Why Sports, Race, & Social Mobility Matter
"Please, STOP TALKING ABOUT RACE... Just play the game."
Unfortunately, that is the increasingly common plea heard across conservative news outlets and fans less familiar with the notion that sports serves as a channel for social mobility. "Why can't they just play the game?!" But for the boxer, the runner, or the player on the court or on the field, professional (and amateur) sports is, and always has been, the gateway to social mobility and promoting change in modern society. Sports and social mobility are inextricably connected. Historically, the monumental influence of sports in America results in the very basic respect or just common human decency that is first earned by way of acts of athleticism before it is ever earned in the workplace, the community, the grocery store, the elevator, or even the public drinking fountain. So there remains a colossal reason why THEY won't just 'play the game'.
MODERN ATHLETICS PROMOTES THE UNDERDOG
Most of my childhood I was last to be picked. Not just in sports. I was also the last pick to be in the 'in-crowd' as well. Most of the white kids in my school boundaries were affluent (or at least their parents spent money on them to provide the appearance as if they came from money). As a scrawny white kid with few friends and a hispanic last name, I 'enjoyed' the perks of the free lunch program and not being able to fit in with the White America standard around me. I wore $8 purple Chuck Taylors to school because that is what we could afford being on a state supported welfare program. I learned a lot from years sitting in the nose bleeds, if you will. Most importantly, watching both my parents earn their college degrees to pull us out of debt, I learned that the prize came to those willing to fight for an education.
I often think that I never should have made it out from where I started. I didn't feel like I grew up in any ghetto. While my neighborhood experienced some violent crimes when I was a kid, I knew which areas of San Antonio to avoid after dark and really my focus was on just getting out. A lot of my friends from high school have gone on to do amazing things like becoming an accomplished director, a lawyer, a police officer, or an officer in the Marines. Yet sometimes I have survivors guilt as I look back on those who had less than me and never made it as far (especially when I meet people who grew up in the heart of white America with more privileges and fewer problems than what I was exposed to). But there's a single reason why I made it to the middle working class of America as an author and former respiratory therapist with an MBA and an education from both BYU and UCLA and how I did it all at the pace that I did: Sports. Football and track was my ticket out of town and on to bigger things. And I was committed to fight for that dream.
Someone in my position, with my grades and my test scores (not to mention a broken back, but that's a whole other story), does not often go on to get the degrees that I did. But my situation had an uncommon factor. Senior year of high school, I received a letter from Brigham Young University stating I had been denied admission to their school. I immediately called Chris Pella, the recruiting coordinator for the BYU football team at the time. "That's not right." He said. "Here, let me make a phone call." I then left for spring break and came back with an identical letter as the first stating that said I had now been accepted to BYU!
I went on to play football and run track at BYU as a two sport athlete. I was a recruited walk-on who played in a couple football games before shoulder surgery forced me to switch to sprinting and eventually earn a partial scholarship on the track team. I didn't have money to go to prep schools growing up. My parents couldn't afford to send me to camps every summer to be a better athlete. I rose up in athletics by effort alone, a cause with a single donor of blood, sweat, and tears, paid in full, to achieve my dream of playing college football. My hustle, passion, and a slight ignorance for not knowing any better granted me the chance to play at the next level of athletics.
Once in college, I knew I wasn't going to turn pro. So I focused on getting the one thing my parents didn't have: a college degree right out of high school. But my own social mobility did not come because I deserved it or because someone allowed me to move up. I was promoted above others just like me because I could run a little faster and was a little bit bigger than the people that I grew up around. That's it. On my own academic merit, it was proven that I should not have gone to the school that I did. My siblings each attended junior college and then transferred to a major university. But I was fast tracked in my higher education simply because I had a talent that could make the school money. Period. I was an investment in a potential payout, possible profits in the future. I'm not mad about it, it's just a matter of fact. The sport of collegiate football functions like so many other businesses.
But for me, I had finally demonstrated that I had value. I proved that I could live above my status. I knew it in my heart and I could ultimately say that I was more successful than anyone had expected. Without the education I was provided thanks to athletics, I would never have been given the opportunities I have had. I went on to score in the 94th percentile on the GMAT and earn a full-tuition scholarship for my MBA. But learning how to test prep and reason undoubtedly came directly from the time I had spent in higher education. And in the end, my participation in sports afforded me opportunity--the ultimate jumping off point.
And my story is only a small example of how organized sports is leading the way for people found on the lower end to potentially win in America everyday. Professional athletics is the hidden opportunity that turns a 'no' into a 'yes', an awkward stare from a stranger into a friendly smile from a fan, and a boring resume into an interesting interview. And it will equally drive a quest for racial equality from an unknown problem into a public discussion.
