Sports World Needs to Help Lead the Way
By Ken Reed
America is clearly broken.
We’ve struggled from the beginning of this nation to live up to our ideals.
From our Pledge of Allegiance: “… with liberty and justice for all …”
From our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …”
From our Constitution: To “establish justice”
At various times in our lives, we’ve all felt the pain of injustice, no matter our race, ethnicity, or gender. But black Americans have long had the burden of having to deal with the most injustice.
At one time, black Americans were counted as only three-fifths of a person in our Constitution. That abomination was removed when the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. A big step forward occurred when the 14th Amendment promised “equal protection under the laws.” But then Jim Crow laws popped up and they usurped the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equality and prevented blacks from voting.
Yes, in some ways, things are better today, but we remain far from a country that actually lives the words “justice for all.”
According to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a black man is 2.5 times as likely to be killed by a policeman as a white man.
We have an ugly history. In addition to George Floyd, who was murdered by a rogue cop last week (a cop who at the time had 18 prior complaints on his record), the list of unjust killings of black Americans is long.
From Emmitt Till (and, of course, way before him), to Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Botham Jean, etc.
And on it goes …
“What was your first reaction when you saw the video of the white cop kneeling on George Floyd’s neck while Floyd croaked, ‘I can’t breathe’” asked basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times?
“If you’re white, you probably muttered a horrified, ‘Oh, my God’ while shaking your head at the cruel injustice. If you’re black, you probably leapt to your feet, cursed, maybe threw something (certainly wanted to throw something), while shouting, ‘Not @#$%! again!’”
Anger and deep frustration are appropriate responses. Setting fires, breaking windows and looting isn’t. And the vast majority of white Americans and black Americans don’t condone violent backlash of any type.
That said, as Emory University professor Carol Anderson has pointed out, in discussing the fires in multiple cities in recent days, we can’t lose sight of what provided the kindling and led to the spark. Without the kindling, there isn’t a fire.
Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke eloquently, and often, about the importance of civil rights protesters doing so peacefully. And for the most part they did. But he also noted that when protests aren’t heard, and nothing is done, emotions can boil over.
“I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air,” said King in 1968.
“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. In the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.”
So, where do we go from here?
A good place to start is with Jackie Robinson, and the impact he had on baseball and society.
“Jackie Robinson made my success possible,” said King. “Without him, I would never have been able to do what I did.” King also said Robinson was “a sit-inner before the sit-ins, a freedom rider before the Freedom Rides.”
We certainly need modern-day Jackie Robinsons and MLKs. But we need an awful lot of Branch Rickeys and Pee Wee Reeses too.
Rickey and Reese were white men who helped make Robinson’s effort to integrate Major League Baseball successful. Rickey was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ powerful executive who signed Robinson, and Reese was the Dodger teammate who publicly displayed his acceptance of, and affection for, Robinson.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr might have said it best when it comes to the need for white Americans to step up.
“[Even] though I’ve tried, I haven’t done enough, and I don’t think any of us have done enough,” said Kerr this past week.
“When I say us, I mean white people. We haven’t done enough. It’s just the truth. If we had, this sort of thing wouldn’t be happening.”
We need white people in positions of power today who can lead efforts to change racist and unjust institutional policies. Likewise, the country needs whites like Reese, who aren’t in positions of power, but who have influence in their individual spheres, to speak out and take action against racism and social injustice whenever, and wherever, they see it.
Sports figures have a tremendous platform in this country. More of them need to use it in the cause of social justice. Silence in the face of what’s going on today is in many ways complicit.
Those who want athletes to “shut up and dribble” and “stick to sports” don’t want to hear or see anything that makes them uncomfortable or takes away from their viewing pleasure. They’re privileged in that they don’t have to deal with the subtle and overt racism that black Americans do on a daily basis.
We truly need “A Commitment to the Oneness” in this country. It has to become a “we” nation instead of an “us” and “them” nation.
I’ll give Mr. Robinson the last word.
“The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time. We ask for nothing special. We ask only to be permitted to live as you live, and as our nation’s Constitution provides.”
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #7 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Brain Trauma and CTE Risk in Sports With Dr. Ann McKee – Dr. McKee is a true superstar in the field of neuropathology and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and has demonstrated that “mild” repetitive head trauma can provoke CTE, a devastating neurodegenerative disease.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Anchor.
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More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #6 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Need for Quality Physical Education in Our Schools is Greater Than Ever – The guest is Clayton Ellis, one of our nation’s leading advocates for getting our young people to be more physically active.
Episode #5 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Youth Sports with Positive Coaching Alliance Founder Jim Thompson – Thompson started Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) in 1998 to help create a movement to transform the culture of youth sports from “win-at-all-costs” to a positive, character-building experience.
Episode #4 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Biggest Issue in Sports Today? Brain Trauma – The guest is Patrick Hruby, a journalist who has done extensive research and in-depth writing on the topic of brain trauma in sports, most notably football.
Episode #3 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Styles with Sports Sociologist Jay Coakley – The guest is veteran sports sociologist Jay Coakley, a former college athlete who went on to earn a Ph.D. in Sociology from Notre Dame.
Episode #2 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: College & High School Athletics: Where Do We Go From Here? The guest is John Gerdy, a former college athlete and NCAA and SEC administrator who became a sports reformer later in his career.
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.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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.
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