Speak Up and Also Dribbble

On February 15th, 2018 Fox News anchorperson Laura Ingraham spoke during a segment on her show “The Ingraham Angle,” about LeBron James comments on Donald Trump. During the segment Ingraham said of James that he should “shut up and dribble.” With those words, Ingraham encapsuled a longstanding sentiment in a single soundbite; an increasingly polarizing topic was thrust font and center in the public consciousness. As Colin Kaepernick said, “This this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.” Kaepernick is far from the first athlete to feel this way, and he will likely not be the last. One of the most noteworthy examples, which occurred decades before Ingraham spoke out, was Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali.

In 1962 on Clay’s 18th birthday he registered for the Selective Service in the United States and later in 1964, after failing the United States Armed Forces written portion of the qualifying test, he was reclassified as “fit for service only in times of national emergency.” Later that year Clay joined the Nation of Islam and legally changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Two years after that, in 1966, Ali was reclassified the army lowered its standards and he was eligible for the draft. When Ali was told that he was now eligible for the draft he publicly deemed himself a conscientious objector and stated: “War is against the teachings of the Qur'an. I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger.” Muhammad Ali continued to antagonize his detractors by refusing to step forward when his name was called three times in Houston for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967.

After being warned that by refusing the step forward Ali would be committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, he still refused to step forward and was promptly arrested. Later that day Ali was stripped of his boxing license and his championship title by the New York State Athletic Commission which was followed shortly thereafter by other boxing commissions. On June 20, 1967, a jury found Ali guilty of violating the Selective Service laws and after a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case was finally reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Even though when Ali first refused to enter the draft he was met with much disdain from the general public, as the years went on public opinion on the Vietnam War started to turn and people began to be more vocally against the war. For the four years that Ali’s court decision was upheld he was never imprisoned, however he was arguably the most hated man in America by mostly white people.

Though Ali’s conviction was overturned the three years away from the ring had an effect on him. In an article published to The Atlantic titled “Muhammad Ali and Vietnam,” Krishnadev Calamur quotes Angelo Dundee, Ali’s trainer, as saying that Ali’s beliefs cost him “the best years of his life,” and that due to the three years of boxing commissions taking away Ali’s licenses “He was robbed of his best years, his prime years.” By skipping the draft, Ali missed out on three years of his prime and though he returned to the ring and did not seem to miss a step, his religious belief’s made him an enemy in the eyes of many American citizens. Ali once stated: “I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me—Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.” Ali knew who he was back then and never backed down from his beliefs. Like Colin Kaepernick did decades later, Ali sacrificed his prime years because he refused to back down from his political stance.

On August 14, 2016 Colin Kaepernick took a stance by kneeling during the National Anthem and for the first two weeks that he kneeled, the media did not seem to notice. However, when Kaepernick was asked about it by NFL Media Reporter Steve Wyche in an interview for NFL.com Kaepernick replied, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” Kaepernick’s protest was met with support from his team, the San Francisco 49ers as the team issued a statement which read “… we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.” The NFL also released a statement saying, “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.” However, though the NFL was seemingly supportive of Kaepernick, he would be out of a job in San Francisco and out of the NFL completely by the end of the season even though he was in his prime as an NFL starting quarterback.

The New York Times published in 2017 written by John Branch titled “The Awakening of Colin Kaepernick,” and in the article Branch writes “Kaepernick is the most polarizing figure in American sports. Outside of politics, there may be nobody in popular culture at this complex moment so divisive and so galvanizing, so scorned and so appreciated.” In the year between when Kaepernick’s protest began and when the article was published a lot changed for Kaepernick. For instance, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, Kaepernick went from a starting quarterback to an exiled football player. Donald Trump, when asked about Kaepernick, said that “Maybe he should find a country that works better for him,” and on the opposite side of the spectrum is civil rights activist Harry Edwards who said “[Kaepernick] is the Muhammad Ali of this generation.” Both Ali and Kaepernick were scrutinized heavily for their personal beliefs, Ali for his religious beliefs and Kaepernick for his social justice/political beliefs. As Branch writes in the previously mentioned article, Kaepernick is no longer known for his NFL career, he is now known for a “simple, silent gesture.”

In 2020 it seems that people have finally realized that Kaepernick was never disrespecting the U.S. troops or the flag itself. Kaepernick was simply silently protesting police brutality and the injustices against people of color in the country. It took the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor for the NFL’s white owners to finally say that they would not discipline their players for kneeling however, not everyone in the NFL has realized that simple fact yet.

