America is experiencing racial tension and strife unlike anything we have seen since the tumultuous 1960’s. Those of you familiar with the work of the Black Cager, have witnessed a relentless push for opportunities in the world of scholastic and collegiate athletics since 2013. The Black Cager platform is highly visible and well respected in the worlds of grassroots, scholastic and collegiate basketball.

Over a two week period in April, the following people appeared on Black Cager Sports talk for extensive and wide-ranging interviews:

Pat Chambers, Head Coach, Penn State Men’s Basketball

Frank Martin, Head Coach, South Carolina Men’s Basketball

Bruce Pearl, Head Coach, Auburn University Men’s Basketball

Jamion Christian, Head Coach, George Washington Men’s Basketball

Dwayne Killings, Associate Head Coach, Marquette Basketball

Kimani Young, Asst. Coach, UConn Basketball

Adam Fisher, Asst. Coach, Miami Basketball

Dave Caputo, Asst. Coach, Miami Basketball

Ashley Howard, La Salle University Basketball

Keith Stevens, Director, Team Takeover Basketball Club

There were many, many others but you get the point. The Black Cager platform is respected as a place where basketball people come to share their ideas, thoughts and concerns about the game at the grassroots, scholastic and collegiate levels.

Five years ago, I used the Black Cager platform to condemn the fact that there were ZERO (0) Black coaches among the 6 Division 1 programs (Penn, Temple, Drexel, La Salle, Villanova and St. Joseph’s), 4 Division 2 programs (Jefferson, Chestnut Hill, Sciences and Holy Family) and the 14 Catholic League teams.

Today, Temple and La Salle have Black head coaches. Chestnut Hill has a Black head coach. St. Joseph’s Prep (boys basketball), McDevitt (boys basketball), Hallahan (girls basketball), West Catholic Prep (girls basketball, boys basketball, football and athletic director), Roman Catholic (football) and Neumann-Goretti (football) have minority coaches in place. O’Hara (boys basketball) and Conwell-Egan (boys basketball) have had Black coaches that have since moved on.

That’s progress.

Additionally, I have used the Black Cager platform and Black Cager Scouting service to provide exposure for high school prospects in the mid-Atlantic region. Last September, I hosted 78 teams that played 78 highly competitive games in the Black Cager Fall Classic. These games were held at Friends Central high School and the Sixers G-League facility. The action was intense and the fans filled the facilities to the limit.

 

Over the past 15 years, I have utilized the Black Cager platform to help hundreds of young men and women successfully transition from high school to college. Below is a small partial listing of the young people I have helped transition to college.

This list does not include more recent kids like Charlie Brown (St. Joseph’s/NBA), Donta Scott (Maryland), Alliya Butts (Temple), Deja Reynolds (Lincoln/Temple) or current kids like Nisine “Wooga” Poplar, Rahsool Diggins, Taquan Woodley and Hysier Miller.

These young people have leveraged their athletic ability to access higher education. That is the mission of Black Cager Sports. Most people respect and appreciate the work we do.

But then, there are people like Laura Ingraham and Patrick Johnson. These are privileged white folk who are extremely perturbed by the existence of independent Black voices. These are the white folk that want Black males especially to just “shut up and dribble.”

Black Cager sports makes extensive use of R&B and hip hop music. In my social media posts, I frequently use quotes from historic figures like Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin L. King Jr. From time to time, I borrow lines like the one below from American classics like Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.

For over a century, American school children have consumed Twain’s writings. We were told over and over again, this is “great” literature. Likewise, Tupac’s lyrics are widely considered to be examples of “great” contemporary poetry.

But… When you are exercising your white privilege and these literary classics appear on Black Cager Sports social media platforms, the use of the word “nigger” by a Black man becomes “racist.”

Not just racist, but grounds for a sustained campaign to have me terminated from my position with National College Preps. For anyone that has ever wondered, this is what white privilege looks like in action…

White man trying to have a Black man terminated for writing “nigga” on his personal page… That’s his cause… That’s his contribution to the battle for racial justice in America today… White privilege is REAL… At least in his mind…

To his credit… Mr. Johnson is persistent… He really is struggling to understand why his white privilege is NOT being accepted immediately… “Karen” wants to speak to the “manager.”

When the corporation responded, Karen wasn’t satisfied… It’s like I asked her to leash her dog in Central Park… Or, I tried to grill a hamburger in the park in Oakland… Karen is SERIOUS! She wants me fired….

I would like to let Karen know… My posts are MINE and MINE ALONE.

I take tremendous pride in being an independent voice for what I think is right.

I have NEVER run my social media posts by anyone… EVER!

Nor will I begin to do so…

I would not want to be associated with an organization that attempted to silence or censor my free speech.

So, in response to the threat to go to the media, I have provided this response. Please feel to copy the link and forward to as many media outlets as you wish.

What matters more? What’s more significant? Hundreds of kids accessing college through sports or Karen’s hurt feeling because she saw or heard a Black man use a word permeating English literature, contemporary music and prominent comedy acts?

I hope you get a media outlet to take up your cause… I’m more than ready to have the discussion…

I always say, white people do nigga shit all the time… this is Exhibit A!

Delgreco K. Wilson