According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Deion Sanders will accept an offer from the University of Colorado – Boulder to become its next head football coach. As mentioned in this space days ago, the rise of Jackson State University (JSU) Deion Sanders as a viable head football coach has been a riveting story filled with storylines revolving around various racial matters. The alluded conversation pieces extended beyond inequitable funding of HBCUs to the impoverished state of Jackson, Mississippi.
Considering his penchant for grabbing headlines, it is unsurprising that “Coach Prime” would be the conduit for such discussions.
Few are surprised to see Sanders exit JSU in favor of the University of Colorado – Boulder. Most people postulate that this moment is not only inevitable but also career advancement. Those possessing the latter belief are the type of Negroes who maintain that “the white man’s ice is colder.” Although such people are far from rare within Black America, fortunately, their dour perspective fails to encompass the entirety of Black thought. Thousands of Black educators and coaches have displayed a socially responsible individualism that allows them to aid the race while advancing professionally.
No reasonable-minded successful Black person fails to understand that they stand on the shoulders of previous generations. In Langston Hughes’ classic Mother to Son poem, the unnamed mother reflects the rough road that prior generations traveled and their hopes for those to come.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Langston Hughes (1922)
I do not doubt that Deion Sanders realizes that he, like the rest of us, stands on the shoulders of others. Unfortunately, this knowledge fails to order his steps as it has notable race men of yesteryear. To the chagrin of many, the moment a “better” opportunity arises, Coach Prime is exiting JSU for what he believes are the manicured green pastures of a predominantly white institution. Make no mistake; the green in “greener pastures” is money.
Of course, Deion Sanders’ exit will be a talking point for Black America, particularly sports enthusiasts and those associated with HBCUs, for a few news cycles. Another occurrence that has nothing to do with the future of Black America will replace this matter. Black America will lose the opportunity for a substantive discussion regarding socially responsible individualism.
Black America mustn’t get bogged down because Deion Sanders is leaving JSU and addressing more important matters such as taking control of HBCUs in every imaginable way.
Now, what does taking complete control of HBCUs resemble?
Taking control of HBCUs requires alums and the rest of Black America to prioritize becoming involved in every way possible with what should be centers of Black learning. It should be Black America that dictates the curriculum that our students engage and it must be Black dollars that bolster these institutions to the point that no program, goal, or achievement is considered impossible. Principles of socially responsible individualism must guide Blacks to send a monthly donation to their chosen HBCU as if it were a bill.
Such ACTION is much-needed and genuinely more critical than Deion “Prime Time” Sanders leaving JSU for the lily-white University of Colorado-Boulder. Only through socially responsible individualism can we bolster HBCUs to the point that they are on equal footing with other institutions and capable of guiding a glorious future for coming generations of Black America.
James Thomas Jones III, Ph.D.
©Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2022
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