Sports has been, and continues to be, a key driving force for social mobility in America.
IN THE BEGINNING WAS BOXING
From its very early stages, differences between race, religion, and ethnic groups in the New World has served as an easy divider for what was considered 'American' or acceptable. As new groups of immigrants emerged, so did the rise of amateur sports. If you were an outsider or part of an immigrant population, your first opportunity for social mobility was to prove yourself in the moments after hard labor. Late nights entertaining crowds became the norm for the outcast. And sports, or competitive competition, was the more popular theme.
The earliest forms of American boxing emerged among ethnic groups and it carried them through the birth of a free nation, the civil war, and into the 20th century. Black Americans and families of freed slaves may not have been true immigrants, but their move to northern states certainly proved them to be strangers in a foreign land. The unwelcoming adage was essentially "In the South you can live near us but never above us, in the North you can rise above us but just don't live near us." Boxing was one of the original channels through which an immigrant or minority group first gained social mobility. If you could fight with your fists then you could gain a stronger foothold among society.
Getting in the ring, like in the case of the Irish boxer, was a way to circumvent the societal norms that kept you excluded. There were stereotypes and biases for diverse groups. But if you proved to be a great boxer then you were able to carry the banner for your own ethnic group. But boxer beware, the manly art of boxing was frowned upon by upper society. They often avoided fight nights as they were viewed as reprehensible or even unchristian. Sports for the more affluent in our early nation was based on archery, rowing, polo, golf, and the like. Rightfully so, boxing was so brutal throughout different moments in America's history that loss of nose, ears, fingers and more was more so the expectation rather than the outlier.
AMERICA RUNS ON EMPTY
The 1930's brought so much turmoil that it would rock the world and a generation, one punch after another. Ethnic groups soon turned inward as the Great Depression was a harsh reality for so many. Immigrants began leaving the United States for the first time as the American Dream--the idea of wealth, freedom, and social mobility--began to dry up.
In 1936, the world turned to the Berlin Olympics of all places for guidance and hope. Jesse Owens defied Hitler's concept of a superior race and after winning a record 4 gold medals before a cheering German crowd he surprisingly received a nod of approval from Adolf Hitler while President Roosevelt refused to even meet with Owens. But Jesse won the crowd that day and cemented friendships with competitors of all nationalities including those of Nazi Germany.
Ironically, it was in Berlin that Jesse Owens showed up to his biggest fanfare. Of those local fans was a large German shoe company run by the Dassler brothers, both ardent Nazis. Contrary to what was depicted in the 2016 biopic Race, Owens found that Adolf and Rudolph Dassler were quick to convince him that having a track star run in their shoes was going to boost their brand. Creating more or less the first athletic shoe contract of our time, Adi Dassler would go on to create the Adidas brand (representing the first 3 letters of his first and last name) while Rudolph would start the shoe company Ruda (the first 2 letters of his first and last name, respectively), only to change it years later to Puma along with the iconic cat logo.
Adidas and Puma would eventually survive the Second World War. The person who didn't win in all of this was Jesse Owens. Returning as a legend and documented perfectly in film by the Führer, the American track and field regulatory body banned Owens from racing for the rest of his career on the grounds that his shoe contract of sorts went against his status as an amateur athlete. The only races he could secure was running against horses as a novelty side act as Owens would never see a true race on the track again. While Berlin praised his superhuman talent, America buried his legacy even before he arrived in Berlin as racism from an American president and its own people would shadow one of the greatest athletes of our time. Lamentably, his short lived fame in Nazi Germany may be the only opportunity Jesse Owens and Black Americans would be granted in the 1930's and moving into the 1940's up until the United States had entered WWII.
BEING BLACK IN AMERICA
The 1940's America was awakened to the idea of Black and White men working together on the battle field in the fight for freedom. Countless barriers and stigmas were broken as the Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen, and more made a case for an America that could live above racial bias. With the liberation of European Jews from the heart of hatred and the most vile crimes against humanity, the American soldier returned home as a witness to the evils of what racial discrimination could truly become.
One of the saddest moments, however, was this short lived notion of freedom for all as Black Americans soon became the target of hatred in America. Those appealing for integration of the races in the States were twisted into being portrayed as a people that echoed the communist message from Russia, our new enemy of the Cold War. If you were a proponent for racial equality you were automatically assumed to be a communist. Therefore, being Black in America soon became the most un-American thing you could be as jobs, opportunities, respect, and more were all stolen from a people who helped build and liberate the very nation by which it was oppressed. No matter how many times Black Americans gave over the last 400 years, they were still cycled back into an oppressive state that was viewed as second class to the White Americans who enjoyed those same constitutional rights. For as often as a white leader seeks to lift the banner of Freedom for All, another white person comes from behind to lower it as much as they can.
