Associate Professor Leonard N. Moore of Louisiana State University is an expert on race in sports. Moore has been quoted in publications such as Time magazine and USA Today. This past Wednesday, he spoke in Emerson Suites about sports television’s negative influence on black men. Assistant Sports Editor Brendan O’Keefe spoke with Moore about his opinions toward race in sports.

Brendan O’Keefe: How did you first become interested in African-American studies?

Leonard Moore: I’ve always been interested in black people. It’s something I really enjoyed in high school. It’s something that society basically has no desire to teach us about African-American history. And all that kind of stuff. So that means it must have been important. I wanted to learn more about my people and my culture and everything. I find it to be one of the most fascinating things you can learn about.

BO: What’s your favorite sports memory?

LM: Being from Ohio, we haven’t had a winner. My favorite sports memory would probably have to be when the Browns beat the Jets in 1986 in overtime. I was at that game, a playoff game.

BO: Who’s your favorite athlete or athletes?

LM: It’s changed so much. I’m a big Maurice Clarett fan from the Ohio State football program before he got in trouble. I like athletes who talk, who have personality, who can talk about things other than sports. I would say Bill Russell. I think Ali of course. I didn’t grow up with Ali. I wasn’t born when he was doing his thing. I just like athletes who really have something to say. And that is becoming few and far between.

BO: In your bio that I read, it says you mentor black athletes. What exactly do you do?

LM: Just a lot of unofficial mentoring. Some of them have a lot of issues. It’s a large, white university.

BO: That surprises me.

LM: They don’t have much of a support network at all.

BO: Correct me if I’m wrong, but Louisiana has a high percentage of African-Americans?

LM: Yeah it does. It’s about 33 percent African-American. But the state university is overwhelmingly white. You just have to realize that a lot of these athletes have a lot of off-the-field issues. Some of them come from, for a lack of a better term, “broken homes.” Some of them came from the ghetto. They just needed somebody there who can be an advocate for them. And it supports them regardless of what their performances on the field are.

BO: What does your speech’s title “ESPN and the miseducation of black males” mean?

LM: I believe that ESPN has contributed to the culture of anti-intellectualism in the African-American community. ESPN has six stations. It’s 24-hour, non-stop sports. And so, I really believe ESPN is the reason why there are so many African-American males who believe they can make it to the field, who believe that athletics is their only way out. We have nothing to counter that. White kids who watch ESPN are OK because they can go to these other stations and watch white attorneys, white engineers, white judges. But black folk, we have nothing to counter that. I believe ESPN is a one-way freight train. I believe we will keep losing sharp young men to athletics because that’s all they see.

BO: Besides ESPN, what is the biggest issue facing the black athlete today?

LM: It’s really understanding that they can do something other than play. The problem is they don’t see any models of that. Popular culture doesn’t have a show about a black professor, doesn’t have a show about a black business owner. They think sports, and that’s it. The thing we’re trying to do is let them know, hey, sports is basically temporary employment for five years at best. They can do some other things. But when that’s all our society shows and that’s all our society tells us, that this is your purpose right here to run this ball or whatever it is, then that’s what it comes down to.

BO: How did you decide to get your Ph.D.?

LM: For one, I had a father in the house who was an accountant. That was a little different.

BO: I read a USA Today article, and in the article you said that white America hates Barry Bonds, to summarize the quote. What would you say to people who say that’s absolutely not true?

LM: I would tell them I’ve studied. I’m a scholar. I’ve read more than the average person. And I know that white America has always had a problem with African-Americans in their culture, particularly with African-American athletes. They have a problem with African-American athletes who won’t bow down.

BO: Do you believe Bonds did steroids intentionally, and is that the issue?

LM: No, this issue to me is, he was tested, the test came back negative, that’s all I can go by. No matter what the other evidence looks like. There’s a system here. There was a test, and it came back negative. I don’t even want to speculate. Probably. I think everyone else was doing it. I still don’t think this would be an issue if Barry Bonds was “a good nigger.”

BO: How would you respond to people if they insinuated that maybe you practice reverse racism or reverse discrimination?

LM: I believe that is a fictional term. I don’t believe there is such a thing as reverse racism or reverse discrimination. There’s never been in the history of this country a situation where a white was denied an opportunity because of a black person. So I don’t even believe in the term. What made you ask that question?

BO: I was taught about it in school. I took a sociology class in high school and they talked about reverse racism.

LM: What sort of examples do they give?

BO: Just that the promotion of minorities discriminates against whites indirectly.

LM: I don’t think black people can be racist because I think in this country race is attached to power. If I don’t have anything, I’d call you a honkey. Whatever. But if you own a business and you call me nigger, that means I’m probably not going to get hired at your business. To me, racism involves a denial of opportunity.

BO: Do you mind if someone calls you black, or do you want them to say African-American?

LM: It doesn’t matter to me.

BO: Have you heard of people who do care, they don’t want to be referred to as black?

LM: Well ask them what they want. I think for a white person, stick to African-American.

BO: What is the biggest issue, if any, facing the white athlete today?

LM: I don’t think there are any. White athletes have a psychological issue they have to get over.

BO: Which is?

LM: Their community has told them they can’t compete with black athletes because black athletes are born that way. They’ve damaged a lot of the aspirations of white athletes.

White kids don’t like soccer.

BO: A lot of white kids do play soccer.

LM: They don’t like it, though.

BO: A lot of kids play soccer at the youth level, and then no Americans are very good at it.

LM: There’s some issues with whiteness involved with that.

BO; Do you think the NCAA should institute a similar policy to the NFL’s [regarding hiring African-American coaches] or should it be tweaked?

LM: I think all major universities should pull out of the NCAA. I think the NCAA is a garbage organization.

BO: What do you think of Ithaca’s diversity?

LM: Haven’t seen too many of it. And I think the white students are the ones losing out. My concern is for white students. When white students hear diversity they immediately think I’m going to get denied an opportunity. We’re talking about the educational process and I believe white students need to be taught about other cultures.

BO: What would you say is your biggest accomplishment?

LM; Finishing high school with a 1.6 GPA and getting my Ph.D. Making that jump in that eight-year period.