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Professional Athletes Take A Stand Before Hitting The Field

1968 Olympic Games, Black American Athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
San Jose State University Library Cultural Heritage Center
1968 Olympic Games, Black American Athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
1968 Olympic Games, Black American Athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
Credit San Jose State University Library Cultural Heritage Center
1968 Olympic Games, Black American Athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

    

Former Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush returned to the Detroit Lions lineup Sunday after an extended injury, but his biggest contribution came before the game.

It was then that Bush donned a long sleeved blue shirt with the words “I can’t breathe” written on it. St. Louis Rams offensive linemanDavinJoseph wrote the same words on his game cleats. And they followed Derrick Rose of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls who penned the same statement on his pregame shirt Saturday. 

The three word statement comes one week afterfive Rams, including Baltimore native Tavon Austin, emerged from the Edward Jones Dome tunnel during player introductions with their hands up. In both cases, the players were making statements regarding the refusals of grand juries in Staten Island, New York and Ferguson, Missouri to return indictments against police officers who took the lives of young black men in separate incidents this year. 

The non-actions of the respective grand juries have touched off scores of protests both in the involved cities and from coast to coast, including here in Baltimore. The readiness of football and basketball players to take part in these protests, albeit in symbolic ways, represents a shift in approach for some athletes, who now appear willing to take part in public discourse.  

This comes after decades of silence from performers on political and social issues. North Carolina’s most famous athlete, Michael Jordan, was asked nearly 20 years ago to endorse former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, a Democrat, in his challenge to incumbent Republican Senator Jesse Helms, a noted racebaiter. Jordan famously declined, saying quote,“Republicans buy shoes too.” In other words, Jordan and many other star players were unwilling to follow the model of Jackie Robinson, who aligned himself with the civil rights movement of the1960s. 

Jordan and his ilk certainly avoided the example of sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who raised black gloved fists standing on the medal podium in 1968 during the Olympics as the U.S. national anthem as a statement on the racial climate of the day. And certainly no one has displayed the courage of Muhammad Ali, who refused induction to the Army in protest to American involvement in Vietnam.

But in just the last year, we’ve seen LeBron James and his Miami Heat teammates don hoodies to protest the shooting death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. We’ve also seen Los Angeles Clippers players lead an uprising that helped topple owner Donald Sterling who was caught on tape making racially charged comments. And we’ve seen former Raven BrendanAyanbadejoand former Viking ChrisKluwespeak out forcefully for equality for gays and lesbians.

Even with these relatively modest steps, there are those who would prefer athletes just shut up and play.

The union representing St. Louis police officers demanded the Rams punish the five players who did the ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ gesture and that the team apologize for their actions. Appropriately, the team did neither. Athletes shouldn’t have to check their consciences or their tongues at the locker room door, as long as they’re willing to assume the consequences of speaking freely.

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Milton Kent hosted the weekly commentary Sports at Large from its creation in 2002 to its finale in July 2013. He has written about sports locally and nationally since 1988, covering the Baltimore Orioles, University of Maryland men's basketball, women's basketball and football, the Washington Wizards, the NBA, men's and women's college basketball and sports media for the Baltimore Sun and AOL Fanhouse. He has covered the World Series, the American and National League Championship Series, the NFL playoffs, the NBA Finals and 17 NCAA men's and women's Final Fours. He currently teaches journalism at Morgan State University.