Eka Jose is a senior track student-athlete at Washington University, double majoring in biology and anthropology: global health and environment. She swept the triple jump titles at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in 2019. Jose, who is the co-president of WashU’s BLAC (Black Letterwinning Athlete Coalition) chapter, earned All-America honors in the triple jump in 2020 after qualifying for the NCAA indoor championship, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.
Culture Shock
Jose started her U.S. education in the third grade in Kansas City, Kansas after she and her family moved from Nigeria. “We came from Nigeria and settled in a predominantly Black area. When I was entering the fifth grade, we moved to Kansas City, Missouri, which was predominantly white,” she described. Now I was in a whole new environment. There were two of us Black kids in class and that experience continued through high school. It was pretty difficult, but I got used to not having other Black students in my classes from the time I was in the fifth grade.”
Jose learned the art of code-switching during this time. “I became a more reserved person as being the only one in class who looked like me, so I focused on certain ways to appear or to approach others. I only got to talk to other Black people at track or in the hallway,” she explained. “I switched how I communicated with people. Once I saw Black or minority friends at track, I was completely different. Seventy to 80 percent of the team was Black and at least 80 percent of the jumpers were. Once it was 3:15 p.m., I was in a completely different dynamic. It was a chance to catch up on what everyone else was doing and had been talking about during the day. I didn’t feel comfortable engaging on that level in my classes.”
Underestimated Intelligence and Misconceptions
“It was challenging navigating coming to the U.S. in the third grade. I believe it came from a place of innocence, but my peers perceived that I didn’t know what was going on in school. It was essentially ‘Let us teach you what we are doing here.’ I remember this happening with the class starting long division. I already knew that from the year before, so I just went ahead with other learning,” she pointed out. “There was a misconception that I didn’t fully understand what was going on, including from teachers and especially in English. My parents speak other languages, but English is my first language.”
Jose may have pronounced some words differently than her classmates in Kansas, but she felt it was highlighted more than another U.S. regional dialect would have been. “We had a speaking test in the fifth grade, and I said ‘photographer’ in a different way and got points knocked off for it. There were always little things in class that placed unwanted attention on me, often the way I pronounced certain words,” she recalled. “I have always been drawn to academics and since the fifth grade, had been placed in gifted or advanced classes. People always seemed surprised I qualified academically, as I was always the only Black student in those classes then and was straight through AP (advanced placement) classes in high school. My intelligence was often questioned. I felt like saying, ‘I promise I am smart.’”
In addition to not seeing people who looked like her in class, Jose found her heritage added a barrier even with Black people. “Being Nigerian, sometimes I felt I didn’t necessarily fit in with African-Americans because of both groups’ misconceptions about one another. There is a certain narrative with adults in Nigeria about Americans and African Americans. I was influenced by that at such a young age that my lens reflected that,” she disclosed. “That changed a lot when I got to college and started taking new classes, particularly learning about the African diaspora. I had misconceptions that simply were not true. The stereotypes and misleading perceptions had really skewed the way I viewed people and inhibited the dynamics of relationships and communication for me.”
Challenges at a Predominantly White Institution
“WashU has more Black track student-athletes than other UAA teams, which is great, but there is still a challenge there. We are not always surrounded by them. The team is still predominantly white. It may depend on which events you compete in as to whether you see your Black teammates while practicing or just at team dinners,” she noted. “We have to be intentional about hanging out with one another and that can be perceived negatively. Team dinners, for example, a time when all the Black people on the team would flock together. It could look like we were isolating ourselves, but our meet and practice schedule is so intense that we don’t have the time to be part of clubs for Black students. Without those opportunities to engage in discussions that would happen in those spaces, we would make the most of our time together at team dinners.”
Those times together may be viewed negatively, either openly or subtly. “It may appear that we are isolating ourselves, but we just want to spend time with each other and that was one of the things we discussed as a team over the summer. It is important to try to balance our needs with the team dynamic,” she conceded.
Jose explains that some inequities that are often perceived as small things can actually be quite important. “Music can be a really important thing, but not viewed as such. If we want to play something more stereotypically Black like rap or hip-hop at practice, there may be some pushback. We understand that not everyone has the same taste, but when you see it happening repetitively, it appears that it is only a problem when we put on music, not when someone else does,” she said. “We know it is not necessarily intentional. For the most part, I am good at ignoring this type of discrimination and recognizing it may not be a big deal. In the back of your head though, you are thinking, ‘This sucks a little bit.’”
Fortunately for Jose, she says the jumpers have become accustomed to the music that will be played at their practices. “It is whatever (teammate and fellow jumper) Abayomi (Awoyomi) puts on,” she laughed. “He brings his speaker to practice and he is in charge. Some of us, including me, may recommend some music and he is open to that. We have gotten used to whatever he plays and with his wide range of taste, we have a diverse playlist for a very diverse group. There is a different dynamic when ethnic minorities are the majority, which they are with jumpers between Black and Asian student-athletes. Abayomi has grown so much between his freshman (last year) and sophomore years and facilitates a lot of what happens with the jumpers.”
