Sport cuts across race, religion, age, gender, politics and more. Indeed, the unifying nature of sport is one of its greatest attributes, and one consequence of this is that professional athletes have a diverse and far-reaching platform that can be used to have a substantial positive impact on society.
Using professional sport as a platform to fight for equality and raise awareness for social injustice is not something new: perhaps one of the most iconic images of protest against racial discrimination in the 20th century remains Tommie Smith’ and John Carlos’ controversial raising of a black-gloved fist whilst on the winners’ podium of the 1968 Olympic Games. However, more recently, we have seen a growing number of professional athletes using their profile to raise awareness and initiate change by actions on or off the pitch, including by embracing new forms of social media, and other platforms, to spread their desired messages.
Most recently, be it Euro 2020 or the ongoing T20 World Cup, taking a knee has spread across the sporting world as a statement against racism. 'Taking the knee' is a symbolic statement against racism where an individual kneels upon one knee as against standing in attention during the hoisting of the Flag or the singing of the National Anthem. In minority black communities, taking a knee is a peaceful, respectful method of protest that has been around since the 1780s. It was also widely adopted by the American civil rights movement, when Martin Luther King Jr., undoubtedly the most popular civil rights activist of the 1950s-60s, took the knee in Alabama in 1965 to show solidarity with the protestors. The anti-racist statement has since since then resurfaced as a prominent symbol in sports and during protests. Following the murder of George Flyod in the US, the symbol was emulated internationally in protest against the historic discrimination against people of color.
This symbol entered the world of sports when the American footballer, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem before an NFL game back in 2016. He said he could not stand to show pride in the flag of a country that oppressed black people. The move made him an overnight symbol of the protest and division over race in the US, but it also cost him his NFL career; a story that keeps repeating itself.
The reason that taking a knee has become controversial is that several Conservative groups deem it to be a “political gesture”. They see it as creating a divide and even as a disrespect to the Flag or the National Anthem during which the kneeling takes place. Additionally, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, which is a symbolic leader of these protests, has been known to support radical political stances, like a call to defund the American Police Force, that not every anti-racist person is comfortable with. This poses to many a dilemma of whether or not to participate in protests directly aligned to the movement.
In most instances, this debate has boiled down to the question of what is a ‘reasonable restraint’ on freedom of expression for athletes and sportspersons. Do such symbolic gestures have a place in the world of sports? Do they create a divide on a forum aimed at promoting unity, camaraderie and sportsmanship? Or do they help remedy the sufferings of vulnerable groups that tend to go unnoticed? We will leave you with this, to decide for yourself the role of these conversations in the world of sports.
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