Lakers take stock on racial justice issues
Unequivocally, NBA players have become increasingly outspoken about addressing racial injustice. Those players, though, have varying opinions on whether resuming the season would hurt or elevate their activist platform.
“I don’t know enough yet to have a strong opinion either way,” Karida Brown, the Lakers’ director of Racial Equity & Action, said in a conference call Friday. “I’m not surprised there are a variety of responses, particularly from Black players who are leaders in their communities and at the forefront of these issues.”
Plenty of the Lakers’ players are at the center of that debate.
Lakers center Dwight Howard and forward Avery Bradley joined a conference call June 12 with Nets star Kyrie Irving, who reportedly told a significant number of players why he believes a resumed NBA season could distract both players and the general public about addressing racial inequality. In statements to CNN and The Athletic, Howard expressed agreement with Irving’s stance without saying whether he would play when the season resumes on July 30. Bradley, a co-leader of a player coalition with Irving, told ESPN he wants the NBA to expend more resources into supporting causes to address racial inequality as well as improve its diversity among front offices and coaching staffs.
Lakers guard Danny Green, who serves as the team rep for the players’ union, told USA TODAY Sports two weeks ago that he sensed “most guys wanted the season to come back” when he updated teammates about talks between the NBA and NBPA. As USA TODAY Sports and the Athletic reported, LeBron James wants to resume the season and believes he can best address racial inequality with that platform.
“At this point, I wouldn’t be able to contribute any more to that question only because I don’t know enough,” Brown said. “Nor have I had contact with any of the players on these issues. So I can’t speak to that.”
Brown can speak, however, to the Lakers’ ongoing efforts to address this issue ever since a Minneapolis police officer (Derek Chauvin) killed an unarmed Black man (George Floyd) on Memorial Day by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Shortly after that incident, Lakers president of business operations and chief operating officer Tim Harris contacted his alumni (UCLA) and expressed interest to speak with any faculty member who specializes in speaking about racial issues.
UCLA suggested Brown, a tenuretrack assistant professor in its Department of African American Studies and Department of Sociology. She serves as board member of The Obama President Oral History Project and the Du Boisian Scholar Network. She has written two books (“Gone Home: Race and Roots through Appalachia”; “The Sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois: Racialized Modernity and the Global Color Line”) and is working on a third about racially segregated education systems (“Separate and Unequal”).
After having numerous conversations, Brown asked Harris, “Are the Lakers a non-racist organization or an antiracist organization?” Brown became “super happy” when Harris answered, “We hadn’t thought about it in those terms, but I can say we are aspirationally anti-racist.” Brown explained the difference between both terms on a conference call that Harris also attended.
“Non-racist is rooted in a color blind mindset. Non-racist means that, ‘I don’t see race. I just see people. I’m so sorry that happened. I’m offering you thoughts and prayers,’ ” Brown said. “It’s situated in a disposition that has good intentions to do no harm to others and wish good to your fellow human being. But it is not action oriented. It allows one not to see the racial inequities that are rooted in systems. Anti-racist, on the other hand, it insists upon seeing race. Anti-racist takes an affirmative position in that it situates to ask oneself what is it within my power and what can I do to identify and name these places and mechanisms of racial inequality.”
The Lakers have shared various initiatives to address such issues in the last week.
The Lakers gave staff members Friday off to observe Juneteenth, which marks 155 years since the United States legally abolished slavery. They also have given staff members access to screen the film, “John Lewis: Good Trouble.”
The Lakers plan to donate i-Pads to four local groups that help varying causes related to racial justice, including 4WRD Progress, Watts Skills Academy, Crete Academy and the Boys & Girls Club of Metro LA. 4WRD Progress helps minority youth through sports, mentoring and education support. Watts Skills Academy is run by two LAPD officers that recruit youth throughout the Watts Development Project, which focuses on basketball and education. Crete Academy is a charter school with about 200 students, and 30 percent of them are homeless. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro LA serves more than 1,900 youth at five sites. The Lakers have also sponsored “Game Changer,” a five-part virtual serious with at-risk youth, law enforcement, current and former Lakers players as well as staff members.
The Lakers also plan to remain active on their social media channels to support Juneteenth-related player appearances. Recently, Lakers players issues a shared statement about racial inequality, saying, “If YOU ain’t wit US, WE ain’t wit Y’ALL!” Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss also shared on her Twitter and Instagram accounts a letter she received from an anonymous racist that derided NBA players with a racial epithet and made an offensive reference to Kobe Bryant’s death.
Such examples show why Brown considered sports as “the social influencer before we had social influencers.” Since she has just partnered with a global brand in the Lakers, she plans to launch more initiatives and have more conversations with staff members soon.
“My primary responsibility is to the staff,” Brown said. “While I am a resource to everybody within the Lakers’ family, including players and those on the executive board, my primary goal and where I can make the biggest difference and have the biggest impact is making sure I empower the staff.”