The recently published ”Playing the Game, Self-Presentation, and Black Male College Athletes: A Critical Understanding of the Holistic Experience” outlines how Black male student-athletes often feel compelled to alter their self-presentation. The author, Dr. Jonathan E. Howe, an assistant professor in Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, said the subject is personal to him: Although he was not a collegiate student-athlete, he worked with the University of Texas at Austin football team when he was an undergraduate.
“When I would hang out with the players and we would do stuff after practice, I would see not only how they were treated …but how they wanted to express themselves,” said Howe. “The weight of being an athlete, specifically at a big-time institution, constrained how they thought that they could present themselves and show up, and they questioned if they could be authentic.”
The book combines research he did for his doctoral dissertation, a 2023 study he did on the subject, and additional research. It speaks to his research interest in understanding the experiences of Black student-athletes in predominantly white Division I college athletics.
“There’s this push-and-pull and conflict — how they decide to present themselves versus what they consider to be a complete or authentic form of themselves,” said Howe, who recently presented at the Black Student-Athlete Summit. “For me, the important part about this book is that while college athletics has changed and the landscape has changed, the experiences are remaining the same.”
Howe added that “I don’t want to say that everyone’s experience is the same. There may be more power of the athlete right now when it comes to speaking up and getting revenue, but they’re still experiencing the reality of being Black men on campuses — many campuses where they are 4% or less of the population. There’s still a plethora of things they have to navigate.”
Howe chose to focus on Black male student-athletes but acknowledges that Black female student-athletes have to conform in ways both similar and different. Notably, women must navigate both racial and gender stereotypes. He praises women for organizing student-athletes to have a greater voice.
The book has a commercial publisher, so Howe hopes it will reach both an academic and general audience. “I can be a conduit to share these stories,” he said. “The Black athlete experience, male or female, is so unique.”