EQUAL TIME
White athletes use privilege for good
THIS IS another column about race, but with a twist. In the past year, this country has seen a new version of the modern day “athlete-activist.” Today, athletes have their own brands, signature shoes, huge endorsement deals, and a multitude of social media platforms at their disposal to convey their ideologies to the masses. There’s never been a point in history in which athletes have had so much power. Which is why this version of activism we’ve seen from athletes isn’t going anywhere. In the last 12 months, it’s been Black athletes that have taken a stand against inequality and the failure to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions.
But every now and then, a White athlete uses their voice, and privilege, to speak to the atrocities they see on a daily basis, and far too many times, their efforts get overlooked. But not today.
This isn’t to say that White athletes who have been involved are some kind of “White saviors,” but their efforts shouldn’t be ignored either. Because if equality and fairness are the goal, then it’s going to take people of all shades and colors working together to obtain it.
Three of the most recent occurrences took place in the NFL, when players not only shared their comments on Colin Kaepernick but also on political policies and legislation. Jets quarterback Josh McCown stood side-by-side with Malcolm Jenkins, Glover Quin, Andrew Hawkins and Anquan Boldin and spent a day in Washington last November meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to gain more knowledge on how politics and legislation work, especially when it pertains to race relations and police brutality.
Eagles defensive end Chris Long took to
Twitter last month to speak to Michael Vick’s idiotic comments about Kaepernick needing to cut his afro/braids to better his chances of playing in the NFL.
“Vick thing is confusing bc he says that CK is unemployed bc of performance, but a haircut will help. What am I missing there?” he tweeted. Long went on to touch on how he played with a “dirty mullet” last season with the New England Patriots, a notoriously conservative team to say the least, and his hair was never an issue.
Former 12-year quarterback Sage Rosenfels writes columns for TheScore.com and recently wrote about how the theory that winning is the main goal in the NFL isn’t true because if it were, Kaepernick would have a job right now.
“Meanwhile, the NFL and its franchises say they’re all about winning. They most certainly are. But winning is apparently No. 2 on the list of values deemed important across the league. The real No. 1 priority for each team is to make money, while winning comes second. In case that wasn’t clear before, the Kaepernick situation has ripped the curtain right off the hinges, revealing the true intentions of each NFL franchise. Signing him would hurt the bottom line, even if he helps the team win.” The ladies also got involved. Members of the WNBA were some of the most outspoken when it came to taking a stand against police brutality last year.
Last July, when members of the Minnesota Lynx held a press conference after Philando Castile had been killed, Lindsay Whalen was sitting right next to her Black teammates as a sign of solidarity.
The Lynx decided to wear shirts that said, “Change starts with us. Justice & Accountability,” on the front, with the names of Castile and Alton Sterling on the back. The shirts also featured the Dallas police shield above the phrase “Black Lives Matter.”
And last September, White members of the Indiana Fever kneeled in solidarity with their Black teammates during the national anthem of what wound up being their season finale.
To some, these examples may be viewed as small, and that’s fair. Because we’ve seen how gestures like these can be overshadowed when other White athletes criticize the actions of Colin Kaepernick.
For instance, almost 70% of the NFL is Black, but according to a Huffington Post article from earlier this year, not a single White player in the NFL joined in kneeling with their Black teammates during last season’s protest. “I disagree. I wholeheartedly disagree. Not that (Kaepernick) wants to speak out about a very important issue. No, he can speak out about a very important issue,” said New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees last season. “But there’s plenty of other ways that you can do that in a peaceful manner that doesn’t involve being disrespectful to the American flag.”
Brees’ coach, Sean Payton, took it even further. “Honestly, we have a lot more important things that we’re working on right here in our building,” he said.
When Brees and Payton say things like that, it drowns out anything the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx do. But that burden weighs on us in the media, and those in the public who find the attacks more newsworthy than those making an effort to understand the reasons for activism.
As the fight for equality continues, these small gestures are some proof that real change can only occur when people come together. Because when White privilege is used for good, it can go a long way in shining a light on the many injustices that occur on a daily basis, that some choose to simply ignore.