The News and Observer today profiled the North Carolina Central baseball team, exploring perspectives and stats behind the declining presence of the black athlete on the school’s baseball team.

It’s legitimate to ask why black boys aren’t playing baseball, and the answers are usually found in an honest discussion on socioeconomics at community levels. To its credit, Major and Minor League Baseball are introducing programs to make baseball a more appealing game to play in inner cities and rural areas.

But from a media framing perspective, when will declining numbers of white athletes at power conference football and basketball programs become as much of a story as black athletes being M.I.A at HBCU baseball programs?

Because it’s easy to scrutinize which sports black folks aren’t playing. It’s a much tougher look at race and sports to discuss how white athletes are being boxed out of scholarship and playing opportunities by black counterparts at predominantly white institutions.