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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKareem Abdul-Jabbar: An open letter to the NFL's owners
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/31/kareem-open-letter-nfl-owners?CMP=share_btn_fbAn open letter to the NFL's owners
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
To deny professional athletes the right to express dissent in a peaceful manner is a disgrace to the Constitution, the opposite of patriotism and shameful moral weakness
Tue 31 Jul 2018 04.00 EDT
Last modified on Tue 31 Jul 2018 10.38 EDT
Whew! What a tumultuous year for your league. Slipping attendance and ratings. Continuing concussion controversy. Lawsuits from cheerleaders who refuse to shut up and smile. Domestic violence accusations against players. The Papa Johns founder mouthing off about something or other. Players taking a national anthem knee (NAK, for short). President Trumps problematic rambling. Commissioner Roger Goodell under siege from, well, everybody. Bet it makes you fellas long for the good old days when all you had to worry about was Janet Jacksons nip slip. Wheres faithful Hodor when you need someone to hold the door against relentless attackers?
Then you made it worse.
In May, you implemented a childish policy about how grown men must respond to the national anthem: a player can stay in the locker room during the anthem, but if he takes the field and then protests, the team and the player can be fined. Oh, Dear Owners. You stood at the precipice of history tasked with deciding whether to choose the principles of the US Constitution over profits of commerce, patriotism over pandering, morality over mob mentality, promoting social justice over pushing beers. Sadly, you blinked. Courage, it seems, is expected only of players.
Now, following the Miami Dolphins channeling of the abusive students in Stanford Prison Experiment by over-punishing protesting players, the May agreement is frozen and new negotiations have begun, this time including the NFL Players Association. A kneejerk reaction came on 26 July when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced he would require all players to stand during the anthem or else. President Trump was not too busy with his tariff wars to claim a personal victory: Way to go Jerry. This is what the league should do! (Too busy to put in that comma after go, though.)
Its been two years since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee to protest systemic racial injustice, especially police brutality, against people of color. The worst thing about that isnt that two years later were still debating whether players have the right to protest, its that not much has changed regarding what Kaepernick was protesting. A 2018 study by Harvard and Stanford economists from the Equality of Opportunity Project concluded that black boys raised by wealthy, two-parent families in upscale neighborhoods still do not have the same earning potential as low-income white boys. As for police brutality and shootings, where President Obama oversaw vast reform of local police departments, President Trump has advised police offers to rough up thugs and Dont be too nice. Although racial minorities are only 37.4% of the population, they account for 62.7% of unarmed people killed by police. Just bad luck? Some studies show that in video game simulations police officers are quicker to shoot black suspects than white suspects, revealing subconscious racial biases. Even after a bad cop is fired, most simply are hired by other police departments. Given all that and much, much more, taking a knee during the national anthem is the epitome of restraint.
Why arent you NFL owners outraged by that? If it were white people suffering those same statistics, you wouldnt even play the national anthem. Then again, you wouldnt have had the opportunity to become owners in the first place.
To be fair, not all you owners have cowered under the false flag of patriotism to hide their shame. New York Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson said the team would not discipline a player who protests and he would pay the leagues fine. Giants co-owner Steve Tisch has also said that his players will not be punished for protesting during the anthem. Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, released a statement vaguely supporting his players right to influence positive change, Jed York, the CEO of the 49ers and the sole abstainee from the May vote, has not elaborated on the clubs policy. Im sure your players appreciate your loyalty to them. The rest of us respect your integrity in the face of political pressure. And there is the $90m the NFL has earmarked for social justice causes over the next seven years.
Ironically, the other owners remind me of the hipster who got a Japanese character tattooed on his neck thinking it said loyalty. but it actually said noodles. They think theyre showing strength, patriotism, and soothing ruffled fan feathers but theyre actually saying noodles. To deny players the right to express their frustration in a peaceful manner is a disgrace to the Constitution, the opposite of patriotism. By compromising ethics to economy, you show moral weakness. And if you think youre appealing to your fan base, you might be doing the opposite: a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 86% of Republicans said it was never OK to take a knee during the national anthem, but only 29% of Democrats agreed. About 69% of African-Americans said protests of the anthem were sometimes acceptable, but only 42% of whites agreed. So, unless you only want to appeal to white Republicans which, given the shifting diversity of the US population is a slow suicide, you are not really reaching the broader fan base.
We all are entitled to our opinions, but when those opinions translate into actions that affect the whole community at large, we have a responsibility to scrutinize those opinions, to hold them to a higher standard of reason. Denying your players their freedom to express their concerns sends a clear message that you dont value your black players values. Youre telling them that they must abide by your white perception of social justice even though you have no experience with the kind of institutional injustice that robs their community of lives, hope and a future. You are owners in that you own the franchise, but you dont own the players or their hearts and minds. Im reminded of the song from protest singer Phil Ochs, Im Gonna Say It Now:
And give me kisses when Im good and spank me when Im bad.
But since Ive left my parents Ive forgotten how to bow,
So when Ive got something to say, sir, Im gonna say it now.
If not now, when?
Yours truly,
Kareem
Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)cultural ambassador for the United States?
Mr.Bill
(24,244 posts)to appoint Dennis Rodman.
Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)AdamGG
(1,287 posts)3rd sentence of the letter.
a kennedy
(29,618 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)Lew Alcindor put UCLA and John Wooden on my basketball radar, and I'm not even keen about basketball.
George II
(67,782 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)He started receiving national coverage when he was a sophomore at UCLA.
One of my son's graduations was held in Pauley Pavilion, and I swear I could hear the echos of greatness still bouncing around inside that hallowed shrine.
George II
(67,782 posts)...at Power Memorial what he did at UCLA - they had a record 71-game winning streak while he was there, and their 1963-1964 team was named the high school team of the century.
But the important thing aside from basketball, he's a wonderful human being.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)As we were among the first to get in it was quiet as we filed into our seats but you could still hear the rafters shouting "Lew, Lew, Lew"
at 5:13 you can see me in the upper left corner (full screen) as I (light shirt) turn to my right to say something to my daughter.
When you listen to Maria Shriver say nice things about the other candidates for office you want to weep at how low they have taken this country.
Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)And a lot of magic happens there beside just athletic events.
My touch with greatness there was insignificant compared to what you witnessed, but pretty cool nevertheless.
After my son's graduation ceremony ended, and we were mulling around, Dan Guerrero, Director of Athletics and head honcho of the whole operation, came up to my son to complement his mortar board art. Turns out he had singled my son out of the crowd because he was sitting mid court, right on top of the court UCLA script logo. He threaded his way around thousands of people just to say he really liked it, and volunteered his own son was a Lego freak, too. His son didn't attend UCLA, but opted for the free ride West Point offered him.
My son transferred his Lego UCLA script art from his high school cap to his UCLA 'True Blue' cap the night before
grantcart
(53,061 posts)klook
(12,152 posts)Great story!
iluvtennis
(19,835 posts)the former players came. I stood next to Kareem and said, I just wanted to see what it felt like to be next to a 7 footer. My 5'&" frame couldn't fathom it.
Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)Hillary Clinton Meets With Cultural Ambassador Kareem Abdul Jabbar At State Dept.
iluvtennis
(19,835 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,374 posts)Kareem is. Jacket buttoned. Obviously custom made suit tailored just for him.
The man is all class, all the way. Unlike the slovenly dressed orange one who never buttons his jacket and wears ill fitting suits, Kareem also writes a terrific letter, of which the orange one is totally incapable.
I cannot wait for that big orange turd to be flushed down the sewer of history where it belongs.
We have to get people out to vote in November. It is a critical point in the history of the country. Republicans need to be flushed from offices at any and every level of government. They cannot be trusted with power. They are showing themselves to all be traitors by not standing up to the orange one in support of The Constitution.
ProfessorGAC
(64,861 posts)Nice piece of work by Kareem.
H2O Man
(73,510 posts)MuseRider
(34,095 posts)Well done sir.
demmiblue
(36,823 posts)Bravo, sir!
Initech
(100,041 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)I remember seeing it at the movies and I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming out of my eyes.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)Gothmog
(144,939 posts)unblock
(52,126 posts)but he sure writes like one.
Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)unblock
(52,126 posts)he's also a bridge player. in truth, i've seen some pretty dim people play bridge, but like chess, it tends to appeal more to smarter people.
Brother Buzz
(36,384 posts)His life after basketball has been rather extraordinary; a true Renaissance Man.
unblock
(52,126 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)And I almost always force myself to lose in chess to just end the game. I can't predict moves especially what someone else is going to do. I know how to play but I don't know how to win.
Kareem Abdul Jabaar did well on Joepardy over 10 years ago. Though I have seen them miss some easy ones like all 3 got a Mike Flynn question wrong recently.
Harker
(13,985 posts)and swish The Skyhook!
Martin Eden
(12,847 posts)K.A.B. was a great player and is a greater human being.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)The piece de resistance. For those unfamiliar with a terrific song by a too-soon-departed troubadour:
spanone
(135,795 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)mountain grammy
(26,598 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,104 posts)recovering_democrat
(224 posts)Well said by a classy athlete.
CatMor
(6,212 posts)I hope every NFL owner reads this letter.
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)MineralMan
(146,262 posts)nobody comes to watch the owners play football. Nobody gives a crap about the owners. The game's the thing. If the players don't take the field, for whatever reason, the game doesn't go on and the money goes away.
The players are holding all of the cards here. If every black football player simply boycotted one Sunday during the season, the message would be heard loud and clear. They haven't quite figured that out yet, but they will.
Many of them make way more money than any of the coaching staff. They are the game, not the owners nor the coaches. They're the gladiators. But, they're not slaves. They're the stars of the whole shebang.
One day soon, there will be a reckoning in professional football.
SallyHemmings
(1,819 posts)I was so furious with Luries milk toast statement, I sent him a fan resignation letter. (After they finally won the Super Bowl).
mahannah
(893 posts)LudwigPastorius
(9,110 posts)...a compassionate intellectual who also happens to have great taste in music.
(Loved the GOT reference, too.)
DDySiegs
(253 posts)Since everything these gutless owners do is for the purpose of keeping their wallets as fat as possible - in fact causing them to get ever fatter. For this they need their players. The players should show unity and let the owners and Roger Goodell know that unless these un-American positions are reversed by the league and the teams, they will go on strike - en masse! That will send a message straight to those billionaire wallets. The owners will find it very hard to ignore, with the whole season at risk for the whole league.
SpankMe
(2,957 posts)So true. So true.
malaise
(268,715 posts)Should be widely covered in the media.
I'm sending this everywhere.
WinstonSmith4740
(3,055 posts)oasis
(49,332 posts)GeoWilliam750
(2,521 posts)RVN VET71
(2,689 posts)Kareem hit that nail squarely on its head.
NFL owners are not only moral cowards, kowtowing to a know-nothing amoral president, but their gesture in response to displays of patriotism on the part of the kneeling players lacks dignity, lacks meaning, and, most of all, substance.
Despite all their posturing, their huffing, their puffing, they're actually saying noodles! I'm going to remember that line -- one of many from Kareem Abdul Jabbar's excellent rejoinder to the spineless, flabby amorality of the NFL's owners.
Gothmog
(144,939 posts)I have some great pictures of the three standing next to each other
EndGOPPropaganda
(1,117 posts)Im proud to be a citizen of the same country as Kareem.
Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)God Bless Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
bmbmd
(3,088 posts)Maybe kneel in the huddle?
panader0
(25,816 posts)coach in Chinle on the Navaho rez in '98.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/01/sports/basketball/navajo-nation-raul-mendoza-arizona.html
keepleft101
(82 posts)Just saying
PatrickforO
(14,559 posts)If it gets the attention it deserves, perhaps it will help in the overall cause of social justice. Because Kareem is right - if the kind of stuff that has been happening all along to black people was happening to the families of these owners, they wouldn't even be playing the anthem.
Cha
(296,867 posts)I hope there will be more patriots like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who will speak out!
Persondem
(1,936 posts)DFW
(54,302 posts)But he was also a good university student before he became a pro athlete, so this should not come as a complete surprise. He could certainly teach a thing or two to the vast army of Republican ignorants out there who somehow still think plurals are formed with an apostrophe, although there is not one elementary school in the English-speaking world that has ever taught that.