University of Virginia Library

Full Explanation

I would like to express partial
agreement with the Student Athletic
Council in its condemnation of
student behavior at the UNC
basketball game. There is absolutely
no excuse for throwing anything on
a basketball court or the continued
booing of an individual player. Poor
sportsmanship is not a strong
enough term for this behavior.

My disagreement stems from the
fact that the SAC has placed undue
emphasis on the fact that Charlie
Scott was booed because he is a
black athlete. Mr Scott is an
Olympian and no one will dispute
that he is one of the finest
basketball players in the nation.
Virginia fans have always tended to
be rough on the best players from
opposing teams. (Len Chappel-Wake
Forest; Art Heyman, Bob
Verga-Duke; Billy Cunningham,
Larry Miller-UNC). Second-rate
players are not booed. Add to this
the fact that UNC is one of
Virginia's bitter rivals, they are the
No. 2 team in the country, and Mr.
Scott was involved in a fight with a
Virginia player. Mr. Scott represented
the UNC team which was
having a rough time with UVa. at
that point. I daresay in that
emotion packed atmosphere even
good-natured Rusty Clark could
have become the butt of abuse.

In these times it is easy to jump
at racist strife as a motivating force,
too easy. One cannot say that
Scott's treatment had no relation to
being black, but the SAC, one
group which should know better,
has taken one factor out of context
and blown it up out of proportion.
Nothing is said of the generous
applause given Bill Chamberlin, a
black man on the UNC freshman
team. How can the same fans be so
inconsistent? It must go beyond the
fact that Scott is a black man.

This is not to excuse student
conduct but an attempt to get a full
explanation of the reasons behind
it.