We must do better for Jones, others, writes Nancy Armour,
The apologies, as sincere and well- meaning as they were, are not enough.
Not anymore. Not when it’s 2017 and Adam Jones is subjected to appalling abuse for no other reason than the color of his skin. When the St. Louis Blues have to call out a supposed fan for expressing similar hate. When Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall gets letters threatening him with physical harm. NeedI go on? If the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball are as upset as they say they are about the slurs and peanuts hurled at Jones by fans at Fenway Park on Monday, then they should do something about it. Something substantive. Announce that they will take the lead on community forums to address racism and educational programs that will help people recognize prejudice and discrimination and eliminate it.
The time for simply being sorry that racism is alive and well in this country is long gone. It’s time to actually do something, and sports is the only platform with broad enough appeal to have a chance of accomplishing it.
“We always avoid the conversation,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. “The best way to move forward in anything is to move out of the denial stage. Move into an accountability stage and address the issue in a way that has meaning. We’ve avoided that conversation.
“Whether we’ve been bad at
addressing it heretofore doesn’t mean we shouldn’t address it moving forward. Athletics is an amazing institution to address it.”
Racism is an uncomfortable topic, I know. We’ve been dancing around it for more than 200 years as a country — 400 if you go back to the beginning — and simply bringing it up puts people on the defensive. Indeed, some of the reactions to what happened to Jones were telling, with many quick to say not all people in Boston are racist or wondering why there wasn’t audio or videotape of the fans who shouted the n- word.
As if either of those things are relevant. Or as if any white person has the right to tell people of color that racism doesn’t exist, having no clue about what it’s like to live their lives or be confronted with prejudice on a regular basis.
Racism has been called this country’s original sin, and it continues to stain every part of our society. Our economy, schools, criminal justice system. And, yes, even our sports. Last year, there were 31 reported incidents of racism at the collegiate and professional levels, said Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.
It’s not just Fenway. LaTroy Hawkins used to have MLB security open his mail when he was with the Chicago Cubs. Some St. Louis Cardinals fans made racist statements about Jason Heyward on social media after he left.
It’s not only baseball, either. A banana was thrown at Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds when he was on the ice. Marshall and Antonio Cromartie were among the players to experience racist taunts after joining Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protests last year.
“This is the climate we’re in,” Lapchick said. “At the same time, I’ve spent 50 years trying to get athletes to become activists on social issues, without much success. In the last 12 months, there’s been much more athlete activism than I’ve seen inmy lifetime.”
The anthem protests, obviously. LeBron James speaking out about police violence and the fear he has for his own sons. WNBA players wearing “Black Lives Matter” T- shirts. Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts took to Twitter on Tuesday to urge fans to “stand up for ( Jones) tonight and say no to racism.”
But the players shouldn’t have to take this on alone. Sports has long been the prism through which we view society, the one place we know we can find common ground. The Red Sox and MLB — the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLS, too — need to use that and become leaders in bridging the racial divide.
It’s easy to issue apologies. Far better to make sure they never have to be given again.