AND THEN THERE WAS BASEBALL
From America's return to oppression after WWII, the one shining light to emerge, if anything, was baseball. At that time, it was the most followed sport and truly America's favorite past time. And not long after the negro leagues had formed, the Brooklyn Dodgers sought to create a new type of game. While racism was red hot, Jackie Robinson took center stage as April of 1947 would introduce its first black baseball player of that century. And not even a full season would go by before Larry Doby would join the Cleveland Indians and Hank Thompson and Willard Brown would go to the St. Louis Browns. By August of 1947, Jackie was joined by Dan Bankhead to be the second Black player for the Dodgers.
It should be no surprise that 4 out of these 5 men served our country in WWII. This hardening of character is likely the needed building blocks for overcoming racism and extreme bias in a world that wanted baseball to be the sport that stifled the American Black man instead of support him. It should then be no surprise that when tasked with understanding how Black America felt toward its country in regards to communism and civil unrest among black communities, US Congress called upon Jackie Robinson (as shown in the clip above taken from Scandalize My Name) to testify on behalf of his race. He was the one trusted Black man to emerge as a leader for his people. He was the boxer of his day. The Jesse Owens to a people who could not understand in their own minds what it meant to be Black in America. He was just a ball player, right? Or was he something more?
MEXICO CITY OLYMPICS TAKES THE STAND
As racism in America grew to a boiling point, multiple groups had woken up to the fact that racial injustice could no longer be a normal way of life. Admittedly, the intricacies that influenced the Civil Rights movement is an involved topic on its own. In short, the Black athletes during this pivotal time period in America had solidified their commitment to what so many had been protesting against. While there was somewhat of a division among Black leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, one thing was very clear: the movement was not going stop. Refusing to let oppression take hold on America, especially after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., two Americans, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, along with their silver medalist competitor Peter, Norman, from Australia, took the witness stand in Mexico in what has become one of the most memorable moments in sports history. With all three wearing Human Rights patches and the American athletes raising their iconic black gloved fists in the air, they were sending the message that people were greater than the business of sport.
SPORTS MAKES ITS CASE FOR WOMEN
And with sports, women make their own case for equality.
The transformation of tradition and rigid social norms in just the last 100 years regarding women, their role in society, their dress, and their social mobility via sports in America deserves its own discussion. But their ability to move forward and progress as equals in society is grounded by their participation in sports. One of the fabled tales of America's finest athletes rests with the lesser known Jackie Mitchell, the teenaged female pitcher that sent the 1931 Yankees back into the dugout as she struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
After being struck out by the teen prodigy, the Babe's response to women in baseball was simple: "I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day." In spite of his comments, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League would form more than a decade later to a growing fanbase during wartime. The Tom Hanks movie A League of Their Won brought a new life to their story decades later but as the actual league faded in the 1950's, a younger and different generation of female athlete would rise up behind them. However, this surge would stem from a completely fictionalized character.
THE TOMBOY WAVE
The unforeseen impact of a young teen on the silver screen came along as Gidget, the innocent California girl turned surfing beach bum, broke down barriers and boosted a meteoric rise of surfing, especially for women. In fact, this film brought beach blanket movies to the forefront of Americana as surfing became the most popular sport and ukuleles saw its own rebirth. The Gidget wave lead women into the competitive norm and soon the Tomboy was redefined for the girl next door who no longer was found in a league of her own but paddling out on waves side by side her male counterpart.
THE MODERN FEMALE ATHLETE
So many women have helped pushed down barriers via their influence in sport. And as there are several examples to draw from that paved the way for the new female athlete, few in the last couple of decades did it as well as Mia Hamm and Serena Williams. "Serena is a really good tennis player, for being a black girl." How many times did spectators, coaches, and players serve one of the greatest tennis legends the ultimate back-handed comment? "Good job, for a girl. Great effort for being black." Despite naysayers who have gathered over the years, Serena Williams will go on to be not just one of the greatest female athletes of all time, or one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but recognized as one of the greatest athletes. Ever. No one has won as consistently as she has. There would be no Kobe Bryant without Michael Jordan's influence and there would be no modern British bands like Coldplay or Radiohead were it not for earlier iconic bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or Pink Floyd. Likewise, so many female athletes made it possible for Serena Williams to come on to the scene but when she did it was obvious that she redefined her sport.
