Mixing Sport with Politics and Other Salient Issues
Article by GDoc
I start this with a question. Should athletes talk about their political views while getting paid tons of money by their clubs’ owners to do their job? Can physicians, plumbers, truck drivers, etc. talk freely about their political views and not risk being fired because it doesn’t align well with our bosses’ views?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticized Lebron and other athletes and asked them not to get involved in political views, “just do what you do best, because it doesn’t look good.” To which Lebron replied and said “I would never shut up about things that are wrong.”
I think there is a platform for any view a person may have. I don’t like mixing politics with sports. For example, I don’t like for athletes to kneel down while the US National Anthem is being played during any sporting event. Yes, there are injustices and yes athletes need to speak up loudly about them but for me it is not the place to disregard the National Anthem which symbolizes patriotism and unity among all Americans. The NAACP is very influential and has all the resources to create a platform for sharing the athletes political, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and religious discrimination views.
I wholeheartedly believe that educating our children at home is the first step to combat racism, homophobic and gender discrimination. I don’t think our school teachers ought to educate our children about such very important issues. Teachers are humans and have their own political views so why bother with asking them to educate our kids to combat these issues. Also, the workplace can be another platform to educate employees about racism, sexual harassment, religious and origin discrimination.
I proudly can say that we raised our kids not to hate anyone just because they are different than them. Our mantra in life is Karma is a bitch “What goes around comes around.” Do “good” all the time and if someone keeps hurting “Not physically” you just avoid them and keep them out of your circle. My kids get singled out by stupid questions since they’re originally Lebanese, “Do you believe in our God?” It is sad that they forget that Jesus was from the Middle East and performed his first miracle in Lebanon and descended in Lebanon as well. They also forget that even Christians in the M.E. call God Allah. They ask them if their parents are illegal immigrants. That said, athletes can do a more proactive roles and use platforms to educate the public about issues that are prevalent to everyone. Athletes can be influential because they have a lot of devout followers and can make a difference through the proper platform but not through the sports they play. Case in point is what Jordan Henderson is doing to educate the public about Black history.
My love for Liverpool FC and its fans should be a great incentive for everyone to start ending hate for anyone that is different.
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