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The most famous instance of athletes in protest might be from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Mexio, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200m sprint, stood on the winners’ podium with their heads lowered and fists raised in the air.
That iconic moment may not be replicated again, but a new generation of athletes is stepping into the role of advocate, galvanized by the failures of the justice system and the actions of a nation in protest.
Players like A’mare Stoudemire, of the New York Knicks, are spending their locker room interviews talking not about basketball but about the people in the streets. “I’m pretty upset that I’m not protesting right now with the rest of the guys out there in New York,” Stoudemire said.
Or Sheldon Jefferson, of the New York Jets, speaking emotionally about the murder of Eric Garner: “It’s not just in St. Louis. It’s pretty bad everywhere now,” Jefferson told the NY Daily News. “So much for the justice system.”
Public protests and political activism on the court sets a markedly different tone for America’s most famous athletes than we have seen in recent years. The 1980s and 1990s saw little political activism from the superstars of sports. Sponsorships and league rules made activism difficult, and, as Michael Jordan once said, “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
But that model of the apolitical athlete seems outdated, and for good cause.
After a Grand Jury in Missouri failed to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death Michael Brown in Ferguson, protests erupted around the nation. Among the protesters last weekend were four players on St. Louis Rams, who raised their arms in solidarity with the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” protests unfolding around the nation. “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”. The players were criticized by the St. Louis County Police Association, who called the moment “tasteless and offensive,” and demanded an apology from the NFL and the Rams.
A week later, after a Grand Jury in New York failed to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for choking Eric Garner to death, protests across America increased in number and size. With another rallying cry provided by another tragic police encounter, Detroit Lions running-back Reggie Bush and Cleveland Brown cornerback Johnson Bademosi wore practice jerseys with “I Can’t Breathe” written across the chest. “I Can’t Breathe” were the last words spoken by Garner, repeated 11 times as Pantaleo strangled him.
Bush, whose mother has been a police officer for 20 years, didn’t speak to media about wearing the shirt yesterday, but a week earlier he addressed the circumstances of Michael Brown’s death. “I don’t know all the facts of what happened when Michael Brown was killed,” Bush told ESPN, “but I just know that a young man lost his life. Was shot how many times? Six? Ten times? Ten times. That’s a little excessive…it just seems like, it turns my stomach.”
A day before Bush and Bademosi’s signs of solidarity, Derrick Rose, NBA superstar from the Chicago Bulls, wore a pre-game shirt with the same phrase, “I Can’t Breathe.” Rose is a quiet player, not known for outspokenness. Like Bush, he didn’t address the media after the game, letting his actions stand without comment.
This week, at a game sure to draw international attention due to the presence of Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton, the world’s most famous athlete, Lebron James, donned the practice shirt as well.
After their protest in 1968, Tommie Smith said the men were opposing the continued racial discrimination in the US, saying: “Black America will understand what we did tonight.” Smith and Carlos were booed out of the Olympic stadium, cut from the US Olympic team, and met with broad public scorn upon return to the States. But the significance of their protest lives long after the day has passed. By speaking out about racial violence and prejudice against black Americans, Today’s athletes are saying, like Smith and and Carlos did in 1968, and like Lebron James said last week: “This is our country.”
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