Robin Lundberg: The Sports World Is Fed Up With Injustice

Sports should show us the focus should not be on the reaction to protests but the reason they are happening.

The hysteria that ensued when Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players chose to kneel looks extra foolish right now. So, let’s not make the same mistake yet again, and spend all our energy on the reaction and not the reason for it. 

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, who has led protests on the ground, tweeted something that I think illuminates that point.

I chose to do a peaceful protest that was my choice you do not get to choose for the rest of America

— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) May 31, 2020

I want to be clear, the vast majority of what is transpiring now is peaceful as well—and with legitimate questions about who is instigating when it is not.

Media showing this???? I bet you they’re not. 🤦🏾‍♂️! You know why, cause this is unity, peaceful, beautiful and love! https://t.co/QkgH2SFmON

— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 1, 2020

Still, we all have to understand why frustration and heartbreak is at the level it is. And empty corporate statements aren’t going to suffice when it comes to addressing it.

All these corporate statements seem disingenuous and unnecessary.

— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) June 1, 2020

Think about it. In the NBA alone over the last several years, we’ve seen hoodies worn to honor Trayvon Martin, I CAN'T BREATHE shirts for Eric Garner, and now, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the Los Angeles Lakers have taken to saying “If YOU ain’t with US, WE ain’t with Y’ALL!”

LeBron, AD, and the entire Lakers squad posted this message. 🗣#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/IpgGrbATUY

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) June 1, 2020

And how can you blame them? Nothing has changed. Black Lives Matter isn’t supposed to be just a hashtag. How can we all not empathize as human beings? 

Simply posting on social media about change hasn’t made any. Because here we are again. Michael Jordan called for a unified voice to put pressure on leaders to change laws and votes to create systemic change. 

Clearly we need better leadership, genuine police reform and to address the legal system. The things a knee was originally taken for. I don’t want black people to be alone in that fight. And while of course I want peace, I also want justice. 

We do need to all be in this together, but that requires everyone to genuinely care about why we’re here in the first place.