Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day to reflect on the legacy of the slain civil rights leader and how well (or poorly) we’ve been able to achieve his dream of racial equality.

What is the role of athletics in realizing that vision? In a world where college and professional sports is a big-money industry, athletes do have a lot of power. It was only a few months ago that the Missouri football team forced university officials to take drastic action on race – action they probably wouldn’t have taken otherwise – simply by threatening to boycott their own games if nothing was done. Can athletes do more? What more can they do?

At the same time, is athletics also a place of racial inequity? In the debate over college sports, many commentators have made a very troubling observation: the folks who end up making the big bucks are usually white, while the athletes who actually earn the money – and are barred from actually receiving a paycheck – are often black. Do NCAA rules perpetuate racial inequality? Class inequality?

Deborah Stroman is a professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a regular sports commentator. (She’s also just been announced as the winner of Orange County’s 2015 Pauli Murray Human Relations Award.) On Monday she discussed Dr. King’s legacy and athletics with Aaron Keck on WCHL.