After receiving some shooting tips, Vice Pres. Harris finally sank a shot as she visited American University in Washington, D.C., to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX becoming law.
FILE - U.S. softball player Natasha Watley runs during practice Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Watley, a Black woman and two-time Olympic medalist in softball, started playing when she was 5. She did not have a Black teammate until she was a teenager and said there were so few girls of color who played with her and went on to college teams that she could count them on one hand.
Thursday is the 50th anniversary of Title IX and in the years since the landmark law was passed, profound strides have been made in women and girls' participation in sports. Women now make up 44% of all NCAA athletes, compared to just 15% in 1971, according to the Women's Sports Foundation. Nearly 3.5 million high school girls play sports, compared to less than 300,000 in 1972.
Natasha Watley, a Black woman who is a two-time Olympic medalist in softball, started playing when she was 5. She did not have a Black teammate until she was a teenager and said there were so few girls of color who played with her and went on to college teams that she could count them on one hand. “Even middle class families aren’t sending their kids to schools that have access to an equestrian team,” she said. “We typically are pushing African American women to women’s basketball and track and field because of those reasons.”
Those disparities in leadership and college athletic opportunities begin early in life, said Neena Chaudhry, general counsel and senior advisor for education at the National Women's Law Center. A study published by the center found that 40% of the country's public high schools are highly segregated, serving either 90% students of color or 90% white students.
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