On September 13th New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees wore a t-shirt before the game that read “Say Her Name,” which was a reference to the murder of Breonna Taylor. That act on paper would look good and progressive but Brees previous comments said days before the game are what made him appear to be tone deaf. In an article published on Deadline Bruce Haring stated “[Brees] created a storm of controversy by saying he would not kneel because he didn’t want to disrespect the flag or military, stood during the national anthem.” What Brees showed everyone with his comments is that he, like many people, did not understand the point of Kaepernick’s protest. After the backlash that Brees received he issued a statement on his Instagram account that read in part “I recognize that I should do less talking and more listening. ... When the Black community is talking about their pain, we all need to listen. For that, I am very sorry and I ask your forgiveness.” Even though Brees’ apology seemed sincere and heartfelt, it remains to be seen if he has actually begun to really listen and open his eyes to what is going on.

Sportscasting.com posted an article written by Jack Dougherty titled “The Only Interest in Colin Kaepernick Over the Last Few Months Was Fake Interest Out of Guilt,” published September 7, 2020. In the article Dougherty writes “After George Floyd’s death, a few teams showed “fake” interest in Kaepernick, but it turns out it was just out of guilt.” While Colin Kaepernick has never let shortened NFL career get him down, as he is arguably more known as a civil rights icon than he was as a quarterback, the fact that NFL teams used the murder of Floyd to essentially get some good press by feigning interest in Kaepernick is a travesty and says more about the teams than it ever would about Kaepernick.

On Friday September 22, 2017 President Trump spoke in Alabama and discussed the kneeling by saying “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” To think that we have a sitting President who will refer to a person who is protesting police brutality as a “son of a bitch,” is very alarming. If silent protests are looked down upon and vocally protesting leads to athletes being told to “shut up and dribble,” and to “stick to sports,” then what ways are there for athletes to speak out without backlash? Truth is, there likely is not any way for athletes to speak out without backlash.

Even with the backlash that will continue to fall upon athletes for not sticking to sports, that does not stop said athletes from speaking out. In an article published to The Washington Post and written by Thomas Boswell on August 28, 2020 titled “Athletes have the power to help America get it right, and they’re using it,” and in the article Boswell writes “Until this week, 2020 was the year sports seemed to matter least. Now it may become the year sports matter most.” He goes on to write about the NBA postponing three playoff games due to the players protesting, the NHL doing the same, and the MLB going team by team.

Currently the best way to get people to take your stance seriously seems to be to cause an inconvenience. With the murders of Floyd and Taylor and the shooting of Jacob Blake on August 23, 2020, athletes across the board used their voices to express their disdain for the justice system and the current President of the United States. On his personal Twitter account LeBron James spoke out shortly after the video was released of the Blake shooting and said “… WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT.” It is easy to ignore opinions that do not line up with your own if you simply ignore social media, however it is more difficult to ignore opinions if the message is broadcasted on live television and that is what the athletes were wanting to display.

The athletes affected were not just players in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL, however. Jadon Sancho, a winger for Borussia Dortmund, a professional football team which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system, tore off his shirt after scoring his first goal against Paderborn in May 2020 to reveal “Justice for George Floyd,” written on another shirt underneath. Jadon Sancho is not a name that is well known to many Americans, but the fact that he displayed a statement like that showed that he is supportive of the protesters in America which speaks highly of himself.

According to an article published October 24, 2009 to the Pew Research Center by John Gramlich titled “Most Americans say it’s OK for professional athletes to speak out publicly about politics,” about 74% of adults between the ages of 18-29 believe that it is “somewhat acceptable for professional athletes to speak out publicly about politics.” Continuing, Gramlich writes, “Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely than white Americans to say it’s acceptable for professional athletes to address political issues in public,” which should not come as much of a surprise. That is not to say that all racial minorities will support athletes no matter what because they share the same ethnic background because, as the article says, only 79% of Black American’s believe that athletes publicly addressing politics is acceptable. That leaves 21% of Black American’s who would prefer athletes keep their opinions to themselves. Not only has Gramlich written about race statistics, but he has also provided details on details from the two major political parties. Gramlich writes, “eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say it is very or somewhat acceptable for professional athletes to speak out about politics,” he continues “a majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (58%) say this is not too or not at all acceptable.” It should not be a surprise that over half of Republicans polled were against the idea but to look at the situation from a different perspective, 42% were not against athletes publicly speaking out, which could be viewed as a positive.

