Pro Sports Go All-Out BLM
Robert Hampton, American Renaissance, August 31, 2020
Many professional athletes are furious that a policeman shot Jacob Blake. The National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League all postponed games. Several National Football League teams cancelled practice. Ever since George Floyd’s death, many professional athletes have decided it’s their duty to push “racial justice,” even when this means supporting an alleged sex offender who resisted arrest.
The NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks started the strike. The team issued a statement: “We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable. For this to occur, it is imperative for the Wisconsin State Legislature to reconvene after months of inaction and take up meaningful measures to address issues of police accountability, brutality and criminal justice reform.”
Some players, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, suggested cancelling the whole season. This is surprising because just a few months ago, Mr. James defied calls from other players who wanted to stop playing to support Black Lives Matter. Players voted to play the season after the NBA agreed to help with voter registration, let players advertise for political causes, and establish “an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community.”
The NBA is majority-black, so it’s not surprising players led this effort, but players in majority-white leagues followed. Major League Baseball is roughly 60 percent white and less than 10 percent black, yet several teams cancelled games in protest. The NHL has only 43 non-white players, but the league postponed two days of playoff games. Tennis star Naomi Osaka, who is half-black and half-Japanese, was the lone athlete in her majority-white sport who refused to play. “Before I am a [sic] athlete, I am a black woman,” Miss Osaka tweeted. “Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach.”
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) August 27, 2020
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said that America doesn’t care about black people: “All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. . . It’s amazing, we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.” LeBron James said, “I know people get tired of hearing me say it but we are scared as black people in America. Black men, black women, black kids, we are terrified. Because you don’t know, you have no idea. You have no idea how that cop that day left the house. You don’t know if he woke up on the good side of the bed, you don’t know if he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
The Baltimore Ravens made a team statement: “With yet another example of racial discrimination with the shooting of Jacob Blake, and the unlawful abuse of peaceful protesters, we MUST unify as a society. This is bigger than sports. Racism is embedded in the fabric of our nation’s foundation and is a blemish on our country’s history. If we are to change course and make our world a better place, we must face this problem head-on and act now to enact positive change.” The Ravens demanded that the officers in Mr. Blake’s case be charged and want top-to-bottom criminal justice reform.
White Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannenhill said: “These systematic oppressions have been going on for a long time. Hundreds of years, this country was founded upon racist ideas with slaves being brought here from the day of foundation. And those ideas have persisted throughout the last hundreds of years and it’s going to take time until we can get those all out. We’re tired of it.”
United. pic.twitter.com/LEm8rsO7YE
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) August 27, 2020
White Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll echoed these views: [T]hey [the white settlers] put together a system of slavery. And we’ve never left it, really. It’s never gone away. And the really amazing thing that I’ve learned is black people know the truth. They know exactly what’s going on. It’s white people that don’t know.”
Mr. Blake is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing his ex-girlfriend. The Milwaukee Bucks sent the hospitalized man a jersey signed by the entire team. The New Orleans Saints displayed Mr. Blake’s name on their helmets. None of these athletes seems to care about Mr. Blake’s crime or the police side of the story. With Joe Biden on the road to the White House, perhaps the #MeToo movement is over.
Sports are supposed to be an escape. People watch them to get away from politics. Now, they are Leftist propaganda. White Americans should put away childish things and throw out their “fan gear.” Don’t support people who insult you.
