The Real Cost to Remain Competitive: BYU Confronts Racist Past

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is an important topic and a well-written piece generally speaking.  Citations need work and there are points to be considered, but this is engaging and timely.  The essay will generate discussion.

 

Shifting footnotes (Roman number endnotes and Arabic number footnotes) confusing and then the random parenthetical citations make things worse.  Use of the word cite repeatedly in text (as internal reference to authors perhaps) needs to be corrected.  The entire citation system and footnotes need clarification and consistency.  Currently mixed citation styles and not enough info in the notes. Usually needs a citation when have the word cite.

 

p. 3 paragraph 2 about the Duke volleyball player allegations of racism and BYU’s dismissal needs citations.

 

p. 3 lines 133 and 135 needs citations.  Really need citation to the report.

 

p. 4:  lines 168-9:  “despite late-night Church confessions that Brigham Young, the second leader of the LDS 168 Church, was the source of Mormon racist thought.”  Needs citations.

 

p.4 : line 184 word cite is there.

 

P. 4 and 5: I’d be interested in experiences of past or present black athletes at BYU. Surely someone has spoken publicly about their experiences (even a quick google search revealed this as well as other newspaper reports: https://universe.byu.edu/1998/02/02/black-athletes-share-their-opinions-of-why-byu-lac/). There may even be scholarship on the topic.

 

In the section on sex, I think women and homosexuality need to be addressed or the whole thing needs to be just about black male athletes (although that presumes all black male athletes at BYU are straight). The LDS has not been welcoming to the LGBTQ community, and in women’s sport particularly (e.g., women’s basketball) a number of out gay athletes have been players.  This could be a recruiting problem for women’s teams and a challenge for the athletes who are present.  Regardless, consider a discussion of homosexuality in the section on sex.

 

p. 7 line 303 ish:  Citation needed for the sentence about Dawn Staley, and the sentence needs to be cleaned up a little—awkward phrasing.

 

Consider going through the essay and adding citations to any statement which will be challenged.  Provide evidence through the citations.

Author Response

Responded to reviewers' comments..

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript titled “The Real Cost to Remain Competitive: BYU Confronts Racist Past” examines racist history of the Church of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and its impact on BYU’s current status as a Power 5 athletic conference and Black students (particularly athletes) who enroll at the school. The current manuscript possesses several strengths as well as a few notable areas of improvement. More detailed feedback on these areas is provided below.

 

Strengths of the Manuscript:

·         The topic is important and timely.

·         The emphasis on the multiple impacts of religious conservatism were well stated.

·         The application of Derrick Bell’s concept of racial realism was clear and appropriate.

·         Good job providing a subjectivity statement.

·         The interdisciplinary lens present in the analysis is duly noted.

·         The focus on the intersection of race, religion, politics, and sex is insightful.

 

Areas of Improvement:

·         Abstract

o    The authors are encouraged to list the name of the specific racial and/or ethnic groups that have been excluded by PWIs instead of using the Eurocentric term of “non-white”.

·         Introduction

o    Connecting the religious conservativism with the history of evangelicalism and religious colonialism in the U.S. would be helpful to briefly contextualize in the introduction.

o    Explaining in greater detail how the LDS church is entrenched in global capitalism would strengthen this section.

o    Providing more rationale for why the church and school would recruit Black student athletes or invite any person who identifies as Black to the campus or site given the widespread racist beliefs would be helpful. In other words, if anti-Black racism is so prominent then why does the school seek any form of interracial contact?

·         Main Sections

o    It would be beneficial to highlight how the racist priesthood policies that was challenged in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Black college athletes at schools such as Wyoming and UTEP to name a few.  

o    When presenting the racist priesthood policies, it would be useful to engage the literature on Whiteness including the Feagin’s concept of white racial framing.

o    It seems to be widely understood that the Mormon church and BYU have had a racist history and continue to perpetuate racism. Do the authors surmise that Black prospective college athletes and their families are not aware of this reality? If so, what informs this stance? It was seem many of these families are indeed aware of this reality and thus explains why BYU does not recruit as many Black college athletes as their peers including the University of Utah.

o    The reference to Derrick Bell’s racial realism was duly noted, but a more expansive application of critical race theory and its relevance to the current analysis would demonstrate more theoretical rigor.

o    Reviewing and incorporating the work of anti-Black misandry scholars would be useful to include in the gendered stereotypes section particularly the notion of perceived hypersexuality and the presence of eroticism and phallicism. There are some sport scholars who have used a similar approach in their examination of Black male college athletes’ experiences as well. It would be useful to review their works and consider connecting them with your analysis.

o    The description of the religious difference between BYU and many other PWIs is clear, but highlighting the parallels between the policies and practices and corresponding experiences and outcomes of Black college athletes at other PWIs would strengthen the scope.

o    Explaining more clearly how this study adds new knowledge or builds upon previous knowledge on the topic of Black college athletes’ experiences at PWIs including religious institutions would strengthen the discussion. There are a number of scholars who have used critical race theory and related frameworks to examine the marginalization, exploitation, and oppression of Black college athletes and thus engaging this literature would strengthen the manuscript.

o    When saying administrators should be held accountable, add more specificity to what you feel the consequences should be for a lack of support.

o    In the discussion, the proposal of BSAAs is well stated, but presenting more anti-deficit recommendations for redressing the prevailing issue of racism in the LDS and at BYU are recommended including policies that could be enacted by the NCAA and Big 12 conference.

 

Overall, this manuscript seeks to address an important topic and possesses potential for a valuable contribution to the literature. Addressing the aforementioned areas of concerned would improve the quality of the manuscript for publication consideration. I hope this feedback is helpful. 

 

Author Response

Responded to reviewers' comments, 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I really like this version of the manuscript and find the text itself to be excellent. Watch for minor errors (p. 4 line 162 Brad coxox is probably Brad Wilcox and p. 7 line 326 lady trojans should be capitalized).  The problem remains the citation formatting itself. There are footnotes with no text (see fn 3 and 65), footnotes with just the word cite (see fn 58), and the footnotes follow no stylesheet that I recognize.  There are many other problems in footnote that I have not marked specifically.  The footnotes still read in very rough draft form and need to be thoroughly polished per any style citation of the journal's choice.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The revised manuscript is notably improved and the added references and edits strengthen the cogency of the core argument. Although, engaging with more literature beyond Mormon Studies (i.e., Race, Sport, and Education) would have strengthen the manuscript, the current version offers insights into the culture of BYU, LDS, and subsequent impact on Black college athletes' experiences. 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf