Sunday School 8/30/20: Extra Credit

In this week's Sunday School, we heard from two pretty good non-answer-people, one from each party. Today, I wanted to switch gears and hear from people who are not politicians, who are not afraid of answering questions, talk about a subject that they are uniquely qualified to talk about (and that the politicians are uniquely not qualified to talk about): professional athletes, talking about professional athletes and social justice. 

First up? Chuck Todd on MTP, talking with former NBA player (and SU alum) Etan Thomas, and current WNBA player /VP of the Players Association Sue Bird. The interview comes after last week's actions across multiple sports leading to the cancellation of nine NBA games, 11 MLB games, six WNBA games, four NHL games, and more. 

Thomas talked about the leagues standing in solidarity, and making "their powerful statement heard really around the world" and said they've gone above and beyond, not only by not playing, but through the new social change fund, and through focused advocacy work. And he pointed out how it was "interesting" to hear people complaining that the athletes went back to work after their 'strike' or 'boycott' or whatever it should be called, noting that

...it's also not the job of professional athletes to solve the policing problems that we have in this country. You know, that should be the focus of all the people we just saw at the Republican convention this past week. And I would say, instead of Donald Trump screaming "law and order" at the American citizens exercising their right to protest, that he should be screaming "police accountability." But I bet we probably won't hear that. 

Todd, noting that when players boycott, they're taking money out of the hands of the owners, sponsors, and the leagues, asked Bird what role owners and sponsors should play in all of this. She noted that in the WNBA, the owners support the players, noting that she and others heard directly from their owners saying, "We support whatever you want to do."  That being the case, she said, 

I think a lot of it is more so about, like you said, the corporate sponsors, trying to get them to understand where we stand, what we believe in, what we're fighting for.

And, she added, "this isn't new for us. We've been doing this for year, and years, and years."  She said that

what was so special about this moment was an opportunity, like Etan said, for all of these leagues to be unified. And that’s, that’s when, you know -- we've learned in the WNBA when we're unified as one voice, that's where the impact is felt for us. So to have all these leagues together, I mean, you've seen what's happened. 

Todd asked Thomas about some athletes suggesting that, while they're doing a lot, they're not doing enough. Thomas said people always want to do more, and he also wanted to make clear that "this has nothing to do with being for the police or against the police. That's just the right redefining the issue." He used his kids to illustrate the difference between being supportive and being an enabler.

So, for instance, I love my baby Sierra. You know, that's my girl. But if baby Sierra came to me and said, "Daddy, I want to have chocolate chips for dinner," I wouldn't be supporting her by telling her that she can go have chocolate chips for dinner, you know what I mean? That's not supporting her.

And Trump and the right believe that you have to allow the police to do anything that they want to do and then that equals supporting them... Applauding someone and saying, "Everything that you do is wonderful" is not supporting them. It's actually enabling them. And, you know, so I would say Trump is actually acting more anti-police than what he's claiming to be.

Todd turned to Bird, asking if she understood the need or desire to do more. She talked about being in the 'wubble' (the WNBA bubble) and how all of the players being together, being able to talk about the emotionally and mentally draining, "traumatizing and re-traumatizing" experiences the black players have had, makes people feel like they're not doing enough.

We've actually been doing the work. And to be honest, I've had a front row seat with, you know, my girlfriend Megan Rapinoe. She took a knee four years ago. It took four years for that to come back around. So personally for me, I like to share that message with the players because, while it doesn't feel like you're doing enough and while people are going to come at you and be, like, "Well, what are you going to do about it." Just you have to, like, find solace in the fact that we actually are doing the work.

Thomas was asked about NBA players speaking out more than athletes in other leagues like the NHL and MLB, with Todd noting "here're two sports that are whiter and certainly their fan bases are very white," and asked about the importance of the sports world uniting "across racial lines."  Thomas said it's "definitely important," adding

Right now, you know, when you see from the right there's so much of a divisive type of a tone. I mean, just looking at the Republican National Convention, you know, everything is divisive. And so sports has the opportunity to be able to bring people together. And so -- and it's a matter of empathy. So some of these sports that you say, you know, as you say are whiter, you know, they might not be dealing with the same things that I'm dealing with as a Black man in this country. 

