Micah Killmer
Sports Must Focus More on Social Activism
Arthur Ashe is one of the biggest influences in tennis history. As a player, he dominated the tennis scene with 3 Grand Slam titles and over 800 wins. At the beginning of his career, he mainly focused on tennis and never spoke out on social issues. However, the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy made him become an activist. He started speaking his political mind and bringing awareness t about social issues like racism and AIDS. Now, Ashe is one of the most well-known tennis players AND activists of all time. However it wasn’t easy. Ashe struggled with hate during the time. He was arrested twice, first in 1985 for protesting outside the Embassy of South Africa during an anti-apartheid rally and second in 1992 for protesting the treatment of Ha`itian refugees outside the White House. He also protested anti-segregation during the time of Jim Crow Laws and continued to speak out despite the negative feedback he was receiving.
Throughout the history of sports, athletes speaking their political views has been a controversial topic. Most athletes don’t even speak out because of repercussions. Often when athletes speak out, it is covered up or ignored by the media. Or athletes can get in trouble or even removed from the league like Colin Kaepernick who kneeled during the anthem and was later removed from the NFL. While it may not be directly the cause, it was most likely a part of it. According to a study(Pew Research Center, 2019), most Americans think it's okay for athletes to speak up, but don’t regard it as important. Throughout the history of sports most athletes haven’t spoken out or even done something small like posting on social media. This is because of how most people play and watch sports for sports. However, this has been changing every year and now it has gotten much easier for athletes. 2020 was a monumental year for activism in sports. Many sports leagues supported the BLM movement like the N.B.A, W.N.B.A, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and the N.F.L. Many sport leagues stopped their games to acknowledge police killings. In the past two years the BLM Movement has really exploded from the anger of the killing of George Floyd. This has caused sports to really take action, but the movement has also been greatly pushed from sports taking a stand. Throughout the past few years the W.N.B.A. has spoken up greatly and has been probably the most active sports league in activism.
To help this cause, the best thing you can do is to support athletes protesting. The media mainly does what will get the most views, so if people are more focused on activism, it will spread faster. The easiest way to do this would be to go onto your social media’s and see if you can support any activism in sports. Another really simple way of doing this is to speak to your friends and see how much they know about sports activism, and if they don’t know much, educate them. There are many organizations working toward this that you can join and support. Another easy way to help activism in sports is to go to a protest or speaking out on social media. Even something as simple as educating yourself and your close friends or family can have a big impact.
Bibliography:
Arsenault, Raymond. “How Arthur Ashe Transformed Tennis-and Athlete Activism.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Sept. 2018, www.history.com/news/arthur-ashe-black-tennis-champion-us-open-activism-courage, Garber, Greg. “Ashe's Activism Helped Mold the Future.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 6 Feb. 2003, www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/1504540/a-activism-helped-mold-future, “Arthur Ashe's Real Legacy Was His Activism, Not His Tennis.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Sept. 2018, www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/09/arthur-ashe-legacy-activism-tennis, Gramlich, John. “Most Americans Say It's OK for Professional Athletes to Speak out Publicly about Politics.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 30 May 2020, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/24/most-americans-say-its-ok-for-professional-athletes-to-speak-out-publicly-about-politics/, Killmer, Micah, and Jose Mena. “Interview with Jose Mena.” 12 Feb. 2021.
Robbins, Liz. “In 2020, Sports Was About Staying Safe and Speaking Out”. Nytimes.com, 16 Dec. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/sports/year-bubble-coronavirus-moments.html