Sports television is a tremendous source of entertainment around the world which gives athletes a substantial platform to show solidarity with protests happening worldwide.
With sports coming back after being canceled because of the coronavirus, now is the time for these professional athletes to return with a unified message, promoting the Black Lives Matter movement.
In a June 12 news conference call with more than 80 NBA players, Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving spoke about not returning to gameplay in July. Irving said NBA athletes should not become a distraction to the social justice movements sweeping the world.
According to sportswriter Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Irving reportedly said, "I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with the systematic racism and the bulls--t. Something smells a little fishy."
Although his concern is valid, what Irving fails to realize is that sports have historically been a part of social justice narratives and are an important way to advance causes.
San Jose State alumni and Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in the Black Power salute during the national anthem at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. Athletes protesting for social causes is nothing new.
In other words, bringing back televised sports won’t distract people from the Black Lives Matter movement if athletes use this as an opportunity to spread the message using symbolic speech or just bringing attention to it outright.
Take Colin Kaepernick for example. Kaepernick sparked a movement by not standing during the national anthem on Aug. 26, 2016. At first, people didn’t realize he was doing this to show solidarity for people of color who faced oppression.
However, as he became a focal point of the 49ers, people started to take notice. Especially when he donated $1 million to organizations that were synonymous with his cause according to a Chicago Tribune article. Thousands of people started to rally behind his efforts. Meanwhile, Kaepernick faced backlash because of his decision to bring a social issue into the stadium.
Although incredibly talented and an asset to the team, Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem made him a controversial figure, a pariah in the league. After not being signed to a team resulting in the end of his NFL career, Kaepernick filed a grievance against the organization for colluding on unfair hiring practices on Oct. 15, 2017, and later reached a settlement on Feb. 15, 2019, according to a Chicago Tribune article.
Though Kaepernick’s story may scare today’s athletes into not wanting to use their platforms to protest, they must realize that despite leaving the NFL, Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem continued on with others taking his place.
As Black Lives Matter protests around the world continue, Premier League soccer players in Europe have gotten approval to take a knee during anthems.
They have also received approval to wear the Black Lives Matter slogan on their club shirts.
American sports teams have yet to take similar action as they wait to play their seasons, but that doesn’t mean they won’t.
With many players in the NBA being Black, they can make a significant impact by connecting with more people from their community as well as thousands of other fans.
According to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, the National Basketball Association Racial and Gender Report Card, a study of the NBA’s demographics, showed that Black players made up 81.9% of the NBA in the 2018-2019 season. Athletes need to use this statistic to further propel the movement.
When the NBA comes back on July 30, the players should come together and find a way to remind people about the Black Lives Matter movement so that it endures, similar to what Kaepernick was able to do as well as many others before him.
Sports have always been a source of entertainment; a way to forget about the world and everything going on around us. It is time for sports fans and athletes to realize that sports have repeatedly been a part of social justice narratives and it is important for today’s athletes to use their influence to further causes like Black Lives Matter and to not let them die out.
