Integration Of Cheerleaders Was Difficult To Achieve

While the integration of white and black athletes in the 1960s and ‘70s took place with relatively few problems, the integration of cheerleading squads was more problematic.

Pamela Grundy, a sports historian, told a crowd of roughly 50 people attending her talk, “Athletes, Cheerleaders and Civil Rights in North Carolina,” at the county library last week that team integration went somewhat smoothly due to obvious objective measures.

“Either you can hit the basket or you can’t. Either you can hit the receiver or you can’t,” said Grundy. “It’s very clear who’s good.”

Grundy said there is also this intense desire to win games, so players and coaches might sublimate their racial feelings in order for the team to win.

“Everybody wants to win,” she said. ...