Dr. Umar Johnson is serving out “50,000 lashes” to Deion Sanders for leaving the HBCU Jackson State University for a coaching position in Colorado.
While appearing on The Breakfast Club on Friday morning, the well-known pan-Afrikan psychologist couldn’t wait to direct the conversation around Sanders’ recent decision to leave JSU after three seasons to take a head coaching position at a PWI.
Dr. Umar argued with Charlamagne Tha God while explaining why Sanders’ decision is “bigger than football” and could’ve sparked a “movement” that could’ve reshaped the funding that goes into HBCUs across the country.
“Deion Sanders used, abused and exploited HBCU Jackson State just to be given an opportunity to show predominately white institutions that he could coach,” Johnson said.
He went on to explain why he is “so personally disappointed in Deion” because he thought Sanders decided to coach at JSU “for a movement and not for money.”
Dr. Umar upset with Deion Sanders leaving JSU for a higher paying coaching job pic.twitter.com/dx4UTGQFdv
— No Jumper (@nojumper) December 9, 2022
When Charlamagne tried to defend Sanders saying he was only one man who shouldn’t be responsible with such a plight, Dr. Umar drove his point home.
“This was bigger than football, this was about the survival of the HBCU,” he quipped.
“That one man could have been a catalyst for a movement that would have revolutionized the survival of HBCUs,” Johnson said.
He went on to use analogies by naming a few prominent Black leaders throughout history who served a crucial role within a bigger movement that they alone didn’t cause.
“The abolition wasn’t just about Frederick Douglass, but if Frederick Douglass would have pulled out, he would have hurt it,” Johnson said. “The underground railroad wasn’t just about Harriet Tubman, but if she would have pulled out, it would have failed.”
“For [Sanders] to pull out of Jackson State the way that he did before making sure the HBCU system survived, to me, was selfish. He chose money over the movement,” he continued.
“[Sanders] had a chance to help and he hurt and y’all wanna condone that because you Black celebrities are not committed to the best interest of Black people.”
Meanwhile, Sanders is moving full speed ahead into his new role at Colorado University while finishing his duties in Mississippi at JSU. Sanders is preparing to rebuild CU’s 2023 class before the early signing period begins on Dec. 21, Colorado Buffalos Wire reports.
