Staying on the sidelines is no longer an option
Athletic activism has usually been reserved for causes that we can all easily get behind, but due to the roiling issues surrounding Black Lives Matter in the U.S., it looks like athletes and leagues are becoming even more active about using their power.
Sure, many athletes and leagues have long supported specific pet causes, but recent events point to a new wave of outspokenness.
Into the fiery cauldron of the Black Lives Matter movement, standing in solidarity are many players in the WNBA who had been violating the league’s on-court dress code, wearing black shirts and urging the press in their media availability to ask about the issues.
The NBA’s LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony kicked off the recent ESPY awards by invoking Muhammad Ali and challenging other athletes to speak up about important issues.
“We all have to do better,” said James.
As well, after several threats to do so, this past week the NBA decided to move its 2017 all-star game from Charlotte, N.C., because it had problems with the state’s HB2 bill, dubbed the Bathroom Bill, which it deemed discriminatory to the LGBTQ community, as it forces people to have to use the washroom assigned to the gender on their birth certificate.
With these actions and more, the adage “stick to sports” looks like it is fading away. At the very least, it is a long way from Michael Jordan’s famous denunciation of athletic political activism: “Republicans buy shoes, too.”
Sports can have a huge effect on cultural change, and the question is whether all this action signifies a new wave of sports-related activism.
“It is a huge change, because in today’s social media world you’re judged now by what you don’t say as much as what you say. So while in the past it was easy for Michael Jordan to take a pass on any political issue that came across his face, it is not as easy for these guys,” says Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation and regular panelist on the weekly sports panel on CBC’s q, who has long followed athlete activism.
“The general perception is that if you don’t take a side, particularly on these extra judicial killings that are just rocking black communities across the United States, then not taking a side is basically the same as taking a side.”
Considering that the bulk of the major sports leagues are populated by African-American athletes, it’s likely only more will get involved, and recently New York Knicks star Anthony wrote a column in The Guardian urging more athletes to do just that.
“No athlete should think: If I speak up, I’m going to lose an endorsement or a sponsorship,” Anthony wrote. “Because if that’s the case, then you have to question the kind of people that you’re doing business with and ask yourself where their heads and morals are at.”
That’s what occurred with the NBA, which gave several warnings before pulling the trigger on moving the all-star game, but also gave assurances that the league would look to bring it back in 2019 if the state does get more progressive on this issue.
While Zirin feels moving the game was the right thing to do, he also chalks it up to good marketing for the NBA, which has been vocally supportive of the LGBTQ community and needed to do something for fear of looking hypocritical.
That’s another part of the tension here in that while leagues say they want to keep politics off the playing field, that’s not actually the case. Zirin points out that there are plenty of approved causes that are allowed to make it onto the field, like Breast Cancer Awareness or celebrations of military personnel with things like fighter jet fly-bys.
That’s likely one reason that while the WNBA’s first reaction was to fine teams and players for changing their uniforms and expressing their views, Lisa Borders, WNBA president issued a statement rescinding the fines and showing support to the players.
“While we expect players to comply with league rules and uniform guidelines, we also understand their desire to use their platform to address important societal issues,” Borders said. “Given that the league will now be suspending play until August 26 for the Olympics, we plan to use this time to work with our players and their union on ways for the players to make their views known to their fans and the public.”
Obviously, both leagues and athletes run the risk of alienating fans with differing political viewpoints, but with athletes feeling the weight of their social responsibility, we are only going to see and hear more of what they think about the issues.