Advice for Others Black Student-Athletes
“Don’t isolate yourself or limit yourself to being part of one thing. When I first got to WashU, I wanted to join all these clubs. Even before I got a chance, I was surrounded by the track team. Freshman year, I spent 95 percent of my time with the track team or people on the team. It was great to have that built-in group, but it limits personal growth if you aren’t learning how to relate to other people and are surrounding yourself with one group, even a group with diverse experiences,” she expressed. “My goal in my sophomore year was to build more relationships outside of track. Sometimes that was people in class and other times, people in the African Student Association. I wasn’t able to attend ASA meetings because of my schedule, but I surrounded myself with those people when I had time outside of track. There were times I was intentional about not going to an event that was all track people to be with other friends and develop those relationships. That helped me a lot.”
Being injured her first year helped Jose widen her support network. “In any situation, one group can’t help you through everything you are going through. We joke on the track team that you are only allowed to have two non-track friends. I pushed that and it really helped me, especially when I dealt with injuries and didn’t necessarily want to talk to my teammates about it,” she recorded. “Track people are still about 65 to 70 percent of my friends, but I have other people I can relate to because they understand different aspects of me. That helped me bridge the gap between track and other interests.”
Taking her own advice made for an ideal roommate situation. “I became friends with an African woman in my first year who was not in athletics. We built a really good friendship and now she rooms with me and (teammate and BLAC co-president) Caira (Watson-Haynes). I became close to her and now other women on the team have befriended her,” she communicated. “When you become friends with people from different parts of campus, you find similarities. My two worlds are not so separate anymore.”
Role of Allies and Teammates
“Our team had very helpful conversations in the late summer and the beginning of the fall semester. We heard each other out. As Black students, our intention was for us to share how we felt with the rest of the team, but it was eye-opening for me to hear from other people and to hear what they were thinking,” she acknowledged. “Having that open line of communication at all times is critical so that you are not building up anger or annoyance every time someone wrongs you. You have the chance to say, ‘That offended me’ and the other person has the chance to respond. Often times, they didn’t even realize how what they said was perceived.”
As more and more conversations were taking place at the school, Jose learned about a lot of other groups. “There are so many different affinity groups at WashU and I assume other schools as well. This is true even within the athletic department. We have a group of Jewish student-athletes and another that meets around the topic of interpersonal violence. Increasing communication between these diverse affinity groups provides an opportunity to learn from others’ unique experiences,” she explained. “It is awesome that these groups are forming. Regardless of your identity, there is usually something you experience where you are in the minority. The Jewish group was started in the fall and it was not something I had thought of. There are important ways for them to connect that are specific to them, including not being able to celebrate holidays with the practice and playing schedules of athletic teams. Seeing other groups helps everyone understand different struggles.”
She recognizes that much of the harm within teams is unintentional. “Most teams are made up of people who identify similarly. Forming a bond with teammates is so important, especially if you are in the majority,” she stated. “I wouldn’t feel as comfortable having a difficult conversation with someone on the basketball team about something they said. With my teammates, once we have formed a strong connection, they would be more receptive to that discussion. I think generally most WashU athletes would be receptive. I would just feel more comfortable with one of my teammates.”
Role of Coaches and Administrators
“It is imperative for the head coach to be sensitive to current events. Every time something race-related happened, (Head) Coach (Jeff) Stiles would text me and Caira personally. Even if it may be a minor event, he would think about who it affects. He would let us know he was thinking about us, praying for us, and making himself available if we needed anything,” she reported. “Things like that help a lot. Coaches need to be aware of what is really going on and not think we just live in an athletics bubble. Those relationships begin with forming a bond, just as it does for teammates with one another.”
“In terms of the team, Coach Stiles worked with the captains on bringing outside voices and other professionals to talk to us. When he knew the issue we wanted to address, he wanted to find out who was most equipped to address it,” Jose made known. “One concern we brought up in our discussions was the burden on the student-athletes to lead the discussion. One time, I helped lead back-to-back two-hour sessions, one with Andrew (Whitaker) and another with Chiemela (Izima). I was so drained and knew I didn’t want to do that again. Finding someone outside the team qualified to lead the discussion not only takes the burden off the student-athletes, but also brings a level of neutrality.”
Both WashU’s BLAC and its athletics department have made a point of bringing in speakers from the professional world, including Dr. Brandon Roberts, a WashU graduate and the only NCAA Division III football player to earn the “academic Heisman award,” what is now called the William V. Campbell Trophy. “Part of his talk was about being Black in the medical field, but a lot of his advice would have been helpful for any student-athlete or anyone pursuing a medical career. We have discovered that non-Black people have expressed interest in attending even conversations about Black identity, so we opened up those opportunities to more people,” Jose described.
On the Sunday before Black History Month began, WashU BLAC hosted a UAA Alumni Career Panel that included those who chose career paths in medicine, engineering, law, education, business, and art. They opened it to all UAA student-athletes, coaches, and administrators, and the panel included graduates from Carnegie Mellon University and Emory University in addition to those connected with WashU. “We all shared this bond through having a similar identity as UAA athletes and Black individuals, which elevated the conversation to more of a mentor-mentee or friend-to-friend discussion, which created for more fruitful conversation than if it was solely career focused,” she explained.