William Rhoden calls on the athletes

Student-athletes heard a refreshing message from an award-winning columnist on Thursday — go out and lead.

William Rhoden, a New York Times sports columnist and Emmy award-winning writer, spoke about the relationship between athlete and sport at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History for its annual Diaspora Lecture.

Rhoden spoke about the creation of the Stone Center in 2001 after the heated political battle between a group of UNC athletes and former Chancellor Paul Hardin over the need for a free-standing black cultural center on campus.

“Sports has become the major cultural pillar of American culture — whether you like it or not. There are a lot of kids who are watching ESPN 24/7; and because of that, athletes are in a position to lead the struggle, as they did here in 1991,” Rhoden said.

“But that takes courage. And while many of our athletes have that courage on the football field or basketball court, some don’t have the political courage.”

The Stone Center has been planning on sponsoring a lecture by Rhoden for nearly three years, said Joseph Jordan, director of the Stone Center.

“We invited him back in 2011, we worked on it in 2012 and he wasn’t able to come,” Jordan said. “Fortunately he is now working with an agent and that agent is a UNC grad.”

Jordan said the Center wanted Rhoden to speak because he would fit in with its diaspora lecture series on black popular culture.

“We’ve had at times former UNC athletes talking about the black athlete in sports,” Jordan said. “He was just a person we know that has been covering these issues for some times and thought he might have some interesting perspectives.”

Having Rhoden speak last night only cost the Stone Center $1,500, Jordan said.

“His fee is $5,000 — he knocked off $3,500 because he likes us,” Jordan said. “The Stone Center almost never pays above that. We try to be particularly careful with the funds we receive, and almost all our speakers come for around that amount or less or without charging us a fee.”

Rhoden said black athletes struggle to get respect and, like Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice, are often made scapegoats of sports scandals.

Rhoden also discussed “Jockey Syndrome” — named after the successful black horse jockeys of the early 20th century that were ostracized from the sport because of their race.

“It describes white resentment of black success. The ‘Jockey Syndrome’ is a historical phenomenon that occurs when the powers that be attempt to change rules when the opponents begin to gain ground,” Rhoden said.

Junior Allison Newton attended Rhoden’s lecture after following his column.

“I appreciated his honestly and realness. Just saying exactly what things are about — being open about them,” Newton said.

Rhoden, in the end, gave the audience a question to ponder, regarding the realm of current college athletics.

“Do the universities appreciate the need for these young people to understand the struggle, the fight for these students to be at these universities in the first place?”

university@dailytarheel.com