Alabama coach levels playing field for girls’ athletics

He started teaching in the Birmingham Public Schools in 1988.
He became head coach of Ensley High School’s girls’ basketball team.
He officially complained about the disparity in the girls’ and boys’ teams.
He lost his job.

Roderick Jackson, 39, a girls’ basketball coach who lives in Birmingham, Ala., spent four years fighting for his team in the U.S. court system.

He won his battle on March 29, 2005.

Jackson’s victory in that U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 decision not only will be recorded in history, but it could – and likely will – be acclaimed as a strong positive movement forward in women’s rights as well as civil rights.

In 1973, Title 9, a statute that gave equality to women and men in not only athletics but in other segments of society, became federal law. Thirty-two years later, that ruling tested – once again – still stands in the United States.

Roderick Jackson, the girls’ winning high school basketball coach at Ensley High in Birmingham, Ala., filed a lawsuit in 2001 after losing his job because he had complained that his team wasn’t receiving the same funding as the Ensley boys’ team did. The girls wore old uniforms, played in an old gym with a slanted floor and had won all of their games, while the boys wore new uniforms, played in a new gym and lost all of their games that season.

His journeys led him through the Alabama legal system, because each court ruled that the school was within its rights to fire him after complaining about the inequalities of the two basketball teams. His case then went to the nine-member U.S. Supreme Court.

“Well, it was a monumental decision that came down back on March 29, and it has far-reaching implications for girls’ athletics,” Jackson said April 12 during a phone interview from his classroom at Ensley High. “I never had any idea that it would go that far, but I was willing to fight it until my last resort ran out.

“I’m happy with the decision, and hopefully it’ll send a clear message across the country that people can observe a situation and come forward without fear of retaliation.”

When word of the court’s initial Title 9 ruling spread throughout the country in 1973, it impacted the diversity of sports in high schools and colleges. Its latest ruling reiterates the importance of females and males having access to an equal playing field in the United States.

Jackson said he thought the Supreme Court eventually would hand down a fair ruling in his case. Nonetheless, doubt existed.

“Well, we had mixed feelings. Going in we felt that we could get seven votes, because Chief Justice Rehnquist wasn’t there for the oral arguments, which was a strong presentation of facts by our attorneys,” Jackson said. “But he did read the briefs when he returned later to the bench. But you never know how that’s going to go with the swing votes. Justice O’Connor really came through for us as well as the other four judges that sided with her.”

Besides Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold the Title 9 statute and Jackson couldn’t be fired. Dissenters were Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy.

In the majority opinion, O’Connor said the text of Title 9 prohibits a funding recipient from retaliation against a person who speaks out against sex discrimination, because such retaliation is intentional discrimination on the basis of sex. Title 9, O’Connor wrote, not only is intended to prevent the use of federal dollars to support discriminatory practices, but it also is intended to provide citizens effective protection against those practices.

In other words, it gives equality to everyone in America.

Throughout the trials, Jackson said, he remained on the payroll as a teacher and eventually returned as the head coach for girls’ basketball at Ensley High. He considers it too early to see the monetary changes for the team, but said he observed a new sense of pride after the girls learned the Court’s decision.

“Things are returning to normal – I’m still teaching and coaching,” he said. “We’re getting ready for spring training on the 25th of this month. But the girls, you can see them being elated. They finally felt like someone had stuck up for them.

“I talked and met with them on the day of the decision, and they were elated. You could see them going to softball practice with a little more pep in their step.”

Deirdre Condit, an associate professor who teaches women’s studies and other classes in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, recognizes the importance Title 9 plays in women’s athletics in today’s society.

“I think Title 9 has been really important to the development of a huge nationwide quietly – building class of women’s athletics that is beginning to trickle up,” she said. “That is, as those young women are maturing, those programs are maturing, and you’re beginning to see the fruits of that.

“That is the consequence of the kind of democratization of opportunity for women’s athletics. If you look around the country at other athletic events you’ll see the effects of Title 9 as well.”

From the beginning, Jackson said he realized that his decision to file a lawsuit against the Alabama Board of Education would bring some hostility as well as support.

“Well, it’s ironic that before the case we felt like we got more support outside of Birmingham than we did inside of Birmingham,” he said. “But after the decision came down – like my wife says – everyone loves a winner.

“So, we’ve had some tremendous support here, and there’s still some powers that be that may not be happy with it. But for the most part the support has been tremendous.”

In all, nine states and the National School Boards Association opposed Jackson in court, because they argued that allowing retaliation claims would open the door to a torrent of litigation.

Jackson said he firmly believes the actions he took ultimately will affect Title 9 as it pertains to all women in American society.

“I think that if the 11th Circuit (appeals court) decision was allowed to stand, then that means if a person had courage to speak up, it would mean they could get fired and nothing would be done,” he said. “So that would have been a chilling effect placed over not only the Title 9 law but also the other civil rights laws. There’s a lot of things that this ruling will help impact.”

That statement represents the strength Title 9 has on America’s society today.

Condit cited an example of a children’s television show she and her family recently watched.

“We were watching a show on TV. It was a kid’s show. This show has competitions between little boys and girls,” she said. “The announcer would ask them ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ All the little girls talked about wanting to play sports. If you think about that, 10 years ago you wouldn’t have heard that. So, that’s kind of indicative.”

On the other hand, Condit sees the negative side of the initial Title 9 ruling.

“There’s some issues with the court’s ruling of Title 9. It’s a decision of separate but equal sports programming, which I think is very problematic,” she said. “It’s what continues to maintain a hierarchy system and a two-class system in sports.

“It protects masculinity – there’s all kinds of issues with it. But I think what we see is the democratization of equality throughout the culture as a result of Title 9.”

Condit said she continues to see the disparity in the workplace and in athletics.

“We can see over and over again that women are still paid less than men,” she said. “If you look at the Women’s National Basketball Association versus the National Basketball Association, you know WNBA stars are making $32,000 a year. There isn’t anyone that plays in the NBA that wouldn’t consider that chump change for the day. So, I think we have a long way to go.”

Diana Scully, director of the Women’s Studies Program, also recognizes the impact of Title 9 from 1973 to 2005.

“When Title 9 was put on the books – so to speak – there was tremendous disparity in the educational opportunities for women versus men,” she said, “More than 25 years later, because of Title 9 there have been great improvements. There have been great improvements in equity in sports. I know a lot of people think of Title 9 as related primarily to sports. It’s important to sports, but it’s not all that it does.”

Furthermore, Scully said there have been improvements in women’s abilities to participate in sports because of the 1973 Supreme Court decision, but she doesn’t believe there’s equity in women’s programs versus men’s programs.

“The decision by the Supreme Court was extremely important,” she said. “What I have to say about it is — good for that basketball coach and good for the Supreme Court. They’re doing their jobs.”