Protests have unifying message

Instead of playing the Washington Nationals Thursday, the Phillies used their platform to support the growing movement of professional athletes calling for an end to social injustice.

You can’t look at a professional sports schedule with so many postponements these days without saying the names of such AfricanAmericans as George Floyd, who died at the hands of police in Minneapolis or Jacob Blake, shot in the back by a cop last Sunday in Kenosha, Wis.

Orlando Magic at Milwaukee Bucks – postponed, Jacob Blake, George Floyd.

Phillies at Nationals – postponed, Jacob Blake, George Floyd.

And so on, and so forth.

You can’t get away from it because the outrage is real in both the NBA and the NFL, which are composed largely of Black players.

Baseball, where the majority of players are white, has shown its solidarity by joining its professional counterparts.

“I’ve heard people ask, ‘Well what do the players want?’” Rhys Hoskins, who said Thursday in a Zoom session. “Obviously it’s change. We’re hoping for change. But we know that some of these issues that are going on in the country are rather big issues. But even if there are baby steps toward changing those issues, that feels like a win. And I think that change starts with these conversations.”

In Philadelphia, the Eagles are debating a plan to show their support for social reform. They talked about canceling a practice as other NFL teams did to make a quick statement. But they had a better idea, according to Rodney McLeod, who chairs the Birds’ social justice committee.

“The most important thing is we want real action to take place,” McLeod said Thursday. “So, just canceling the practice and telling everybody to go home isn’t the message we wanted to send. What are we now going to do with that time? How are we going to fill that time with something impactful, with something that’s going to make a difference? We have an action plan that we will put in place moving forward.”

The top three talking points in that plan are police brutality, education reform and systemic racism.

Of course, we’ve heard that all before. Malcolm Jenkins tirelessly addressed those topics his last three years with the Eagles.

The demonstrations in the wake of Floyd’s death, the outrage over the controversial death of Breonna Taylor, etc.

Carson Wentz, who joined the social justice committee, has been a vocal advocate of professional athletes using their status to promote change.

“Everybody has their own opinion and is entitled to that opinion,” Wentz said. “But at the end of the day athletes have a unique platform. They have the ability to reach a lot of people that usually wouldn’t get reached and have a voice to speak for the communities that are oppressed.

“Right now, with everything going on in our world this is what’s at the forefront. I think for guys to just sit back and not speak out would probably come across as insensitive and not caring about the world. There is hurt … and it’s heavy on my heart. We can’t just sit by and stay idle.”

For a while it looked like the NBA season would be canceled. The playoffs are scheduled to resume Friday because enough players decided the most prudent way to keep the message booming was to use their celebrity status on and off the floor.

“I commend them,” Eagles safety Jalen Mills said. “I think it’s shining a light on it. People ask why did they cancel the games? Once they get the reason behind it you have more awareness.”

The Eagles, to their credit, have worked hard to try to stay ahead of social injustice through players, owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Doug Pederson.

At a team meeting Thursday Pederson told his story, then encouraged the players to tell their stories. The shared dialogue left players thinking about ways they could deliver their message.

There are public displays, such as joining arms or kneeling together for the national anthem, wearing patches on jerseys or decals on helmets.

To do what they hope to do there can only be one message.

“Show positivity,” Mills said. “There’s all this negative stuff going on in the world. We don’t have to keep highlighting it at this point. We’re trying to find one symbolic thing that shows positivity, that can show change, that can show hope, that shows the Philadelphia Eagles are with equality and that’s the only goal.”

Charles Barkley, the TNT analyst famously said through the turmoil recently “It’s exhausting being Black.”

Wentz, who hails from the Great Plains of North Dakota, is learning a lot about what that’s like in the world we know today.

“We always talk about family, we always talk about brotherhood in the locker room,” Wentz said. “This isn’t just about football, this is about off the field, this is about caring for each other’s families and friends as true brothers.”