Call for Minority Athletes to Boycott UC

The problem with William Banks’ call for black and brown athletes to boycott UC (Commentary, Nov. 4) is that he continues to divide people racially. His views are not colorblind. The very people who need “equality for all” are the people who continue to divide others and themselves by race.

Banks teaches at UC Berkeley. Either he achieved that position through hard work and his God-given talents or he was given that position because of the color of his skin. If he truly believes in what he has written, he should resign as a UC Berkeley professor. This would be an example and a sign of solidarity for those athletes who would also boycott that school.

JOHN L. SHIH

Downey

* If Prof. Banks’ basic premise is true, that black and brown athletes receive preference, then such preference must stop. It must stop also, incidentally, for white, yellow and mixed athletes under the Supreme Court’s recent action on Proposition 209. The result will be academically qualified athletes at all of the state-funded colleges and universities.

Surely that is what the professor wants, or is it? When all of the colleges and universities attain a “colorblind” admissions policy, including for athletes, then our institutions of higher learning will be where they should be--providing degrees to those who have the intelligence and perseverance to acquire them.

It is my impression that such institutions as Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Stanford and the Claremont colleges do not have a system that admits the outstanding athlete who cannot meet the standard for academics. Such standards are the ones to shoot for, not whining about athletes having entertainment value.

JOSEPH T. DANIEL

La Quinta

* Banks urges minority athletes to boycott UC schools in response to the loss of preferential admission policies. This is asking these young athletes to alter what might be the most important decision of their lives. It affects not only their education and professional sports prospects, but also their careers.

To demonstrate that Banks is committed to the difficult actions he recommends, he should resign his position at UC Berkeley.

JIM MLADENIK

Irvine

* Banks has got it right. Black and brown athletes should boycott playing on sports teams at Berkeley and UCLA. That will mean that those two schools and hopefully other schools will no longer having whining, sub-par student athletes taking up valuable desk space. Then we will have more room for students who want to be doctors, engineers, etc. We then can move forward as a country.

As far as the revenue the colleges will lose, it is a nonissue. The total revenues generated by a college’s set of teams are used to perpetuate the process. It is a zero or negative process. There is no financial gain for a college in the total game of athletes.

FRANCIS JANSEN

Northridge