

This article argues that African-American quarterbacks have faced consistent discrimination in the National Football League since Marlin Briscoe broke through the color barrier at the position in 1968. The author identifies the issue of intelligence as central to the discrimination practiced against African-American NFL quarterbacks and identifies two central arguments traditionally used to prove the insufficiency of black intelligence to play the position - the Wonderlic argumentation and the Option argumentation. The author identifies several problems with these arguments. The author concludes by drawing a correlation between the argument used against African-Americans playing quarterback in the NFL and similar discrimination against African-Americans in broader society.

If you want to contact Jason after reading his article, his e-mail address is jason.chung[at]mail.mcgill.ca

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