The NCAA and Proposition 48

In 1986, the NCAA enacted Proposition 48 which raised the standards in grades for the student athlete. It stated that, in order to play in a Division 1 sport as a freshman, students must uphold a 2.0 GPA in 11 core courses, and a combined score of 700 on the SAT. (Pound) When the proposition was first instated people were outraged, due to the fact that they believed it was racist. Many college coach's and parents understood that the act was going to inhibit poor and African American athletes from attending colleges and universities of their choice.(Pound) On the other hand many teachers and parents praised 48 for refocusing on the aspects of education. I asked myself many questions while researching this topic, and my first question was why wouldn't coaches and parents want their student athletes to strive in the academic world? I have created this blog in order to discover the underlying problems with proposition 48 and why it was deemed as racist. I will be looking into the NCAA and their standards, along with researching both sides of the argument.