Sportsworld Can Lead Pressure on South Carolina
By Ken Reed
South Carolina remains in the Stone Age as evidenced by the fact the Confederate flag continues to fly on the Statehouse grounds. This disturbing reality was brought to light again following the despicable killings of nine African Americans at a Charleston, S.C. church. The murder suspect is Dylann Roof, a white supremacist.
The Confederate flag, even if it has redeeming qualities to some people, is tied to a racist past. Fortunately, Republican South Carolina governor Nikki Haley acknowledged that fact on Monday in calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse.
“It’s time to move the flag from the Capital grounds,” said Haley. “On matters of race, South Carolina has a tough history. We don’t need reminders.”
Haley made the right call but the issue is far from over. South Carolina lawmakers have to take action to make it happen. Haley threatened to call state legislators back for a special session on the topic this summer. Removing the Confederate flag won’t come easy. Flying the flag on Capital grounds retains plenty of political support in South Carolina.
At the very least, the Confederate flag is an extremely divisive symbol that feeds racial tension. It shouldn’t be formally supported by the state of South Carolina.
Due to the power of sport in our culture and the visibility and impact of sports teams on the conscience of society, big-time sports organizations can be a powerful influence on this issue if they come out for the removal of the Confederate flag.
University of South Carolina athletics director made a step in that direction when he tweeted, “It’s time to remove the flag. We are ONE!!” referring to the Confederate flag flown at the state capital in Columbia, South Carolina.
The rest of Sportsworld should follow his lead.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman, and has a long involvement with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport (now called the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition). We discuss the state of college athletics today, given the pressures of NIL, the transfer portal, sports gambling and huge media contracts. McMillen then provides great perspective on the poor state of physical fitness our young people are experiencing today.
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Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books