Sports activism old AND new

 

Bill Knight column for Thurs., Fri. or Sat., 10-1, 2 or 3, 2020

 On the surface, sports are starting to seem as “normal” as possible during a pandemic. Major League Baseball playoffs are underway, the NFL is back, NBA and WNBA playoffs are peaking, and a few weeks ago, Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente was once more honored.

But it’s not “business as usual.”

Bubbling beneath the surface is a growing awareness and an unprecedented willingness to sacrifice for a greater good. Tragically, that good is an end to systemic racism generally and police brutality especially.

Political activism in sports isn’t new, but it’s usually been individuals, not groups, much less strikes.

Past American athletes stood up for more than trophies, riches and fame. There were heavyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson and track star Jesse Owens, plus Jackie Robinson, Olympians John Carlos and Tommie Smith, Billie Jean King and others. After the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Clemente and Pirates teammate Maury Wills, joined by Cardinal greats Bob Gibson and Orlando Cepeda, organized MLB walkouts.

More recently, the St. Louis Rams, Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James and others protested the killing of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and too many others.

True, millionaire athletes aren’t as vulnerable to retaliation as most of us, but wealth and celebrity don’t shield Black athletes, who may be adored in uniform but in street clothes are at risk, too. In 2018, Milwaukee Bucks forward Sterling Brown was accosted by a group of Milwaukee police officers for a parking violation. He was tasered and jailed, but no charges were brought. Bodycam footage showed what happened, and he was offered a $400,000 settlement, which he declined, saying, “I want cops to show respect and be held accountable.”

So it wasn’t surprising after Kenosha, Wis., police shot unarmed 29-year-old Jacob Blake seven times in the back as he was getting in his car Aug. 23 that the Bucks refused to take the floor in a playoff game, and the Milwaukee Brewers followed by halting their ballgame against the Reds.

Teammates of different races participated, as 20 MLB teams chose not to play; the NBA postponed three playoff games; 10 NFL teams cancelled preseason practices; the WNBA (which had dedicated the season to Louisville EMT Breonna Taylor, killed in her bed by Louisville police) also protested; five Major League Soccer games were postponed; tennis star Naomi Osaka sat out a tourney and others in the U.S. Tennis Association demonstrated; even the overwhelmingly white NHL postponed games.

WNBA guard Ariel Atkins of the Mystics said, “We aren’t just basketball players. When most of us go home, we still are Black. Our families still matter.”

After George Floyd’s killing, outcries for justice were publicly supported not just by athletes but businesses (Gannett newspapers, Pet Smart, Tiffany’s) and – more importantly – by the public. This summer, 52% of registered voters polled by the Wall Street Journal/NBC supported athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protect racial inequality. But President Trump continues to denounce the athletes as he had Kaepernick and other social-justice demonstrations.

Such objections seem to matter less than athletes’ rising sense that it’s necessary to speak out.

On Aug. 30, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray spoke out after playing an amazing game, scoring 50 against the Jazz. Afterward he discussed Taylor and Floyd: “In life you find things that hold value to you, and things to fight for,” said the 23-year-old Ontario native. “We found something worth fighting for as the NBA, as a collective unit.”

Days earlier, after the Clippers defeated the Mavericks, L.A. coach Doc Rivers, son of a policeman, said, “All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot.

“It’s amazing why we keep loving this country,” he added, solemnly, “and this country does not love us back. We got to do better, to demand better.”

When nothing’s improving, escalation and increased solidarity are inevitable.

After Kentucky officials decided not to hold police accountable for killing Taylor, Chicago Bears running back Cordarrelle Patterson addressed brutality, saying, “It happens to everybody, no matter if you’re a pro athlete or not. Athletes, we’ve just got to keep using our voice.”

At a Sept. 23 Chicago demonstration for Taylor, Father Michael Pfleger said, “March after march, protest after protest, and nothing changes in America.”

Refusing to take the court in August, James had said, “We demand change.”

Louis Moore, author of “We Will Win the Day,” said, “You’re an athlete and you’re seeing people on the street. If you’re an athlete, you’re upset: ‘What can I do about this?’ “

As Clemente famously said, “If you have the chance to make things better for people coming behind you and you don’t, you are wasting your time on Earth.”