In Eternal Pursuit of the American Dream: Evidence of Racially Demarcated Disparities in Sports, Educational and Health Domains

Despite the continual publication of research touting the scientific specialization and automation in America’s institutions of higher learning, the athletic prowess of American athletes on the Olympic and professional stage and the improvements in life expectancy and health outcomes, opening pathways for more low-income-high achieving students of color to attend colleges and universities, providing access to affordable healthcare and ensuring that most if not all children have an opportunity to play sports seems like a dream deferred. Healthcare, educational and athletic resources are distributed unevenly across America and follow patterns of racial segregation and poverty concentration. As a result, on average, citizens who are white enjoy better health, educational and athletic outcomes than many citizens of color. These significant differences in health, educational and athletic outcomes between citizens of color and Whites represent constraints which are systemic, avoidable, unfair, and unjust. Since most causes of morbidity and mortality are related to structural inequalities and transitioning into post-secondary education and athletics are fragmented, it is imperative that we infuse social justice into Kinesiology programs to reimagine a social-ecological perspective that addresses the unique health, educational and sports related needs of our student body. We propose a social-ecological perspective that enhances developmental assets by reducing disparities that prevail across sports, education, and health in society. This innovative approach, we term the Educational Athletic Healthcare Model, involves (a) addressing the deleterious effects of low socioeconomic status and social determinants of health-on-health disparities at the group level, (b) addressing the disturbing resilience of scientific racism and low socioeconomic status impact on sports outcomes, and (c) addressing educational disparities and the limitation brought on by low socioeconomic status throughout the life cycle. We must understand and address the many factors shaping our individual and collective health, educational and athletic pursuits to provide all residents with fair access to the resources that promote the best possible outcomes for capitalization rates.