Sports world, fans divided over protests
Re A lesson in patriotism, Editorial, Sept. 26 Colin Kaepernick’s courage and integrity will not end racism much faster. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ pusillanimous acquiescence in oppression will not delay social equity much longer. These gestures are like whitecaps on a roiling sea. While the attitudes and actions of celebrities attract attention because of their visible virtues or venalities, what matters more are the deep-sea currents that ultimately determine events on the surface.
So, much as I admired Martin Luther King and loathed Lester Maddox — the fried-chicken dealer who parlayed violence against minorities at his fast-food emporium into a one-term occupation of the Georgia Governor’s mansion (1967-71) — they were mainly the admirable and deplorable faces of justice and injustice.
Still, while general trends and not personal acts ultimately bend the arc of history, small acts do have collective effects. What you, me or Sidney Crosby do or don’t do matters — if only cumulatively.
We must also understand, however, that no one — neither Kaepernick and Donald Trump, nor even Jesse Owens and Adolf Hitler — brought politics into sport; it was already there. Anyone saying that a military band at a Bowl Game or a victorious team’s visit to the White House for photo-ops isn’t wholly political is displaying irredeemable naivety, or just wasting breath. Howard Doughty, Richmond Hill As a white Canadian, it is impossible to imagine the physical and emotional harm that so many people of colour experience. It’s time that the white players in the NHL and MLB speak out — not just to support their athletic colleagues who are protesting, but also all those who are harassed and humiliated simply because of the colour of their skin. John Morton, Toronto Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, after protesting, hasn’t found a job in U.S. football. It’s too bad he didn’t do what Chuck Ealey did decades ago — come to Canada.
Ealey, a winning Black U.S. college quarterback, got no job offers from pro football because he said he’d accept only a quarterback position — jobs that in those days were not generally open to Black athletes.
President Trump doesn’t believe, or possibly couldn’t understand, the Edward R. Murrow quote: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.” Douglas Buck, Toronto Re NFL chooses sides in divisive world of Trump, Arthur, Sept. 25 NFL players kneeling during the American anthem as a way of protesting Trumpism and systematic racism in the United States is a great and honourable gesture. But of course, this has made me think of the silliness and stupidity of national anthems and patriotism.
Standing for the national anthem, whether it be in the U.S., Canada or any other country, is a nutty ritual that we repeat in many schools and sporting events.
We are all born in nation states, some better than others. Obviously, we are citizens of one of the better ones — Canada. And thankfully, we live in a country that’s not overly nationalistic. Nation states should be judged on what they do for their citizens — social justice, economic equality, etc. — not hollow patriotism.
As the great English intellectual Samuel Johnson said in 1775, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Andrew Van Velzen, Toronto Why do we have national anthems? Why do we play them at professional sports events?
National anthems allow citizens to come together and celebrate the pride they have for their country. It is unclear to me why national anthems are played at professional sports events and perhaps this practice needs a serious review.
Professional athletes are basically employees of their teams and, in addition to team codes of conduct, they must adhere to league codes of conduct. To say that a professional athlete is entitled to free speech by making a spectacle of himself while in uniform is a difficult argument to make in my view. What is next, are professional athletes going to walk onto the field with a burning flag?
These athletes may think they are speaking freely, but just wait until they start losing their lucrative sponsorship contracts to see if they will change their tunes. Trevor Amon, Victoria While I, and probably many others, sympathize with the cause of the players who chose to kneel during the U.S. national anthem, one factor seems to have been overlooked. It is true that the First Amendment to their constitution guarantees them the right to voice their opinions without fear of reprisals by the government. But when they do so while on their employers’ clock, and in their employers’ place of business, then surely they have a duty to obtain their employers’ consent.
To cite a less racially charged example, a person may be opposed to America’s military policy; and he may choose to speak out against it. But if he works for Boeing, he most certainly wouldn’t be allowed to make his case in the lobby of Boeing’s head office.
To their moral credit, most of the NFL owners have sided with their players and joined in the protest. But First Amendment rights protect citizens only from government interference. Those rights do not override the rights of employers to decide how their employees behave in the workplace. Ronald Weir, Toronto Re Trump turns sports into political turf war, Sept. 24 I find it odd that Donald Trump thinks kneeling during the playing of the anthem is a disrespectful act.
Throughout the ages, kneeling has been a sign of respect: one kneels to be knighted, one kneels to propose marriage, one kneels to pray in a house of worship, etc.
In my opinion, kneeling shows more respect than standing. The athletes who kneel are showing respect to their country, but not to the man who happens to be president for the time being. Ina Scholfield, Nobel, Ont. Re Arena not the place to debate politics, Letters, Sept. 26 Letter writer Donald Cangiano writes that athletes who bring politics to the arena “have marred one of the few ‘stages’ left that can bring people together in a shared culture.”
Clearly, these men, who are predominantly African-Americans, do not feel that they are truly part of this “shared culture” — or at the very least they see serious problems within their democratic society.
Politics shouldn’t enter the realm of the arena? Try telling that to Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Billy Jean King or the dozens of other athletes who have helped our society progress. Mark Chambers, Scarborough Re Penguins’ reasoning simply doesn’t fly, Paradkar, Sept. 26 Sidney Crosby and his teammates should revisit their decision to accept the president’s invitation to visit the White House.
“Politics shouldn’t enter the realm of the arena? Try telling that to Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Billy Jean King or the dozens of other athletes who have helped our society progress.” MARK CHAMBERS SCARBOROUGH
This situation cannot be dismissed as simply opposite opinions to be tolerated one to another. The issue is, without doubt, the right to free speech and peaceful protest in seeking equality for all Americans. If anyone is disrespectful of what the stars and stripes are mandated to represent, it is the president and his followers.
You can’t walk with a foot on either side of a picket fence. Do the right thing and join those with the courage to speak out against injustice. Gord Wilson, Port Rowan, Ont. Crosby and the Penguins have not chosen “neutrality” as Shree Paradkar suggests. They have chosen the opposite of Kaepernick et al., and don’t buy into the assertion that Black people are the victims of police brutality any more than other races.
They have chosen to accept the invitation of their president, an American patriot, to appear for pictures and congratulations for winning the Stanley Cup. They aren’t political pawns. John Hawes, Brampton Re Don Cherry calls media coverage of kneeling
protests hypocritical, Sept. 28 I have watched, and listened to, Don Cherry for years. I have high regard for his hockey knowledge and considerably less enthusiasm for his political views.
Even though he praises our armed forces members without fail, he seems ignorant of the reality that these soldiers, sailors and air force folks do what they do in order to defend freedoms, including the freedom to protest in any peaceful way that is possible. That is also true for the U.S.A., where the mantra of “fighting to defend our way of life” is ubiquitous. That way of life includes the right to protest, the right to sit or kneel or ignore the anthem and the flag.
In Nazi Germany, in North Korea, in Stalin’s Russia, obedience was the law, and people risked life and livelihoods to protest. Here, we resist obedience and compliance by protesting and demonstrating. Long may that tradition last. Jon McGill, Baltimore, Md.