Documenti di Didattica
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Mackenzie Newman
12 April 2019
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
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
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
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
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
At the beginning of the 2017 basketball season, the Golden State Warriors got invited to a
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
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
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
www.si.com/nba/2017/12/05/lebron-james-donald-trump-tweet-most-retweeted-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,
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/.
Wyche, Steve. “Colin Kaepernick Explains Why He Sat during National Anthem.” NFL.com,
www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-s
at-during-national-anthem.