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Mackenzie Newman

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 4

12 April 2019

Professional Athletes and Social Issues: Using Their Status

and Voices to Make a Difference

There are approximately 11.6 million viewers of Monday Night Football, 9.7 million

viewers of March Madness, and 18 million viewers of the MLB World Series. All of these events

are accessible with what is in everyone’s pockets; making it nearly impossible to go throughout

the day and not hear about the score of a game or who won the championships. Sports are merely

a part of American culture. Sports bring everyone together but also what can tare all of us apart

(Glick and Brodwin 1). With sports being such a big part of American culture, they influence

what everyone sees on television, what is talked about in schools, or even what goes in

Washington D.C.

Everyone enjoys watching athletes throw that winning touchdown, drop a fantastic slam

dunk or even hitting a home run, but the athletes, who have worked very hard to get where they

are today, also have a big part to play in what goes on off the court as well. The United States as

a country can provide its citizens with freedoms and opportunities that would not be possible

elsewhere, but it is not perfect at everything. The United States struggles with issues such as

homelessness, unemployment, racial inequality, poverty, mental illness, education, religious

freedoms, and a variety of other problems. These issues continue to grow and create more

problems, and as much as D.C. wants to look like they can solve all these problems on their own,
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that is impossible, there will always be something that needs to be improved. Athletes are on a

high social platform than most of America; this means they can see and observe what needs to

change very quickly. While interviewing a past Junior Olympic athlete, he explained his ideas on

athletes sharing their opinions. "Athletes sharing their input on what needs to change with

society can expand the thinking mentality of the world. [Athletes] are on a higher platform and

see the world in a way that others might not” (Jones). With this fact, athletes are becoming more

active in America’s social issues and are beginning to use their high-level social status and rights

as a U.S. citizen to declare that something needs to change.

One of the first times an athlete voiced their opinions on an issue was in 2001 after the

attack on the world trade center. Kevin Garnett, who was a basketball star at the time, was

tortured over all forms of media for being over-privileged, ungrateful, and unpatriotic for his

opinions (Fischer 2). Garnett's efforts were one of the first times an athlete got scrutinized for

trying to make a difference. Professional athletes often have chances to share their opinions on

societal issues but are scared of it changing their image or advances of their future career. The

majority of athletes shy away from taking a stand for what they believe in, but when they do the

results can be very impactful for the problem they are working to change.

Back in the NFL's preseason of 2016, Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback for the San

Francisco 49ers, decided to use his right to a peaceful protest and to fall on his knee for the

national anthem (Wyche; Hurley). Soon after this event, America separated into two sides:

everyone either agreed or disagreed with athletes kneeling during the anthem. Some thought his

form of protest was disrespectful to our nation; while others believed kneeling was a sign of

courage, standing up for what he felt needed to change. Kaepernick, himself, announced, “I am
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not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people. . .To me,

this is bigger than football” (qtd. In Wyche). Colin then achieved the primary purpose of his

actions. His goal was not to anger fans; his goal was to gain the attention of everyone, let them

know that there was a problem that needed a solution.

Kaepernick's simple demonstration created a chain reaction that grabbed the attention of

many high profile people. Not only did this involve other professional athletes, but this action

also caught the attention of politicians and even President Donald J. Trump. While the chaos of

football players kneeling to protest racial inequality raged on; President Trump decided to take

action and Tweet his opinions on the issue. On October 18th, 2017, Trump posted a tweet, wrong

mouthing the NFL for not punishing the athletes for kneeling for the National Anthem, claiming

that all these actions were disrespectful to our country. President Trump began to blame the

NFL’s drops in TV ratings as a result of Kaepernick's efforts; however, even with this accusation

placed, it did not stop other football players from supporting Colin and working to push for

better racial equality (Hurley).

Colin’s action made everyone aware of the issues he wanted to be declared, but it

accomplished the exact opposite for the NFL. The League has been unsuccessful in controlling

the sudden political outbursts of Kaepernick's actions, making it a challenging situation for the

League's reputation. To try and recover from this outburst of controversy and please the fans, the

NFL announced a new policy. The policy states that all athletes must stand for the national

anthem and honor our nation; if they fail to do so, their team will be fined (Branch). Sports

associations began to make stricter policies that limited protesting. This change made declaring

an issue to the public more of a challenge for the majority of athletes. Unfortunately for the
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government and anyone else trying to keep the problems locked away, that would not stop

athletes of the Twenty-first century. Today's athletes have begun to realize that their opinions

matter and will affect the outcomes of these issues. This fact has influenced others to gain

courage and to fight for what they believe in through forms of media besides visible protests.

Today in the year 2019, staying up to date on all the events of the world can be

accomplished quickly; the only thing needed is a device that lives in everyone's pockets. That

device is at the fingertips of every single athlete. If an athlete wants to convey to the world what

needs to change and if they are determined enough, there is little anyone can do to stop them.