Even from a young age, Mia Hamm dominated as an athlete. She played in a boys football league while also playing soccer as a young teen and later went on to win 4 NCAA National championships with North Carolina, 2 gold medals, 2 FIFA world cup titles, and countless awards and accolades for her efforts on the field. And her efforts were felt off the field as Mia redefined sport in general. The dominant winning nature, the spirit of competitiveness, reinforced in young women the idea that you don't have to choose to be a girl or to be a tomboy. You could just be you. And you could just play to win.
The emergence of the competitive female athlete has become common place. And the hope as it translates into social mobility is that more black women are given the chance to lead in the workplace and in their community not because they are 'surprisingly good at it' within the Black female demographic. Rather, who they are in appearance should no longer be viewed as a limitation or constraint or of a lesser subgroup. As Black female CEO's grow in number, their opportunities should allow them to reveal their invaluable character and even use the leadership and innovation qualities unique to them to guide their peers.
And as young women find the determination to train as hard as they can in the sports that they love, the tomboy moniker might finally be removed once and for all. What you choose to seek out as your passion should not limit you to be anything but you. The archaic gender role of what is considered 'proper' for a young girl in relation to sport and society will fall apart as more Mia Hamm's emerge. Proving that the tomboy way of life is no longer the exception but the expectation, young girls will compete to win knowing that nothing and no one can hold them back but their own mindset as to what is considered 'proper'. Suddenly, competing against boys in their youth will condition women to more confidently compete with men in adulthood.
NO ONE GOES UNREPRESENTED
Only a few athletes have been previously mentioned yet a compiled list of inspiring athletes that have been trailblazers for their own ethnic groups or religions could go on for days. The world has surely benefitted form athletes like Jim Thorpe, Duke Kahanamoku, Junior Seau, Bruce Lee, Jeremy Lin, Dat Nguyen, Muhammed Ali, Harold Abrahams, Max Baer, Sandy Koufax, Alma Richards, Sid Going, Steve Young, Joe Louis, Hank Aaron, Jim Brown, Jack Trice, Ernie Davis, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Patty Mills, Roberto Clemente, Alex Rodriguez, Oscar de la Hoya, Jason Collins, Greg Louganis, Billie Jean King, Althea Gibson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Danica Patrick, Ronda Rousey, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Hammon, and so many more. Each athlete's individual history tells how they personally chipped away at the barriers and bias' that came with how the world first valued them in society. Adding these up, the comprised history is astonishing and somewhat breath taking to think that sports had created so much positive change in America. In light of this staying influence, sports in America becomes nothing short of sacred as it has set an example for how the American people might be able to survive after the clock winds down.
SO WHY PROTEST?
"I paid good money. They are given more wealth than most to play a child's game. They should just play because we paid them to do so!" The unified protest of the NBA, in the middle of the 2020 playoffs no less, has proved that this assumption of the fan being in control couldn't be more false.
Speaking to Colin Kaepernick's protest, “Taking a knee, honestly, is a sign of respect,” said former green beret and one time NFL player, Nate Boyer. “People take a knee to pray. We would take a knee in front a fallen brother’s grave. I saw that image, while still getting his point across, much more respectful.” As the story goes, Boyer originally saw Kaepernick sitting away from the team on a bench during the National Anthem and suggested a more formal way to peacefully protest might be to kneel with your team on the sideline out of respect for the fallen brothers who had been victims of police brutality. While right wing media has twisted the protest to be a disrespect for the flag, Kaepernick and others maintain that it is a moment to recall and recognize the disenfranchised Black Americans that do not enjoy the same American dream as the rest of us.
Fast forward four years and players are still taking a knee, and now in full force. Why? Teams have owners and logos. Fans have seats and t-shirts. But what do the players possess? Money? Heart? Talent? In short, the players OWN the sport. It belongs to THEM. They run the race because they choose to do so. They choose to play because THEY are the ones showing up on game day. They protest because it is their voice, their seat at the table, their time to make a case for those less fortunate than them. A minority athlete speaks out against a social cause because it is their unwritten RIGHT to do so--Permission given to them since sports first emerged in America.
They protest because the fate of Black people in America CONTINUES to be that of the marginalized. George Floyd. In no way should an individual be suffocated and murdered for attempting to spend a counterfeit $20 bill even if the case is made that were resisting arrest. At some point, Geroge Floyd began struggling for his life. Breonna Taylor. Few white people see their loved one's door broken down and shot to death, slaughtered like an animal, so that a warrant could be served for someone who was already found and arrested earlier that day. Only one out 12 witnesses recall hearing "Police" before shots were fired in her apartment complex and that single testimony only came after the 3rd time that that witness was asked to give a statement.
