Social Change: a Costly Endorsement

The moment an “athlete” makes the transition and becomes a “professional athlete,” he/she has a decision to make: either they use that professional platform as a means to elevate the voices and issues of those who go unheard or they take their well compensated salary and keep their mouths shut.
Many choose the latter for several reasons. 1) The fear of losing the lifestyle (contract, endorsement, notoriety, etc) for trying to go against the grain. 2) The understanding that their profession is one that celebrates exertion of the body and frowns on exaltations of the voice. 3) The awkwardness of feeling like they are not qualified enough, educated enough or expects in that field to take a stand. There might be many more reasons why I estimate 95% of athletes maintain the status quo.
There are about 5% who are more concerned with uplifting and inspiring others rather than their own selfish ambitions. If you happen to be offended by me labeling professional athletes as selfish, good. I am glad I was able to get under your skin. There is a responsibility, a human-code of responsibility that says we must live our existence altruistically. Those 5%’ers (the athlete altruistic minority, not to be confused with the Five Percent Nation) are discounted as crazy and too vocal or silenced and never to be athletically heard from again.
Tommy Smith and John Carlos were stripped of their ’68 Mexico City 200-meter Olympic Gold and Bronze medals after standing on the podium in solidarity hoping to raise global awareness about the civil-rights transgressions in America.
Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza (softball), Abby Wambach (soccer) and six other Olympic athletes were labeled as potential, demonstration troublemakers by the Chinese government at the ’08 Beijing games.
Isiah Thomas was seen a too radical for thinking that NBA players would stand in support for racial reform in the league.
Mahmond Abdul-Rauf (sitting) and Toni Smith (standing with her back to the flag) demonstrated in their own personal way during the National Anthem and were widely criticized as unpatriotic.
Etan Thomas’ sociopolitical poetry, for the most part, falls upon def ears because he is being paid to play ball not write ballads.
Craig Hodges was quarantined from the league when he wore a dashiki to the White House and instead of giving President Bush Sr. a jersey he presented him with a letter requesting more attention to the injustices in the Black community.
James Harrison sees accepting the invitation to the White House after a winning Super Bowl title as pointless and chose not to accompany his team.
What seemed like common practice among elite professional athletes during the 50s, 60s and 70s, is few and far between with those same elite professional athletes today. There is such a disconnect that Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have been deemed inept.
On Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Jim Brown continued his 2008 critique of Woods’ “social change” game giving it a “Terrible, Terrible” and people from LZ Granderson of ESPN’s Page 2 to Harvey Araton of the NY Times to David Leonard of webzine PopMatters to his own teammate have taken a hard line with Jordan on his social inaction.
I have problem when professional athletes fail to make the grade in the “social change/speaking out on issues” department just as much as I have a problem with professional, everyday people who flunk in this area as well. Athletes have the means of making significant change given the platform society elevates them to, but it should not be just them doing all the work.
At the cost of sounding redundant:

There is a responsibility, a human-code of responsibility that says we must live our existence altruistically.

Mr. Murray

Lest we live like selfish professional, everyday people who believe living is about “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Individual Happiness,” there will always be some issue, some cause, some reason that needs changing.