Current Students Faculty/Staff
Apply Visit Give Now
After 14 months off the air, Craig Tucker, 鈥�14, revitalized his sports podcast with a new topic: racism.
began back in 2016, and ran for almost 50 episodes with talk between Tucker and fellow alumnus Derek Maloney, 鈥�15, about Fantasy Football, the NFL, the World Cup, Wimbledon, and pro baseball and golf. Mostly though, they talked about basketball.聽
Both alumni played on EOU鈥檚 championship basketball team in 2012-13. Tucker鈥檚 jersey number at EOU was 3 and Maloney was 25, so when they decided to make their sports-centric phone calls public, they called it 325 Sports. The podcast became fairly popular on and , but moves and marriages meant they stopped recording for a while.聽
When protests erupted across the globe last June in the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 death, Tucker decided to end the podcast鈥檚 hiatus.
鈥淭he big gist of it is that some of my closest friends are Black, and I didn鈥檛 feel like I could just sit back鈥擨 had to do something,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to talk to my friends about these concepts and these tough things to see what I could do better, and also to raise awareness.鈥�
Tucker held six conversations with former EOU teammates who identify as Black or people of color. During these hour-long episodes, EOU alumni shared stories they鈥檇 never told before. The one with Maya Ah You Dias, 鈥�19, was downloaded over 500 times.
鈥淭o hear some of their stories of being disrespected, it hits more home when it鈥檚 your friend,鈥� Tucker said. 鈥淚t can be hard to connect with news stories that happen far away, but seeing what my friends go through it finally hits home. All of them told me a story that I鈥檇 never heard before. I was blown away that my friends were being disrespected as humans because of the color of their skin.鈥�
Tucker said the 鈥淲ar on Racism鈥� series got an overall positive response. His goal was to raise awareness, but in the process he also strengthened the relationships with his friends and teammates.
鈥淭hey know now that I鈥檓 willing to step up for them,鈥� Tucker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take the white majority to take care of this issue, to make sure people in the minority feel safe.鈥�
He said he鈥檚 learned about the importance of having an open mind, making the effort to responsibly self-educate, and being kind to others in every circumstance.
鈥淲ith social media and instant gratification, we can say mean things without consequences. The majority of things people type, they wouldn鈥檛 say in person. Take a step back, try to educate yourself, understand and then respond,鈥� he said. 鈥淐onversations are important, but when you don鈥檛 take the time to understand someone鈥檚 perspective first, it just spirals down. Just treat people like you would want to be treated.鈥�
Excerpt from 鈥淲ar on Racism: Maya Ah You-Dias鈥� (June 7, 2020)
鈥淢y dad was another young Black male that was murdered. My mom went back to the detective and couldn鈥檛 get a full investigation鈥�.We still don鈥檛 know all of what happened. That was the first real racial discrimination that my mom really talked to me about, 鈥楽ometimes officers just don鈥檛 really care about people because of the color of their skin.鈥�… I still feel like if he was a white male that there would鈥檝e been a full investigation, it wouldn鈥檛 have been quiet or been let go. I鈥檓 still trying to process that whole situation. I still struggle with feelings of guilt.鈥� This is something that鈥檚 really close to my heart that鈥檚 really personal.
“That was when I was 7…. We moved to Middleton, Idaho when I was 11, and that was a bit of a culture shock coming from Buffalo, New York where 36% of the population is African American. My elementary school was one of the most diverse schools in the nation 鈥� then I came to Idaho and it was 0.6% Black people in Middleton. That鈥檚 when I realized that I was different and there were stereotypes about Black people 鈥� Everyone was like, 鈥榊our hair is so different. Your skin is so dark. You jump so high. You play basketball so well.鈥� All this because I was Black, and I never even knew those were stereotypes of African Americans before I came to Idaho.鈥�
Excerpt from 鈥淲ar on Racism: Tony Eackles Jr.鈥� (June 4, 2020)
鈥淚 was really debating if I should share this cuz I don鈥檛 know if I ever really dealt with it all the way. I moved to Washington in 2017, and one day I鈥檓 in the mall shopping in January 2018. I鈥檓 shopping in the mall and two policemen come up to me and just grab me. I鈥檓 on the phone and my phone drops. I鈥檓 confused, I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on. And they鈥檙e saying, 鈥榃hat else you got in here? You鈥檙e not gonna get away with this.鈥� I鈥檓 confused. I鈥檓 lost. I鈥檓 thinking Ashton Kutcher is gonna jump out and I鈥檓 punked. They鈥檙e going through my jacket. Basically they鈥檙e trying to find clothes, they think that I鈥檓 stealing from the store. So they put me in handcuffs. I get put in handcuffs and I go to the back. And they said, 鈥楾his looks like the guy who鈥檚 been stealing from all the stores in the mall.鈥� … I was just like, 鈥榃hat?鈥� I was in so much shock because I鈥檇 never been arrested before, I鈥檇 never had any run-ins with the police before. I was just in so much shock, but all they identified me as was just, he was a tall, Black male.鈥�
“I鈥檒l never forget how the officer was talking to me. He was like, 鈥榊ou probably stole before haven鈥檛 you? You鈥檙e probably a petty larceny thief.鈥� I鈥檓 still processing it to this day.
“I was really skeptical about sharing this story because it bothered me a lot. They took me to jail. You never had a shame walk 鈥檛il you left the mall in handcuffs. You鈥檙e thrown, like really thrown, in the back of a police car, they don鈥檛 put a seatbelt on you. You鈥檙e treated like less than a person…. I ended up being in there like four hours. I felt like they played me. I felt like I really got taken advantage of because they were like, 鈥榊our bail is $500.鈥� When it just happened to be that I had $500 in my wallet.鈥� I bail myself out, I go home. I didn鈥檛 even really know how to deal with it. It was real tough for me because I didn鈥檛 know what to do.鈥� I ended up having to get a lawyer that I had to pay for 鈥� it took me a year to get the case dismissed. I had to keep going back to the hearing. The judge read the charges and everybody laughed, like, 鈥榊eah, we鈥檙e gonna dismiss the charges for what looks to be a normal Saturday out shopping.鈥� I鈥檓 sitting in there with people who do drugs, DUIs. I just got back from London, I just won a championship. 鈥� I still think about that, so many things. I was racially profiled and I never got a chance to stand up for it. I never got a chance to see that officer again 鈥� You would have thought that I was throwing things in my bag and about to run out the store. They put me in a submissive hold for shopping, shopping! I just couldn鈥檛 believe that something like that had happened to me.”
« The story you don鈥檛 know | Angelic Rehabilitation »