This past weekend we had a game at
Sewanee and with all of the protests and issues going on in the country there
have been a vast amount of publicity for these issues in sports venues. Going
to play this game I did not think too much about if or what may occur in
regards to public and national issues going on (i.e Kaepernick, police
questions, etc.). Needless to say this was not the case at all. Many players on
the opposing team had “black lives matter” among other current issues written
on tape on their wrists. I did not give much thought to this during the game
because many players tend to write things that they are playing for or care
about more or less. After the game on the bus ride home I was looking at
pictures of the game and noticed these writings on their players arms. I began
to think what makes them feel that this may help the cause or change anything.
It was intriguing because since I am taking this class my mind is more apt to
connect these dots, but also I am not sure if any of our players write such on
their arms to my knowledge. I believe some of these players may have done such
to stir thoughts, while others may have done so just to say that they did.
Since every player that had this was African-American it makes me believe that
this display was organized or only discussed within the African-American
players on the team.
This goes to show how people are
continually attempting to create a community wherever they may be. Just like we
have been discussing in class, it tends to be easier to cope and deal with
issues of discrimination and mistreatment if you have a strong support system
around you. These players felt that they could create a potential community
more or less by doing this act together as a group of African-American players.
An interesting thing would be to see how the White players on their team felt
about such display or if they would partake in such a display. In my opinion,
they further distanced themselves from a larger community by singling
themselves out for this display. In order for the display to take a larger
voice it would have needed to cross the color barrier since that is the main
hindrance in almost every issue. Whether or not anything changed that these
players wanted to change at their school remains to be seen, but maybe they did
spark some conversation for the future.
Austin Henyon
One of the influential parts of their display of "black lives matter" on their wrists was that it was noticed at all. It absolutely represents a community among the black players of that team, but it also caught the attention of the people who took the pictures and everyone who will view them. I think one of the most important steps to creating a community among people is awareness about the existence of such a community. And with the noticing of that display, there are lots of white members of that team and people viewing the pictures and even those of us who read this post that are now contemplating the meaning and effects of the movement itself. It may not cross the race barrier explicitly, but it does bring people out of their comfort zone and force them to think about and acknowledge what black lives matter actually represents.
ReplyDeleteWhile it may have been just the black players who had it written on their arms, I think the message did cross color barriers because it got you thinking. We don't have to all agree or understand these small displays of allegiance, but the fact that it got you thinking and got you to grapple with these hard issues is positive. I don't think they were trying to segregate themselves from a larger community but rather influence the larger community to start talking.
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