Bryana Foxx-Parham
Athletes Protesting
Protests have been very significant throughout history. The American Revolution.
French Revolution. Women’s Suffrage Movement. And the most well-known movement
is the Civil Rights Movement. While it seems like a long time ago, it is still recent
because it has gone through different changes to where it is today. Many celebrities and
activists have voiced their concerns on how people of color have treated compared to
their white counterparts in the past and present. The most recent viral protests are
coming from arguably one of America’s favorite pastimes, sports. Sports have one of
the most iconic moments that have athletes using their platforms to voice discrimination
and mistreatment of people of color that affect their communities like police brutality.
While famous athletes like Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, and countless others used their
voices to protests the wrongdoings of black people. While it has an impact to civil rights
today, their careers came with a cost. Sponsorships were lost. Athletic licenses
suspended. Reputations have been ruined. Organizations have banned or even
blackballed them from ever playing the sport. While at the time of the events, the
audience would consider their actions defiant, but we could go back in history and say
they gave their people a voice when they didn’t have one. A voice for the voiceless. It
also gave them a fire to keep pushing their causes around communities.
Today, it seems like history is repeating itself. With protests voicing, athletes
have joined in to voice the problems that are affecting them, and people close to them.
The top sports in America, football and basketball, have mostly black players in their
leagues. Black athlete and many others have voiced their opinions and have showed
their supports via social media and their clothing. While it has helped with some players,
it took one man’s career just because he voiced what is wrong in America. Colin
Kaepernick (GQ Citizen of the Year 2017, Nov. 2017). Colin Kaepernick spurred
national attention when he kneeled during the national attention. While his protests had
nothing to do with the American flag, somehow the media painted the picture of his
kneeling as a rebellion to the NFL. From the Michael Vick interview about how Colin’s
appearance will get him to not play football instead of the media twisting Colin’s words
in his interviews on his stance of using his platforms of injustices against people of
color. While the protests were slowing growing with other players in different teams, it
took an abrupt end when the NFL coaching staff took put Kaepernick benched him in
the sidelines. The backup quarterback, Blain Gabbert. The following season Gabbert
did not leave the team to the playoff spot, but eventually this would lead to Kaepernick
to leave the team to go to free agency.
While he has expressed interest in being traded, no one could expect that he
would be blackballed (GQ Citizen of the Year,
Nov. 2017). For his actions to stand up and use
his platform to voice social issues, he gets
unofficially blackballed for it. As of now, he is
continuing his efforts by donating money and
time to causes ranging from social justice and
youth development for his Million Dollar Pledge.
However, there are many more protests roaming
around the NFL organization ranging from concussions to domestic violence in players.
While these are concerning topics, having one of the top quarterbacks benched did not
sit well with some people. While these events were controversial at the time, many
people on social media accused Kaepernick of disrespecting the flag by not standing for
the national anthem. This event does ring a similar tune except it was over 50 years
ago.
In the mid-1960s, one of the prominent events that was happening is the U.S.
involvement in the Vietnam War. The U.S. was trying to draft as many citizens that they
could to help defeat the Communist northern Vietnam. While it is unclear why the U.S
wanted to get involved with the international affairs, it was unclear for many activists like
the Black Panther on why should we send men as young as 18 years old to risk their
lives to fight for a country while they cannot vote until they are 21 years old. While many
activists have many different views on how minorities should be acknowledged, they all
have agreed with one prominent figure who was the most outspoken athlete to date:
Muhammad Ali (Not Just a Game).
Muhammad Ali is one of the most decorated boxer or possibly athletes. His talent in the
ring is undeniable claiming to be called the greatest before he knew he would be
