Playing college sports can take a toll on Black athletes’ mental health. How are schools helping?

According to NCAA data published in 2025, more than 40% of college football players are Black, and Black athletes are also highly represented in basketball and track and field.

SEC schools in the Gulf South have a history of racism.

LSU’s “Fighting Tigers” nickname for the athletics program was inspired by the “Louisiana Tigers,” famed Confederate Civil War infantry units.

Former LSU president Troy Middleton was a known segregationist and actively kept Black students from engaging with white students. LSU board member James Williams recounted reading an archival letter from May 1, 1956, where Middleton wrote, “I do not want negro students in LSU, I believe in segregation of the races, and no matter what may come I shall not associate with negroes.”

There’s also former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who blocked Vivian Malone and James Hood, the first Black students enrolled at the University of Alabama, from entering the school in 1963. This was after his infamous inauguration speech where he promised: “segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever”.

The University of Mississippi’s nickname “Ole Miss” originated from “old mistress,” a term enslaved people used when referring to the plantation owner’s wife. Elma Meek, a student at the time, suggested the name in 1896 while brainstorming ideas for the school’s first yearbook. “The Ole Miss Annual” has been published every year since.

In a Vanity Fair article published earlier this year, former Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin said it was difficult recruiting top Black athletes because of the state’s racist history and the university’s legacy of celebrating the Confederacy.

Kiffin later apologized for his statements, but Bailey can attest that Black student-athletes say they’ve experienced racism.

“I won’t say often because that feels a little unfair,” Bailey said, “but certainly more than once and certainly enough I hear stories about racist tropes being… portrayed to athletes and not necessarily just when they’re at a game.”