As a younger male I always heard adults around me say “you don’t ever really see athletes using their platform to voice social opinions nowadays.” Particularly minorities and people of color and the issues they faced were what they were speaking specifically to. In the 60’s and 70’s top athletes like Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jim Brown among others used their particular stage to touch on ideas they felt plagued America and the world at that time just as Jackie Robinson and others before him did. Somewhere after those men came and went (athletic career), there was a different trend among athletes of color. In the new age of sports there weren’t too many athletes speaking about much of anything that did not pertain to sports.
I have been on the fence about my feelings towards the athletes of color and their silence in the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s. On one hand I don’t feel it’s an athlete’s job to speak on social issues just because they are in the public eye. A football player is not a politician, minister or known figure in a community necessarily. So when I heard/hear people talking about how Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods sit back make their money and keep their lips sealed I don’t have an issue with it. Trust me there are some athletes I don’t want saying anything! On the other hand I do wish that some people would have said something. Athletes are not quite aware of how much pull and influence they have. From fashion to larger scaled issues people will listen to what they say controversial or not. It’s hard for me to picture a young athlete coming from a community that faced issues that made it tougher on him growing up not choosing to speak or invest in that type of area in anyway. Even those who don’t come up in tough areas should be able to sympathize and understand the struggle. This is why I’m incredibly proud of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, the St. Louis Rams and others. We live in a world today where the average kid or person can communicate with top stars in seconds via social media. For all the flack Kobe has taken over the years it’s nice to see him speak out as well the “ambassador” of the NBA Lebron speaking on the tragedy in Ferguson Missouri. I’m not going to touch on my feelings regarding the situation because that’s another piece for another day. I for one am very happy that those men realize the issue and that no amount of money or status changes there view of race relations in this country. These issues are social issues and we all make up society, so the issues that athletes are beginning to touch on again are human issues not black, white or anything in between. Peace.
