If you had a chance to watch the NCAA women’s basketball championship in April, you probably noticed that 80 percent of the starters for Rutgers and Tennessee were non-White. Don’t be fooled into thinking this apparent diversity is representative of collegiate sports, because the prevalence of Black females in Division I sports is just an illusion. 

By Emmett L. Gill Jr.

To be sure, Black female participation in college sports has increased 955 percent in the 35 years since Title IX, which requires colleges to provide equal sports participation opportunities to women, became law. However, Black female student-athlete participation is, for the most part, limited to two sports: basketball and track. Ninety percent of Black female student-athletes compete in one of those sports. According to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), in fall of 2004 Blacks comprised 12 percent of all females who attended predominately White colleges.  Yet, according to the 2005 NCAA Race and Gender Report, Blacks comprised less than 5 percent of all female student-athletes in the Division I prep sports. In women’s soccer, lacrosse and rowing, the sports that have experienced the most growth because of Title IX, White women outnumber Black women 11,692 to 594. During the 2004-2005 academic year, only 47 Black females competed in Division I lacrosse and merely 23 in field hockey.

Using the same 2005 NCAA Race and Gender Report, a women’s field hockey player is 64 times more likely to be White than Black, a swimmer is 60 times more likely and a crew member is 44 times more likely. Between 1999 and 2005, Black women gained just 336 roster spots, compared to 2,666 for White women. If you think that is disturbing, then consider the fact that non-resident alien women — those born outside the United States — gained 981 slots during the same time period, despite being less than 3 percent of all college students.