The National Basketball Association has two big names who are leading the way, fighting for a

change in social issues. These two men are Lebron James and Stephen Curry. Both of these

professional NBA players have become active on social media and the news to bring recognition

to problems they see in the United States.

At the beginning of the 2017 basketball season, the Golden State Warriors got invited to a

dinner at the White House. Curry refused the invitation

as a protest to Trump’s election to president. Trump's

furious reaction was to withdraw the invitation to the

team. James then tweeted in response to the president

that going to the White House was only an honor until

he became president. LeBron James has a total of 42

million Twitter followers, so this post was spread

throughout the web quickly by various forms of media

(see infographic). Not long after, the tweet had almost

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660,000 retweets. His post was the 7th most retweeted post ever in one year. LeBron would not

allow Trump or anyone else to try and divide athletes. After the tweet was visible to all, James

sent out a video explaining why he said what he said and in this video he said, “For [Trump] to

trying to use [sports as a] platform trying to divide us even more, that is not something I can

stand for” (qtd In Chavez). Soon after this event became public, Trump-branded business needed

to rebrand the buildings due to the loss in profits and retailing. This simple act of posting on a

social media site altered an entire industry; it also motivated LeBron to make a change. He has

not just to created awareness for issues that need to change, but he is acting upon them as well.

Trying to make a difference in the community, Lebron opened a grade school in his hometown

of Akron, Ohio in the fall of 2019. He also set aside money and scholarships for any student

graduating in 2021 from that school (Hurley). James and other high-level athletes understand

they have been blessed with their talents and careers, but they do not just let all that wealth sit,

they take action and try to help others and make a name for themselves somewhere other than

just a sport.

When trying to make a difference in America, LeBron James in more active on social

media and he works to help others through his voice and to spread the message quickly.

Although Stephen Curry's actions are less outspoken than James', he still has become very active

in making a difference in his community and country. Curry may not break records on twitter or

post videos, but he does little things to try and influence the lives of others. He often goes to

charity events, donates funds, provides his time to serve others, and many other charitable acts.

Curry also has written an open letter, which is available on his website, about veterans day and

that explains how we need to respect and help our veterans. Throughout the letter, Curry explains
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how there is a large amount of scattered noise in the world, but we need to make the noise we

provide to this world count. Stephen Curry wrote in the conclusion of his letter, “If I’m going to

use my platform, I don't want to just be noise. I want to use it to talk about real issues, that are

affecting real people” (Curry). Many athletes follow this same idea. They want to use the fame

they have to be able to make a difference, to stop the silence and lack of protest on the problems

in today's society. Make noise that genuinely matters.

With all of these different examples, some athletes took more action than others, but the

most powerful thing they did was they made everyone aware of the issue. They used their high

profiles in today's electronic world and made the matter known. The first step to solving any

problem is realizing that there is a problem; these athletes and many like them are the first steps

to a change in society. They realized there was a problem and decided to become an activist and

fight for a solution, but it does not only have to be athletes. Although it may be easier for high

platformed athletes to affect issues, anyone who is determined enough can make a difference in

the world. If everyone worked together, we could solve issues like inequality, racial injustices,

unemployment and citizens without homes. Anyone can work to make a difference.
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Works Cited

Branch, John. “Why the N.F.L. and the N.B.A. Are So Far Apart on Social Justice Stances.” ​The

New York Times​, The New York Times, 22 June 2018,

www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/sports/nfl-nba-social-justice-protests.html.

Chavez, Chris. “LeBron 'U Bum' Tweet Most Retweeted Athlete Post in 2017.” ​SI.com,​ Sports

Illustrated, 5 Dec. 2017,

www.si.com/nba/2017/12/05/lebron-james-donald-trump-tweet-most-retweeted-2017.

Curry, Stephen. “The Noise.” ​The Players' Tribune​, 11 Nov. 2017,

www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/stephen-curry-veterans-day.

Fischer, Mia. “September 11 and America’s Sporting Nation.” ​Cultural Studies,​ vol. 27, no. 2,

Mar. 2013, pp. 300–302. ​EBSCOhost,​ doi:10.1080/09502386.2012.725061.

Glick, Ira D., and David Brodwin. “It’s Time to Change the Culture of Sports.” ​International

Review of Psychiatry​, vol. 28, no. 6, Nov. 2016, pp. 629–630. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.1080/09540261.2016.1227308.

Hurley, Ian. “In 2017, the Athlete Became the Activist.” ​Pacific Standard​, 26 Dec. 2017,

psmag.com/social-justice/in-2017-the-athlete-became-the-activist.

Ingles, Joe, and Renae Ingles. “'Jacob Is Still Our Jacob'.” ​Exclusive Insight,​ 3 Mar. 2019,

www.exclusiveinsight.com/joe-renae-ingles-jacob-is-still-our-jacob/.

Jones, Forrest. Personal Interview. 9 April 2019.

Wyche, Steve. “Colin Kaepernick Explains Why He Sat during National Anthem.” ​NFL.com​,

National Football League, 28 Aug. 2016,

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www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-s

at-during-national-anthem.