Bob Barnett, Dana D. Brooks, and Ronald Althouse, “The Black Athlete in West Virginia: High School and College Sports from 1900 Through the End of Segregation,”
North Carolina: McFarland & company, inc., 2020, pp. 225, $39.95 (paperback)
This book is a fantastic read about the history of Black athletes in West Virginia and their history from 1900 until the end of segregation in schools after the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, which ultimately was a huge step toward equality.
The book covers West Virginia’s 40 Black high schools and three Black colleges, highlighting the racial elements and the struggle that athletes had to endure for social justice. The Black schools thrived throughout segregation and helped bring black communities together across the state.
The book’s 195 pages and 10 chapters are filled with detailed information on the struggles, decisions, events, the ending of segregation, and the aftermath for black athletes in West Virginia. I was impressed with the coverage of athletes of all levels, ranging from high school athletes to historical NBA legend earl Lloyd and Marshall legends Hal Greer and Randy Moss.
One of the most notable parts of the book was the detailed information given on Black athletes being given a chance to compete for all-Black championships during segregation at the high school and collegiate levels. West Virginia held its first all-Black basketball tournament at the West Virginia Collegiate Institute Gym Mar. 19, 1925, known as the West Virginia Athletic Union state basketball tournament. The tournament was double elimination and consisted of 11 of 24 Black high schools, and Wheeling Lincoln High School defeated Kimball Negro High School 25-24.
It was referred to by the Pittsburgh Courier as “The first kind of its stage in West Virginia among Negro schools and one of the first ever held in any Negro school in the country.”(42) The tournament was held every year until 1957 when Bluefield Park Central High School defeated Byrd Prillerman High School 62-54 in the final championship. As for the collegiate level, Bluefield State and West Virginia State won championships in the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Which Was changed to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1950.
The book shows that Integration was not easy for Black students though some believe the transition was smooth, but for most, it was not. Even though the decision to integrate Black students into white schools was made, racism was still a significant issue in America. No white students were integrated into Black schools, but the exact opposite. Only Black students were integrated into white schools, which caused a majority of white students to believe they had power over Black students. “Integration in West Virginia was painful, and in some cases disheartening, for the African American community.” (19)
This reading was eye-opening for me and would be for anyone who took the time to read it. For many people in West Virginia, their only knowledge of Black History is what their families have told them, which is not always correct and can be negatively persuasive. Black History is not taught to the upcoming generations as much as it should be in West Virginia. It should be covered by every school for all ages to help the youth understand the struggles that the Black community has gone through and prevailed.
This book is a tremendous overall lesson on the history of Black athletes in West Virginia. The authors covered every aspect of the history and provided many helpful resources for readers to find and research more of the history themselves.
Kyle Spaulding is a sports journalism major at Marshall University and has an Associate in Arts. He works voluntarily for WMUL radio station and writes articles for his blog,
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