Ncaa Rejects Confederate Flag Protest In Georgia - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 31, 2000

ATLANTA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has rejected calls from civil rights groups to move upcoming basketball tournaments from Georgia unless the state removes the Confederate battle symbol from its state flag.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference earlier this month sent a letter to the NCAA urging that the tournaments be moved if Georgia's flag isn't altered by March 31, 2001. Atlanta is scheduled to host the men's Final Four tournament in 2002 and 2007, and the women's Final Four in 2003.

"The Confederate emblem represents the most reprehensible aspects of American history, not only for people of African ancestry but for people of every background who know and understand the destructive honors created by slavery," says Martin Luther King III, president of the conference.

The Atlanta Sports Council, which engineers the city's bids for sports events, estimates that the 2002 men's Final Four will generate approximately $50 million for the state, with the women's Final Four bringing in about half that amount.

The NCAA also rejected calls from the National Association of Basketball Coaches to move the first and second rounds of the 2002 men's basketball regionals, which are scheduled for Greenville, S.C. NCAA officials say they were satisfied with South Carolina's decision to move the Confederate battle flag from its Statehouse dome to a Confederate monument on the capitol grounds.

Officials with the NCAA's Executive Committee say they will continue to monitor the flag issue in both states.

"Our paramount concern is for the welfare of the student-athletes who are asked to travel to specific locales to participate in NCAA championships," says Charles T. Wethington Jr., chairman of the committee.