What is race-norming in the NFL?

The term "race norming" was thrust into the spotlight this week after it was revealed the NFL had used the practice since the 1990s. The NFL has said they will stop the practice, which assumes black players start out with a lower cognitive function than white and non-black players.

Race norming has made the news as part of the fallout of the $1 billion brain injury settlement agreed to by the NFL in 2013.

What exactly is race norming?

Race norming goes back 40+ years when it was developed as a way to account for racial bias in aptitude testing for federal jobs in the United States of America.

It was first used during President Jimmy Carter's administration and then continued by Ronald Reagan before being banned by George H.W. Bush in 1991.

The purpose was to eliminate racial bias in these tests so everyone was on an equal playing field. Unfortunately, race norming was adopted to actually instigate racism.

How does race norming relate to the NFL?

The practice of race norming was used to assess legal damages in the brain injury lawsuit brought against the NFL, by former players. What race norming did was make it harder for black players to show a mental deficiency and therefore qualify for an award payment.

According to ESPN, more than 2,000 NFL retirees have filed dementia claims, but fewer than 600 have received awards.

An Associated Press article shows that so far the awards have averaged $516,000 for the 379 players with early-stage dementia and $715,000 for the 207 players with moderate dementia. Retired players can also seek payouts for Alzheimer’s disease and a few other diagnoses.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers player Najeh Davenport told ABC News:

“What the NFL is doing to us right now…when they use a different scale for African-Americans versus any other race? That’s literally the definition of systematic racism.”

The NFL recently announced that a panel of neuropsychologists formed recently to propose a new testing regime to the court includes two female and three black doctors.

"The replacement norms will be applied prospectively and retrospectively for those players who otherwise would have qualified for an award but for the application of race-based norms," the NFL said in a statement issued Wednesday by spokesman Brian McCarthy.

As the fallout continues over race norming, more lawsuits are expected to be filed against the NFL.