It’s hard not to notice Trai Essex as he walks to class each day.

Some stare at him. Others deliberately avoid eye contact. Women grab their purses.

And when he gets to class, the football player said it doesn’t get much better.

At 6 feet 5 inches and 320 pounds, Essex said his skin color and size automatically make others dismiss his intelligence because he looks like the stereotypical “dumb jock.”

“A lot of people think we’re just lazy and here to play sports,” said Essex, a Communication junior. “Some teachers already think that we are less intelligent because we’re black, and then being an athlete just adds emphasis to that.”

About one in four NU black males played a varsity sport last year, according to NCAA statistics from fall 2002. The disproportionately high number of athletes within the black male population influences student life.

For example, males who have the potential to become the next coordinator of NU’s black student alliance, For Members Only, instead must devote hours practicing with their sports teams. They also find themselves having to prove their worth as individuals, battling generalizations that accuse them of being “dumb jocks” or “dusty” — a derogatory term that some use to refer to black students who don’t care about NU’s black community.

facing stereotypes

A black male at NU is five times more likely to be an athlete than other males on campus, according to NCAA statistics.

The NCAA also shows the disproportionately high numbers of black male student-athletes wasn’t exclusive to NU. At both Stanford and Duke universities, about one-fifth of black males are athletes. Half of black males at the University of Notre Dame are on an athletic scholarship.

Maya Washington, president of the Black Student Alliance at Duke, said these disproportionate numbers contribute to incorrect assumptions about black college students.

“Other students always think any African-American male with somewhat of an athletic build is an athlete,” said Washington, a senior.

There are many reasons for such stereotypes, according to NU sociology Prof. Marika Lindholm. Playing football or basketball can give underprivileged students the opportunity to go to college on scholarship, and the prominence of black athletes in the media perpetuates the idea that black males need athletics to succeed.

Such “constructions” of black athletics can work against black athletes academically. They must overcome the idea that physical ability is a trade-off for school performance, said Lindholm, who taught a fall class on race and sports.

She added that this phenomenon is based on unconscious, societal racism.

“There’s something bigger going on here,” Lindholm said. “Austrian skiers have dominated the ski scene for years. But no one says, ‘Austrians skiers are not as smart’ or, ‘Do you think there’s an Austrian ski gene?'”

As black athletes find themselves struggling to balance sports and studies, Lindholm said, they become more insular and turn to sports, “where they find the most fulfillment and meaning.”

Insulation might help athletes feel more comfortable with their identity, but it also could reinforce stereotypes. The more time black athletes spend playing sports, the less time they have to do classwork and to meet other students.

‘PASSING’ as non-athletes

Dealing with academic stereotypes can make athletes feel isolated, leading them to find people who understand their plight, Lindholm said. This problem is even more difficult for black athletes at NU, who sometimes feel disconnected from their cultural communities.