NBA players decided on Thursday to end their short strike and finish the playoffs. One reason, among many, is that playing games provides a much larger platform to express their perspectives in promoting causes of social justice.
Of course, the platform will not reach everyone. By long to not. There are millions of Americans who do not want to hear anything from the players and apparently abuse on almost everything they do.
It’s not “stop and dribble” as much as it is just “stop.”
It’s too bad critics are so sensitive, because there is rarely anything lost by listening. Doesn’t mean you have to agree. Does not mean that the perspective of well-intentioned legal action is also not worth considering.
We all need to “keep quiet and listen.” However, it is not the case that the current way works so well.
Protestants are often told that their actions – like the actions of the most out of control under them – exchange what message they are trying to utter. Optics. Narration. Now, as protests go, what NBA players did was as non-violent and non-intrusive as it gets. All that happened was that they did not play basketball.
No vandalism. No fires. No looting. No casualties at all, except maybe to the midweek entertainment options of basketball fans. Instead, they held a few meetings in a Disney World hotel.
Nor can this be characterized as un-American (although, indeed, was the Boston Tea Party not an exercise in looting and vandalism?). This did not take place during the national anthem or covered the American flag or anything like that.
They did not even demand that anyone stop using the Confederate flag.
They asked to be heard. That’s nice. Just be heard. NBA players and coaches asked that a country that repeats the same mistake consider a different point of view, consider the perspective of others before reflexively returning to the same old corner and repeating the same mistakes.
So if not now, when? If not this way, then which way?
Yes, it takes a measure of grace to listen. It takes a measure of confidence to admit that you may not know everything. It takes humility and intelligence to be open to reviewing things.
Perhaps these are not popular values these days in America, where rants and meaningful tweets and exploitative media from all sides benefit from distribution and inconvenience.
That kind of thinking suggests that NBA players should not express an opinion on what is happening in their communities and their country, because they have not spoken out strongly enough about what is happening in Hong Kong. It’s a bizarro purity test / talk show trick designed to silence deviance. If it were not China, it would be something else.
It works. A lot of people fall for it.
Those smart enough to see through there are the winners. You never lose by learning.
Maybe they should have heard Doc Rivers, current coach, former player and forever the son of a Chicagoland police officer, speak respectfully about the need for police reform that can remove the few bad cops from the many good ones through better training and the end of peer silence.
“The training needs to change in the police force,” Rivers said. “The unions need to be taken down in the police force. My father was a policeman. I believe in good police. We try not to deflect the police and take away all their money. We try to get them to protect us, just like they protect everyone else. ”
Maybe they should have seen the Milwaukee Bucks – who promised one of their own, Sterling Brown, outside a Walgreens by a police officer in 2018 (a police investigation deemed it inappropriate) – try to encourage specific action while appealing the streets of Kenosha.
“It is imperative for the Wisconsin state legislature to recover from months of inaction and take significant action to address issues of police liability, brutality and criminal law reform,” Bucks told George Hill. “We encourage all citizens to educate themselves, take peaceful and responsible action, and remember to vote on 3 November.”
Or maybe they got to hear from some of the listeners, like Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who expressed his great fortune to be part of an open, emotional and diverse team meeting Monday before he and his teammates decided to cancel their practice .
“Feel what my teammates are going through, it hurts and it hurts a lot,” Stafford said. ‘When people you care about go through such things, it’s hard. I wish that America, I wish that everyone could be at these talks or be in these meetings. “
Not everyone can be an NFL or NBA player. Not everyone can hear those personal testimonies, see and feel the emotions up close. Not everyone enjoys a diverse (including thought) inner circle or work environment.
There are enough players trying to explain it all to the masses, to tell what it’s like to be a Black father, a Black man, a Black boy, a Black driver, a Black homeowner, a Black whatsoever in America.
Why would you not listen? Once again, you don’t have to agree on it all.
Yet for the over-sensitive, that is apparently too much. Instead, it simply “cancels” them. Strike them quietly. Just call them “China, China, China.”
Just down to the most well-meaning voice, which offers the most thoughtful perspectives and the most personal experiences.
Sorry, because not so now, when? If not this way, then which way?
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