Episode 136: The 'Ungrateful Athlete': Anti-Black, Anti-Labor Currents in Sports Media

<div class="_2TO-components-SimpleRichTextEditor--paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="624nc" data-offset-key="m48c-0-0"> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="m48c-0-0"><span data-offset-key="m48c-0-0">"A good, hard working kid." "A 4.0 student." "He's asking for too much money." "They get paid to play a child’s game." "He shows up and does his work and never complains."</span></div> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="m48c-0-0"> </div> </div> <div class="_2TO-components-SimpleRichTextEditor--paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="624nc" data-offset-key="4dt3e-0-0"> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="4dt3e-0-0"><span data-offset-key= "4dt3e-0-0">Despite the fact that the concept of paying college athletes has gained some mainstream support in recent years, much of the ideological scaffolding that exists to justify their lack of fair compensation is still very popular and widespread in sports punditry and writing, AM radio and play-by-play broadcasts.</span></div> </div> <div class="_2TO-components-SimpleRichTextEditor--paragraphElement" data-block="true" data-editor="624nc" data-offset-key="1l77u-0-0"> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="1l77u-0-0"><span data-offset-key= "1l77u-0-0">Scrutinizing GPAs and work ethic, talking about how "kids" are "becoming men," racialized claims of lazy or ungrateful players, and wildly different double standards for players and owners for when they attempt to maximize their economic interests all prop up a system that, despite liberal hand-wringing and box checking concern for not paying players at the highest levels, still relies on withholding compensation from college athletes for their labor.</span></div> <div class= "public-DraftStyleDefault-block public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" data-offset-key="1l77u-0-0"> </div> <div class= "public-Draft