MLS right to stand by player on gun violence
Sometimes saying nothing speaks volumes. And sometimes the simplest statements are the most powerful.
Major League Soccer on Monday wisely chose not to discipline or fine Alejandro Bedoya for his passionate statement against the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our country. The Philadelphia Union captain, who also played for the United States at the men’s World Cup in 2014, grabbed an on-field microphone after scoring Sunday and shouted, “Hey Congress, do something now. End gun violence! Let’s go!”
His plea came hours after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, killed 31 people. According to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit research group, there have been 255 mass shootings already this year.
“I’m not going to sit idle and wait for things to happen 50 years from now,” said Bedoya, who’d made a similar plea to our elected representatives earlier in the day via Twitter. “I want change now. Something.”
Bedoya is not the first athlete to call attention to the ills in our society. Megan Rapinoe speaks often, and eloquently, about the need for gender and racial equity. Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem to call attention to racism and biased policing that has cost the lives of too many people of color, costing himself his job.
LeBron James, Steph Curry, Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich have all been outspoken in their criticism of President Donald Trump and the damage his racist rhetoric has done to our country.
But Bedoya’s plea went one step further, occurring during a game – and a nationally televised one at that. MLS, like the NFL and Major League Baseball, takes great pains not to offend the stickto-sports crowd, and that made some wonder if the league might fine Bedoya.
There are some fights worth having, though, and MLS’ decision not to discipline Bedoya, along with its determinedly bland statement announcing it, was a tacit acknowledgment of that.
“The Major League Soccer family joins everyone in grieving for the loss of lives in Texas and Ohio, and we understand that our players and staff have strong and passionate views on this issue,” the league said.
In truth, this was an easy one. The majority of Americans, gun owners included, support stricter gun control and universal background checks, according to the Pew Research Center. We’re tired of seeing more government oversight for contaminated produce than weapons of mass destruction that no civilian has any business owning. We’re angry that our places of sanctuary – schools, churches, hospitals – are no longer safe.
And we’re horrified at the rising number of dead.
“It’s absurd, man. I’m not going to sit idly and watch this stuff happen and not say something,” Bedoya said. “Before I’m an athlete, before I’m a soccer player, I’m a human being first.”
That’s the part that is always overlooked or ignored when people criticize athletes for speaking out. James might be the best player in NBA history, but he is a black man first, and even his fame can’t insulate him from the bigotry and hate that remains endemic in our society. Rapinoe is one of the most popular athletes in the country right now, but as a woman and a lesbian, she has firsthand experience in being marginalized.
Bedoya playing in a World Cup, or being the captain of a team, won’t protect him if he happens to be in a public space when someone who is filled with rage and hate and has too easy access to guns decides to open fire.
Sports are supposed to be an escape, those who wish athletes would just be seen and not heard like to say. In an ideal world, that would be true. But until we fix the ills of our broken society, there won’t be peace anywhere.