You Must Be a Basketball Player

Anthony Stewart is a professor in the English Department at Bucknell University. His main research interest is twentieth-century African American literature and culture. He has articles accepted or in print on the work of August Wilson, Ralph Ellison, and Percival Everett, as well as “The Professional Sports Shell Game: A Black Canadian’s Reflections on Twentieth-Century American Sports History.” Dr. Stewart also teaches twentieth-century British literature and is the author of two articles on the work of George Orwell and of George Orwell, Doubleness and the Value of Decency. Dr. Stewart is at work on a book-length project on the work of Percival Everett as well as an article speculating on how the African American narrative might be changed-with the election of Barack Obama-from one that has long relied upon sports as a source of role models to one that would include images of public service.

• : Preface: Introduction: Reflections of a Tenured Black Sheep, or, How the University Looks to Me: Part I: The Myth of Merit: The Mythical Meritocracy, or, Is the Best Candidate Ever Simply the Best?: Ignoring the Pool: Lessons the University Should Not Be Teaching: Part II: Beyond the Myth of Merit: The Problem of Being and Only: The Problem of Toronto: Majoritarianism, Critical Mass and Institutional Literacy: Conclusion: If the Profession Looks Like this to Me …