A Whole New World

I never considered myself the political type or one to cast social commentary, but with everything going on these days and no I’m not referring to COVID, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the current fight to end police brutality and promote racial equality.

There are a few things that I would like to discuss. As a huge sports fan, I usually prefer that things just “stick to sports.” Ultimately though, there are times and special situations that transcend sports. Racism is very prevalent in sports today in different forms. Looking at the coaches and general managers in the major sports and one can easily see that even though certain sports are predominantly black, the management is not reflective of the population of players. Additionally fans are responsible for some reprehensible behavior. World soccer has seen many instances of disgusting behavior which has led to the FIFA Say No to Racism campaign. In baseball, Torii Hunter described the vitriol and hateful remarks he received for playing in Boston. This corroborates with other black players such as Adam Jones and CC Sabathia who have also talked about similar instances. In hockey, Wayne Simmonds (then of the Philadelphia Flyers) had obscenities hurled at him for scoring the winning goal in a playoff series against the Boston Bruins. These are just a few examples of the litany of transgressions that athletes have faced. It is disconcerting to see that there is a lack of minorities in positions of leadership and then to have black athletes endure racial discrimination.

I also wanted to focus on the athletes in sports that aren’t perceived as “black.” I can only imagine what prominent athletes of color have had to endure in their journey. Here is a list of a few notable athletes that have had to overcome adversity: Tiger Woods – golf, Williams sisters – tennis, PK Subban, Wayne Simmonds, etc – Hockey, Lewis Hamilton – Formula 1, and Bubba Wallace – NASCAR. What’s interesting in NASCAR has taken a bold step in banning the Confederate Flag from its events, which may alienate its existing fan base, but it is the right thing to do. These athletes have had to deal with so much and require an inordinate amount of mental toughness to withstand not just the pressures of perfecting their craft, but additionally having the ability to drown out all the noise that comes from fans or even their peers who do not respect them because of their skin color. But it’s not just black athletes that face this scrutiny or disdain. Imagine the responses that Jeremy Lin and Yao Ming received while playing basketball or even two movies that poked fun at whites playing sports; White Men Can’t Jump and the Great White Hype. It’s not easy out there and we as a society have a long way to go. My hope is that this time of protest will lead to change that will make it easier for athletes to play the sport that he or she loves without fear of being antagonized or backlash. It may be overly optimistic, but where would we be without hope?

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