Throughout the year of 2014, the US saw more issues with racism than anyone can remember. Shootings of African-Americans who were unarmed by the police and the jury decisions in Michael Brown's case and Eric Garner's case. It was during this year that in the sports world, highly respected athletes would use their stage to speak on these racial issues happening today. Examples are LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, and others wore "I Can't Breathe" t-shirts during their warmups to show respect for Eric Garner. Oklahoma City's superstar, Kevin Durant, wrote "Black Lives Matter" on his shoes for the game against Cleveland Cavs that would be nationally televised.
Instead of looking for racial issues within the sports industry, I decided to use something different, African-Americans using their strong foundation as a positive avenue to raise awareness for an important issue.
Lapchick, R. (2014, December 30). Racism Still Evident In Sports World. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/12093538/the-year-racism-sport
I think that the power of a famous athlete should be used to change society. What these athletes have done is something unreal. As an athlete, I used to wear things during games that symbolized change in society. Many people see it and many through it. The most important people to be exposed to it were those of young age. It creates a generation where they believe that voicing your opinion through actions and words can really have an affect on society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ricardo. These athletes serve as role models to the younger generation. Certain gestures like the "I Can't Breathe" shirts help bring racial problems to light. More needs to be done by these athletes in order to change the views of this country.
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