The Solution is Community
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
One of the most important qualities of a good leader is the ability to listen. It is very easy to jump on a bandwagon and it is easy to jump to conclusions. It takes true courage to hear another person’s point of view, admit we were wrong, shift our beliefs and move forward.
To be honest, my first reaction to National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell issuing a statement regarding his changed sentiments toward the Black Lives Matter movement was quite cynical.
Only four years ago, Colin Kaepernick chose to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem to draw attention to the issue of police brutality toward African Americans. This resulted in Kaepernick essentially being blackballed by Goodell’s league. Now you say that you support his cause, Mr. Goodell? And you expect us to take you seriously?
The same can be said for Drew Brees, the star quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Brees had always objected to peaceful protest by other players, saying that it disrespected the American flag. He even made comments opposing their actions after the death of George Floyd.
Brees then listened to his African American teammates and has since apologized for his statements. After receiving strong criticism for this in Tweets from Donald Trump, Brees replied, “I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It never has been.”
Perhaps prominent people like Goodell and Brees are not just trying to look good for the media. Maybe we are finally able to cut through the noise and rhetoric. This is a moment like none other I have ever experienced. It appears that the truth is finally coming clear.
As a teacher, I relate this to seeing a concept become understandable to a student. I can vary the way I teach trigonometry to meet the learning needs of my students. I can draw diagrams, make models or sing loud obnoxious songs. When a student says, “I got it! SOH, CAH, TOA!” It is a moment of enlightenment, and suddenly one can begin moving forward.
Up until now, we’ve been using the wrong formula to solve our problems. We’ve been trying to do trigonometry without understanding the characteristics of a triangle. We’ve been trying to solve social problems by chasing a racist narrative. When certain groups have higher levels of incarceration, unemployment and poverty along with lower levels of education and life expectancy, you don’t improve the situation by cutting educational and social programs, putting more people into jail and painting a racist narrative in the media. But that is what we have done for decades, even centuries.
The great American scholar Cornel West points out that we always have a choice between chaos and community. Until now, we have chosen chaos.
The solution is community. We are all in this together, we are not our nationalities, ethnicities or genders, we are a global community.
It has been so encouraging to hear people finally say, “Black lives matter.” We don’t only look at our American neighbors when we say this, we recognize that all over the world, people of color have been unjustly treated for far too long. It has been so refreshing to see symbols of oppression, including statues of men who were responsible for some of the most horrendous crimes against humanity in history, like King Leopold II of Belgium, finally removed from places of honor.
I’d like to believe that the world has really listened and has come to a moment of enlightenment.
The proof will be shown as we move forward.
— Gerry Chidiac is a Canadian educator and a columnist for Troy Media.
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
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Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
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.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
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.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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