The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Equality in Women and Race in Collegiate Sports - Essay Example

ACLU remains in the forefront in promoting the Bill of rights and ensuring that citizens are protected by the government through the laws that are formed. It is watchful on lawmakers and frequently issues public statements on pending national, state and local legislation by campaigning in support or against certain laws. It strives to ensure that each individual enjoys their civil rights. This paper will be a discussion on ACLU on equality in women and race in collegiate sports. Women and people of color are some of the people that are widely subjugated in the society.

Females have always been interested in athletics, besides it makes them physically fit and have better body structures. When females were excluded from Olympics in 776 B.C, they created their own version, the Games of Hera. This shows that women have desire in sports, opposing the viewpoint that the society has that women are not interested in any physical activity (ACLU 1). The ACLU in conjunction with Title IX, this is a law banning discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions, have been instrumental in ensuring that women and people of other races get an equal opportunity in sports just like their male counterparts.

The ACLU has written literature on the issues of women and race in relation to sports. A project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington foundation wrote the following literature in 2007. In the early 1900s, physical education instructors strongly opposed competition among females, as late as 1972, only one in 27 females participated in high school athletics compared to one in two males. In the public arena, there were more females following various sports proceedings, this challenged the notion that females were incapable or uninterested in sports (ACLU 5).

Law makers responded and in 1972, the U.S Congress enacted Title IX, banning discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions. Washington added the Equal Rights Amendment to its constitution in 1975, this together with the Sexual Equality Act advocated for gender equality in educational institutions. As a result of this, the number of females in collegiate athletics increased from 32,000 to 171,000 (ACLU 5). On the other hand, female athletes of color are still underrepresented in athletics.

However, with continued sensitization, the 2004 College Sports Racial Gender Report Card found that 14.9 percent of females participating in sports were African-American (ACLU 6). This was an indication of a slight improvement. In the year 2005, the court made it clear that if a coach or any other school employee complained on behalf of students with regard to discrimination based on sex or race, title IX protected such an individual from any action from his or her employer (ACLU 8). The ACLU Function of Washington advocates for the fact that sports programs in schools should accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes.

Funding is another issue that is raised. Female and male sport programs must receive equal funds. In the situation where there is a club supporting a team that was dominated by one gender and not the other, the school is supposed to compensate for this imbalance by ensuring the other team got an equal share of funding. On the same level with funding, provision of equipment and supplies, travel allowances, assignment and compensation of coaches and provision of locker rooms also have