The fatal twist of qualified immunity and how it protects reckless murderers who are sworn to protect those they have killed has been brought to the center stage. To say one thing and yet do another is extremely troubling when innocent Black people suffer the punishment of a crime they did not commit. Since when was forgery or previously dating someone with a criminal record enough to deserve the death penalty. Even with the shooting of Jacob Blake, conservatives have stated with the justification that even if he was innocent when he was shot in the back it shouldn't be a national problem because Blake has previously been accused of sexual assault. This faulty logic from the far right only qualifies the sitting President of the United States to receive the same fate as Blake since Donald Trump is an admitted serial womanizer himself (thanks to notorious self-admissions on varying sound bites). Essentially, this double standard says that if anyone has been accused of sexual assault they should expect the same punishment as Blake or Trump, respectively, depending on their skin color. In short, the punishments have too frequently failed to match the crime in question as one's rights, and even their own life, have been stolen from them.
HOW LONG WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF
As a former amateur athlete who has been ridiculed and cat called, by my own so-called 'fans' even, I can tell the fans that the sport doesn't belong to you. It belongs to us! We know that fans are fickle and we only garner their support when we are winning. Coaches can cut us whenever they like so all that the athlete has to lean on is their teammates. And if a teammate feels a need to plead their case, America is inclined to listen or is forced to ignore the storied fact that sports, race, and social mobility are 100% intertwined. But to say that an athlete should shut up and play is to ignore the fact that racism persists in America and that the marginalized in society are discounted as an uninteresting talking point. It may not impact you up until your favorite athlete suddenly takes a knee or chooses to sit out for a social cause that is important to them. You may feel it came out of no where but it is an issue they have to come to terms with EVERY DAY in America.
Winning best picture of the year, the 1961 musical West Side Story tells the story of racism and bigotry in America. It echoes the same issues of race presented in the 1958 musical South Pacific. Countless storylines of the era are repeated even in the 1990's as tv shows like Family Matters and Fresh Prince of Bel Air present unique episodes addressing the issue of Black Americans mistreated by police officers. This storyline carries with it a visceral reaction for some as they assume that calling out a police officer for failing to do live up to the role they are sworn to fulfill means that all police officers are bad. If you can remove that assumption, you can see that it's police brutality that is at the heart of protests, not the presence of police in general. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, for example, was formed to protest drunk drivers, but not driving. When rhetoric can calm emotions enough to disentangle the two then change can finally begin.
It's been more than 60 years since South Pacific debuted, 75 years years since WWII, about 150 years since the civil war, and almost 250 years ago that the Declaration of Independence was signed. Yet we are still trying to correct the issue of racism in America. Politicians did little more than integrating races and the result of the 1960's didn't mean that Black Americans were now given fair treatment anywhere other than on paper. Their half-hearted actions were major missteps in a culturally diverse and racist society that has been trying to figure it out one community at a time. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black American has been issued a metaphorical check from the US government that has been returned with the note of 'insufficient funds'. We cycle through the same issues on the matter of race in America, and across the same platforms, including organized sports, echoing the need for reform due to the insufficient funds that America cannot support. And with that reform opens the doors for ethnic groups to experience the social mobility they have longed for, played for, and marched for.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
This is our ring, our track, our ball, and our court. And the players will always have the home team advantage over the fans. You are in our house and we can speak out on what we choose. This is where we are free before anywhere else. Sports is the platform where minority groups are allowed to do what they are not in everyday society. No one is stopping them from shooting from beyond the arc or fielding the unthinkable in the outfield. But our speech and our competitiveness will suddenly stopped as if we are owned by the fans who are only in it for the 'W'.
But when some athletes leave the court they have a higher chance of being pulled over if they are Black. A higher chance of being arrested. A higher chance of serving a longer jail sentence. A higher chance of being executed in their own home. And a higher chance of being murdered in the streets with few options and no rights. Race matters. Social mobility matters. And all lives CANT matter until Black lives matter. And if you don't want to hear it from the famous Black athletes you 'pay' to play your favorite sport, then you certainly won't want to hear it from the families of strangers that have been served the greatest injustice this free nation could give them. If their pleas and protests cannot wake you up to the problems that persist in America, then no one can. And suddenly sports won't matter to the athletes since social mobility won't matter either. And that's when players begin to walk away well before the fans stop watching.
Without the marginalized ethnic groups to compete in your favorite sports, there is nothing but t-shirts and empty stadiums. And the core spirit of sport in America, it being as a spring board for the underdog to rise up, will die with it. You don't have to agree with them, but it is not your place to tell them to stop being who they are for the sake of your convenience. Sports has never belonged to the fans. And when it does, all the lights will go out and the American Dream will no longer be heard.