Tianna Cobb is entering her third year as Assistant Athletic Trainer in the Case Western Reserve University Sports Medicine Department. She received her bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace University with a double major in athletic training and pre-physical therapy, while minoring in biology and orthopedic assessment and treatment. Cobb earned her master’s degree in athletic training from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She also serves as the Medical Coordinator for the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) annual summer camp.
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.
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Lessons Learned on a Path to Athletic Training
“My father remembered being integrated into a white school so we had a lot of talks about race. I went to Christian schools growing up and was used to being in the minority. I didn’t have my first Black teacher until I was in college. She took me under her wing and encouraged me to work even harder as an undergraduate. That was something my parents instilled in me. I remember when I was little, my grandfather told me that as Black people, we had to work harder than others to be successful, that it isn’t fair, but it’s just what you have to do. We also had ‘The Talk’ that every Black family is familiar with about how to interact with police and in other areas of society. It was so sobering and sad to listen to.”
“When I was an undergrad, I applied for an internship. I was clearly qualified, but was told I was not. They couldn’t come out and say the real reason I was denied. Those are the kind of barriers that cause missed opportunities, but it made me realize sometimes I had to work twice as hard as my counterparts to be on a level playing field. That made me persevere in pursuit of my goals.”
She originally wanted to become a doctor, but Baldwin Wallace did not have a pre-med program: “An advisor told me to take pre-physical therapy as the prerequisites were the same. Another advisor suggested I also get clinical practice in athletic training and it just stuck. My first rotation was a preseason football game. The first practice I attended, I saw someone rupture his Achilles. When I saw how everyone took care of him, it convinced me that I wanted to be an AT.”
The Angry Black Woman Stereotype and Other Misconceptions
Cobb has dealt with a lot of misconceptions and microaggressions, sometimes causing her to adjust her own behavior: “I constantly police myself to smile and be welcoming so as not to come off as aggressive, out of control, or disagreeable. The hardest part of that is I could just be having a bad day like anyone else, but if I show it, I would be perceived as an angry black woman.”
She faces questions about her background and her career: “The main misconception I have faced is that people assume I grew up in ‘the hood.’ I was raised in a middle-class family in Steubenville (Ohio). People often ask, ‘Are you really an AT?’ They question my authority, but I know what I am talking about. I have the education, credentials, and a license.”
As Black people in the U.S. are all too familiar with, she gets followed around by store employees and/or security when she enters a store. She also faces comments about her speech in and out of Black communities: “White people often tell me I am so well-spoken. How am I supposed to talk? Black people will say that I ‘sound white’ or sound ‘stuck up.’ Anyone can expand their vocabulary and that doesn’t mean you are trying to act like someone you are not.”
“A recurring theme is people asking me if they can touch my hair. It just happened to me again recently and is an ongoing thing. It is covert racism in a way. I wonder, ‘What did they really mean by asking me this” or ‘Do they even realize what they said?’ I think about it and wonder if it was okay that I didn’t challenge the person asking me this.”
Finding Connections
Cobb has dealt with the lack of diversity in her workplace and career. “There is very little diversity in the building and in the UAA as a whole where I am one of the only athletic trainers of color. That is a little challenging. I can voice my opinion and have it not taken as seriously or listened to. There are just not a lot of us so there is a lack of support.”
Fortunately for Cobb, she has found important connections at CWRU, one of whom is Veale Center security guard Lankford “L” Stephens, who is popular with student-athletes and staff. “’L’ is like an uncle to me. We have the commonality of our race. We can identify with one another, and talk about things we see and go through.”
She did not have much diversity or in her undergraduate experience either, except for one Nigerian classmate who moved to Maryland after graduation. However, she enjoys having a role similar to Stephens’ for her with the student-athletes: “Athletes of color gravitate toward me and are more comfortable talking about certain things that may be bothering them or that they are experiencing. There is some real personal stuff they go through and sensitive information they sometimes share. Being Black and their AT, we have connections at more than one level so I can be a support system for them. The camaraderie that I had with my friend from Nigeria is the same thing I see between me and the student-athletes.”
Cobb has found CWRU to offer programs that are beneficial in discussing race. Diversity 360o is a diversity education program on campus for students, faculty, and staff developed in collaboration with the Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
The university responded to the national conversation about race on June 10 with a “Day of Dialogue” where members of the campus community engaged in conversation addressing critical issues both nationally and in the university itself: “With everything going on, I thought that was a really good idea. It is important to have those conversations, some of which are not going to be easy.”
Advice for People of Color Who Want to be Athletic Trainers
“As a student, get involved as quickly as you can and get as much support as you can. Athletic trainers and students come together in group chats and with town hall meetings every Tuesday night to talk about what is going on in the world and in the profession. There is an ethnic diversity advisory committee that helps guide NATA (National Athletic Trainers’ Association) with issues of ethnic diversity.”
“It is really important to find a mentor who you identify with and/or looks like you. Only 10-12 percent of athletic trainers are people of color, but that number shrinks to 2-3 percent for African-American athletic trainers. Take advantage of social media to connect to people. I am also involved with a couple more Instagram groups that are more specifically tailored toward women of color. I want undergraduates to have support and not give up on wanting to be an AT. It is hard when nobody looks like you, but if you have someone advocating for you, you can.
The Role of Allies and Using Privilege
“People need to understand that they have a certain privilege and that they can use that in any instance to help fight systemic racism. If you see something wrong, whether it is blatantly so or seems so, say or do something. The person you are defending may not feel they have a voice in how they are being treated.”
“An important thing to do is learn about unconscious bias and microaggressions. Reflect on your own behavior and be cognizant of biases you may have used in the past. Have conversations, some of which will not be easy. Ask questions about things you don’t know instead of being assumptive — that is often what gets people in trouble.”
“It all starts with an understanding that certain people have privilege. Use that and get active in the community. If your community is not diverse, encourage it to become so. Do the work.”