A former Olympic medalist turned civil rights activist will be among the panelists discussing race in sports Thursday, Sept. 11, at West Virginia University .
John Carlos, who staged asilent protestagainst racism at the 1968 Summer Olympics, will headline the Re-examining the Place of Race in Sportsforum at 11 a.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom of the WVU College of Law .
Joining Carlos will be Timothy Davis, professor of law at Wake Forest University and author of numerous scholarly works on sports law and its intersection with race; and andré douglas pond cummings , a professor of law at WVU and widely published author on issues of discrimination and hostile race imagery perpetuated by professional and collegiate athletic team names and mascots.
The WVU College of Law Sports and Entertainment Law Society is sponsoring the event.
This summers Olympic games hosted in Beijing, Chinaa country that continues to struggle with issues of equality, discrimination and social justiceprovides a poignant example as this panel convenes to explore issues of race in sports,cummings said.
Who better to talk about the important role that sports can play in combating discrimination and inequality than Dr. John Carlos, who famously risked his athletic career by raising a black-gloved fist on the medal stand during the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City to protest the oppression of African-Americans in the United States?cummings added.In addition, professor Timothy Davis provides the insight of one of the premier sports law scholars in the United States, having written widely on issues pertaining to justice and equality in sports.
Carlos won the bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Hissilent proteston the medal stand with gold medalist Tommie Smith against racism and economic depression for all oppressed peoples catapulted Carlos into a key role in the ongoing civil rights movement, a cause he has championed throughout his life. In 2003, he was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame. This year, Carlos will receive the 2008 Arthur Ashe award at the annual ESPY awards sponsored by ESPN .
Davis is one of the foremost experts on the intersection of race and the law. Co-author ofSports Law and Regulation: Cases, Materials, and Problems and The Business of Sports Agents,he serves on the Review Board for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and is a member of the National Sports Law Institute board of advisers. Prior to joining Wake Forest University, Davis taught for nine years at Southern Methodist University and practiced commercial litigation in Denver.
Cummings teaches sports and entertainment law and other subjects at the WVU College of Law. He has published numerous articles in connection with sports and equality, including articles discussing the Rooney Rule in the National Football League and the inappropriate use of American Indian mascots and imagery by professional and collegiate athletic teams. While practicing corporate law in Chicago at Kirkland&Ellis, cummings also represented several NFL players. He was recently named the 2007-08 Professor of the Year by the WVU College of Law Class of 2008.
More on the Net: http://law.wvu.edu/raceinsportsforum