Jarrett L. Carter: Black College Football is Dying, and the Bands Will Play On: ...The great migration of high achieving black students and premier black athletic talent defecting from HBCUs to predominantly white institutions has cost historically black colleges and universities billions in unrealized sports revenues and alumni giving.
But desegregation's untold ravaging of black communities and their talent pool will remain just that, untold, because our bands play on.
That's not to disparage the accomplished work of HBCU student musicians or their directors. They live out what millions in stands and on fields across America every Saturday have either long forgotten or never came to learn about black colleges. Hundreds of thousands of student musicians and singers bring great acclaim to HBCUs with their talent, and they take pride in breeding excellence at schools made, maintained and molded for their experience as African-Americans.
