AOC: NBA players are courageously on strike (withholding labor), NOT boycotting

[melman]

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[msongs]

1. what words are used by the players? nt

[jorgevlorgan]

3. I've seen both terms used

But they are withholding their labor(striking), not withholding their money to purchase a good or service (boycotting).

[George II]

7. See post #6 for the definition of "boycott".

[jorgevlorgan]

18. Fair enough.

Perhaps both words fit, then?

[George II]

19. You're right, they're not interchangeable but either is may be appropriate in this situation...

Certainly not worth making an issue of it with the Washington Post, especially with all the truly important things going on in America these days.

[greenjar_01]

2. The deep fear the plutes have of calling it a strike is actually quite funny

They're out here making fools of themselves.

[demosincebirth]

4. She should not use the word "labor."

[theaocp]

13. What would be an acceptable alternative? n/t

[demosincebirth]

15. Sports is entertainment, surely not labor.

[theaocp]

17. I guess I see them as the labor

For the league.

[JI7]

5. Doesn't a Strike imply their issue is with their Bosses and what they get Paid ?

But this is not the case. It's not their own jobs they are taking issue with here.

They are using their power as players (and ones that can't be easily replaced) to deny their "service" as a way protest the racism with laws enforcement.

[George II]

9. Yes, employees strike AGAINST their employer or organization for which they "work"....

In this case it's a protest against an incident that happened just south of their city.

[George II]

6. I'll leave it up to the players, who have taken this bold stance, to describe what they did....

....and are doing.

Here's the definition of "boycott":

https://www.google.com/search?q=boycott+definition&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS725US725&oq=boycott+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57.3674j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

"withdraw from commercial or social relations (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest."

Seems like it's a boycot, precisely as the Washington Post said:

"Milwaukee Bucks become first NBA team to boycott playoff game to protest social injustice"

By the way, CNN also described it as a boycott:

[Trumpocalypse]

8. Well here is the definition of the word strike

a refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest,

[JI7]

10. From what some people said they might purposely be avoiding the use of the term "strike"

because of their contracts .

[George II]

11. Seems like just about everyone is calling it a boycott....

Strikes are called to protest working conditions and/or pay. The Milwaukee Bucks, in their boycott, were protesting neither.

Boycott: NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS Teams Call Off Games As Players Protest Racial Injustice

https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/08/26/boycott-nba-playoff-protest-police-brutality

Blazers, Timbers join pro sports boycott to protest shooting of Jacob Blake

The Milwaukee Bucks did not take the floor for their NBA playoff game Wednesday, setting off a wide-ranging boycott of professional sports after police shot and paralyzed a Wisconsin man.

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/26/bc-bkn-racial-injustice-nba/

Milwaukee Bucks players make statement on boycott

There had been only one players’ boycott of an NBA game in the league’s history: In 1961, Bill Russell and some (not all) Boston Celtics sat out a game to protest racial injustice.

Nearly 50 years later, we are still having the same discussion as a nation. And NBA teams are still making a statement. The Milwaukee Bucks voted to boycott their playoff game Wednesday against the Orlando Magic. Soon there was a domino effect and all of Wednesday’s NBA slate had been postponed.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/08/26/milwaukee-bucks-players-make-statement-on-boycott/

[Trumpocalypse]

12. And there was a time when everyone said

the earth was flat. Didn’t make it accurate.

[Celerity]

14. the panel on Morning Joe called it (approvingly) a strike, as did many other media outlets

I think if AOC tweeted the sky is blue, water is wet, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that there would still be replies that would try and paint her as wrong.

#ohsopredictable

[malaise]

16. She is correct

Rec