Sports are one of the few aspects of pandemic life that have resumed and in which people can reclaim some sense of normalcy. The emphasis on the return of sports has served to further amplify the athletes’ platforms, and during America’s racial reckoning, many are opting to use it to spread messages of equality.
These athletes have both the unique opportunity and responsibility to use a platform that reaches tens of millions of Americans, and impress upon them the urgency of the present day situation. Many of these athletes are pillars in their respective communities, role models to children and idolized by fans.
Most notably, the Milwaulkee’s Bucks’ boycott of their playoff game after Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man, was shot seven times in the back in front of his family, triggered similar symbolic actions throughout the league and others. All NBA teams boycotted their games, along with WNBA teams, the MLB and MLS.
Indicative of the division in our nation today was the booing and lone cry of “Trump 2020” during a moment of silence and solidarity between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, dedicated to an ideal as fundamentally simple as Black lives do indeed matter.
There have also been large efforts among all leagues, but in particular the NBA, to register players to vote, with coach Doc Rivers being particularly vocal in regards to the matter. Some NFL teams are even volunteering their stadiums to become voting centers in the upcoming elections.
The NHL was the only major professional sports league that didn’t stop their games, and proceeded to play all three of their playoff games on the 26th. It was only after Evander Kane, a left wing for the San Jose Sharks and one of the few minority players in the NHL, voiced outspoken support for the Black Lives Matter movement and led an independent boycott that action was taken.
As a minority in a primarily white sport (in 2011, the NHL was 93 percent white), his voice is one of few others of color in the league. The Hockey Diversity Alliance called for a suspension of the following game on Thursday, and the NHL obliged along with suspending the games that Friday as well.
This perfectly exemplifies how sports can act as a megaphone when need be. Kane, a name who I and many others had previously never known, was being used to spread the message of Black Lives Matter in the fight for equality. By trading in on their massive platforms and direct access to media, players like Kane can act as a voice for the voiceless.
As such, utilizing the spotlight for a cause bigger than themselves is a question of equity and morality. Is it not your responsibility to speak for others who cry but are not heard? Making sports and equality a so-called “package deal,” where you can’t have one without the other is powerful. Today we have become so accustomed to comfort, entertainment and convenience, and while that has its flaws, it also offers those that provide entertainment a special kind of power.
Similar to how a striking union of factory workers makes demands to their bosses, professional sports players can and will boycott their own games to make demands of the people (as it’s their viewership and fanhood that indirectly funds the player’s careers).
If anyone feels inconvenienced or angered by the fact there’s a message on the court or some players choosing to exercise their right to kneel, then maybe they should take a step back and think about their priorities. Is one’s comfort paramount to the movement for racial equality?
There have been frequent calls to “keep politics out of sports”, but it’s a twisted idea to watch Black players for your own entertainment while simultaneously remaining silent in the fight for equality.
Photo courtesy of J. Gabás Esteban/Flickr
