Title IX has successfully given women the same chance to
participate in school-sponsored activities as men. The problem is
women of color are being left behind.
Outside of basketball and track, for example, black females make
up only 2.7 percent of athletes. Latinas and Asian-Americans
constitute 3 and 1.8 percent of all female athletes, respectively.
Equal access to sports is just as important as equal access to
education. Participation in sports helps students develop higher
self-esteem, physical conditioning and excellence in academics.
Research on student athlete academic performance shows athletes
have higher graduation rates and standardized test scores.
The type of enrichment athletics foster should be available to
people of as many backgrounds as possible. It has been noted that
sports added to give females more athletic venues are ones women of
color don’t traditionally participate in at high levels.
These include, among others, golf and rowing. One reason for low
participation in these sports is their high cost and limited
availability outside of college.
Achieving higher rates of participation in sports among women of
color is not the responsibility of Title IX, but it nonetheless is
a problem that should be thoroughly researched. If ignored, there
will still be enough females to match males in sports and comply
with Title IX, but it wouldn’t be fair to call this measure
one that promotes “equality” if this equality does not
exist in all dimensions.