He talked about "the conversation" that black parents have with their sons - and daughters -about what to do when they're stopped by the police. Not if, mind you -- but when they are stopped, and how they can't act like their white friends might, because "they will get to live."  And, he pointed out,

... the fact that you are making millions of dollars in the NBA doesn't save you from being Black. And that's the difference. So when the policeman pulls me over... it doesn't matter what I've accomplished in life or who I am or, you know, what tax bracket I'm in or anything like that. I'm a Black man and I'm a threat.

Final question was to Bird, about what she'd say to the politicians who "don't like it when the sports world speaks out on social issues." 

... as a female athlete, the one thing that I've come to realize is we're judged on everything except our sport. We've been judged because we're Black, gay, because we're women. Nobody talks about us playing. So you fast forward, you know, ten, 20 years of this and we've developed an identity. And we're being authentic to it. And so for us, when people say, "Stick to sports," it's kind of, like, yeah, 20 years ago, we tried. You wouldn't let us. And now you're saying that? So it makes no sense to me.

Or to me, frankly.  

Dana Bash had Nneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBA Players Association, on CNN's SOTU. Their conversation started with the question, "what makes this feel different to you?"

We have always been on the forefront of speaking out against racism, on police reform, voting and education. And, as a union, we are always unified... But, quite frankly, this is a very historical and unique situation for us to truly mobilize and organize in ways that is just in our DNA as WNBA players.

Ogwumike said that the league has evolved from a few years ago, when players were punished for speaking out on the court about police violence. She said it was both the players and 'operations' - the teams.

I think that us negotiating our recent collective bargaining agreement (CBA) certainly spearheaded a lot of innovation in what we have seen in the league, but also the relationship and rapport that the players have with the league moving forward. 

And her response to president Trump, who said "I think what they're doing to the NBA in particular is going to destroy basketball. When you watch sports, you want to sort of relax. This is a whole different world. You don't want to stay in politics. You want to relax. It is very bad for the NBA." Ogwumike said that playing ball is an outlet, and sure, they'd like to relax, too, but they're also citizens.

And the platforms that we have, just as the politicians do, need to be used to effect change in our communities. And, as athletes, we would be discrediting our essence if we didn't use that platform for good and for change. Quite frankly, too, a lot of what we speak about, it shouldn't be political, but, unfortunately, the way that our country has kind of evolved, certain issues, certain human issues have become political.

The majority of players in the WNBA are black women, she said, and "inherently, we are political" because they have to deal with racism and sexism. But, she said, they try to speak out for everyone.

And I think that we saw a lot of headway in our CBA in being able to negotiate change that can affect women, not just women in sports, that can really bring a lot of attention to how much further we need to go for change.

And, Bash asked her about Breonna Taylor, and her talking with Taylor's mother, not as an athlete, but as another black woman. Ogwumike said she was "very grateful and honored" to be in a position to talk with the people who are directly affected by what's happening, and to "be able to serve our purpose" and amplify the voices of others, and to "effect the changes that we want to see."

Bash wondered how fighting for equality, on issues such as pay, benefits, and so on - how that experience influenced her "broader fight now on social justice?" She sees it a precursor to today.

For the longest, I think that it took some time for us to mature as a league, as players in this league, to understand what we needed to do to create that change.

The CBA, the union folks, and having the right person - Cathy Engelbert, a former Deloitte CEO - as the league's commissioner all help serve as a catalyst for the change they want to see.

It's the future in motion. And I'm really happy that we were able to create some type of change that women who aren't just athletes want to see also in their own lives.

Hear, hear.

That's your Extra Credit for this week. I like the lessons in this one - leading from where you are, thinking about people other than yourself, and using your platform for good, even if it's not 'personal' good. That's the best part. I hope you'll find something here that you can walk away with.

Take care, and be sure to keep you masked distance. I'll see you around the virtual campus.