Does the mentality of athletes needing to “stick to sports,” come from the fact that the people saying these things look down on athletes and view them as simply college dropouts or as people who did not even go to college? In an article published September 9th, 2020, by The Winston Salem Chronicle titled “Why do people get upset with athletes when they stand up for social justice?” and written by Timothy Ramsey, Ramsey had this to say “When did a college degree become the only determining factor for intelligence?” And he brings up an excellent point, just people someone has millions of dollars but lacks a bachelor’s degree does not make that person’s opinions any less valid. In his article Ramsey brings up the point that athletes speaking out is not a brand new concept or something introduced in the 21st century, “Black professional athletes have been speaking out against social injustice since they have had the platform to do so,” he continues “Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and others spoke out during the Civil Rights Movement and before them, Jackie Robinson spoke out once he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.” Athletes have a gigantic platform and, as Ramsey mentions, “they influence millions of kids and young adults with their words.” One would think that parents would want their children to be inspired by real heroes that are standing up for what they believe in instead of fictional heroes.

The way that we as a human race treat athletes effects the youth that admire said athletes. Sara Nasr Allah of sportanddev.org published an article on October 24, 2017 titled “Why censoring athletes is bad for the youth,” and in the article she mentions that “athletes need to recognize that their position as role models has important implications on children.” In the article Allah brings up that according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “more than 92% of children rank athletes as their role models,” what that means is that children hold athletes up on a pedestal. When children see their personal heroes be told that their opinion does not matter simply because of their lack of education of their perceived lack of intelligence, that sends an awful message to the youth. “By censoring athletes or limiting their self-expression, we send a message to young impressionable minds that taking a stance has negative consequences,” Allah writes. And that is not something that needs to happen. Children and young adults need to understand that their age, education, and ethnic backgrounds do not make their opinions any less valid than the politicians who supposedly have their best interests in mind. As Allah says, “Athletes usually represent perseverance and the values of hard work and honestly – so why should their pay back be censorship and suspension?” Just as parents need to recognize that their children admire people who might not be on the same wavelength as themselves, politically speaking, those athletes need to recognize just how impressionable their fans are. By censoring athletes we are taking away their voices and saying to them that what they have to say does not matter and when impressionable children and young adults see that, they could grow up and believe that theirs do not matter either. We cannot let that happen.

“The time for athletes to speak out is now,” at least according to Larry Atkins who wrote an article with that exact title on August 22, 2020 for Real Clear Politics. In the article Atkins brings up the point that while the protests will not disappear completely, the media coverage of them will because of how short our attention spans are and because of “the demands of the 24-hour news cycle, other issues will dominate the national conversation during the coming months.” And Atkins called that right on the money, because with the Presidential Election coming up the media has been less focused on the injustices of America and more focused on how Vice President Mike Pence did not notice a fly on the top of his head during the VP debate. Atkins writes of understanding that many fans do not want to see political messages when they watch sports, however “more important principles are at stake right now.” Instead of looking down on athletes who speak out we should view what they are doing and what they are saying as what it is, courageous.

It takes courage to knowingly step in front of a microphone or a camera and say what is on your mind without caring about the nonsensical backlash. It takes courage to risk your professional career as Ali and Kaepernick have done. Athletes are not the blockheaded jocks from high school that society would make them out to be. As Justin Elliot writes in his article titled “Athletes should embrace their influence as role models,” published to Lancaster Online on December 22, 2009, “LeBron James, often regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, has used his platform and career earnings to support and even start new charities dedicated to children’s education and technology,” he continues, “The LeBron James Family Foundation has vowed to send 1,100 kids to college, at a cost of more than $40 million.” That is the work of a person who has embraced the fact that he is a role model and is someone who parents should have no problem with their child looking up to regardless of political stances.

In conclusion, instead of placing duct tape on the mouths of the athletes we need to listen to what they are saying and when we listen to what they have to say, then our eyes will open up and we will see what they see. Athletes are held to a higher standard in the eyes of children and are held to a lower standard in the eyes of the news media. Their opinions are treated as less than because they are viewed as spoiled, rich, and uneducated. But like what Jackie Robinson in 1947 did when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, what Muhammad Ali did in 1967 when he refused to join the US. Armed Forces, what Colin Kaepernick did on August 26, 2016 when he took a knee for the first time, and like what countless others have done for decades and continue to do in this country. There is not a single athlete who should “stick to sports,” because their voices are not going anywhere anytime soon and that is a wonderful thing.