We all knew race-normed tests were racist and hampered the ability of Black former NFL players to get the help they desperately needed.
Now proof is on view for all to see.
Late last week, more than 300 Black former NFL players initially denied financial awards from the league’s concussion settlement finally qualified for money or league-funded medical treatment after race norming in tests was eliminated.
“Race-norming” assumes that Black people start at a lower cognitive functioning level than white people. So when players have to demonstrate the effects of concussions, it’s harder for Black players to show a deficit because they begin from a lower starting point.
This process was used by the NFL to determine who qualified for monetary awards geared toward treating health ailments plaguing these former players.
Cyril V. Smith, an attorney representing former players Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport, filed a lawsuit in 2020 to have the practice eliminated, and that’s when the public first learned of the biased tests.
A year later, the NFL agreed to stop using race-normed testing, but it couldn’t be removed from the settlement until federal court judge Anita Brody approved it, which she did in March of 2022.
Now, according to the report filed in federal court by the law firm that handles claims for the NFL, 646 Black former players had their test results rescored under the new system.
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