True Left

Politics => News => Topic started by: 90sRetroFan on July 03, 2020, 11:32:39 pm


Title: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 03, 2020, 11:32:39 pm
OLD CONTENT

In the news recently, unhinged reactionaries are burning shoes in a protest against those who protest racism, and a certain CEO who is too cheap to pay for basic healthcare for his employees has been ousted from the company he founded after complaining uppity NFL players are costing him profits (although, his outburst probably cost the company more money, considering they are no longer an official sponsor of the NFL).

Although rightists don't want to acknowledge it, it is painfully obvious why these athletes are using their time in the spotlight to protest (and why they have something to protest about in the first place):

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As the Guardian’s series on race and sports starts today – and we mark two years since Colin Kaepernick first knelt during the national anthem – I am reminded that whenever an NBA player comes close to shattering one of my dusty old records, eager journalists contact me to ask how I feel. Here’s how I feel: At the time I set those records – most points scored, most blocked shots, most MVP awards, blah, blah, blah – I celebrated them because they confirmed that all my hard work and discipline since childhood was effective in me achieving my goal of becoming the best possible athlete.

But that wasn’t my only goal. The even greater significance those records had to me then, and has to me even more now, is in providing a platform to keep the discussion of social inequalities – whether racial, gender-related, or economic – alive and vibrant so that we may come together as a nation and fix them. Historically, that has been the greatness of the American spirit: we don’t flinch at identifying our own faults and using our moral fortitude and ingenuity to become a better nation. In honoring that spirit, I pay tribute to two of my most important mentors, UCLA coach John Wooden and Muhammad Ali. It is Ali’s voice I often hear in my head: “When you saw me in the boxing ring fighting, it wasn’t just so I could beat my opponent. My fighting had a purpose. I had to be successful in order to get people to listen to the things I had to say.” All sports records will inevitably be broken, but the day after they are, the world won’t have changed. But every day you speak up about injustice, the next day the world may be just a little better for someone.

Sports is the most popular form of entertainment, with Americans spending about $56bn on sports events last year, compared to about $11bn on movies. Seventy-two percent of 18- to 29-year-olds consider themselves sports fans, as do a majority of those older. This level of popularity has made sports more than just entertainment, it’s also part of our national identity, a source of inspiration for personal achievement, and a means to teach our children valuable lessons about teamwork and social ethics. For African Americans, sports has all those values – but it also has some extra implications.

For people of color, professional sports has always been a mirror of America’s attitude toward race: as long as black players were restricted from taking the field, then the rest of black Americans would never truly be considered equal, meaning they would not be given equal educational or employment opportunities. Even after they were permitted to play, sports has been the public face of America, not what we sentimentally profess to believe when waving flags on the Fourth of July, but of our actual daily behavior. That is why whatever happens in sports regarding race, plays out on the national stage. Right now, sports may be the best hope for change regarding racial disparity because it has the best chance of informing white Americans of that disparity and motivating them to act.

The problem is that this is not the message that those who profit from disparity want the public to hear.

Over the years, I have participated in some of these protests. In 1967, when I was only 20, I was the youngest member of the Cleveland Summit, a gathering of black athletes tasked with determining the sincerity of Ali’s claim of being a conscientious objector. In 1968, a few months after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, I had been invited to play on the Olympic men’s basketball team. I was torn because I knew that joining the team would signal that I supported the way people of color were being treated in America – which I didn’t. But not joining the team could look like I didn’t love America – which I did. Instead, I chose to teach kids in New York City how to play basketball and why they should stay in school. My decision not to play resulted in hate mail calling me, among other things, “an ungrateful ****”. That word, “ungrateful,” is the key to understanding what angers those who are so incensed at players’ protests. They want black athletes to be grateful that they’ve been given a seat at the table and to therefore ignore their brothers and sisters who have little hope of achieving that kind of success.

But I am even more energized and hopeful when I see those same athletes speak out against injustices because I know that in doing so, they are risking the careers that they spent their whole lives working towards. Their willingness to risk everything in order to give voice to the powerless – despite all efforts to silence them – makes me proud as an athlete and as an American. As Mark Twain once said, “[T]rue patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.” Athletes who speak out are proclaiming their loyalty to a constitution that demands equality and inclusiveness, not to the government officials who try to undermine those ideals by silencing its critics.

www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/aug/28/notes-from-an-ungrateful-athlete-why-race-and-sports-matter-in-america


It has been 50 years since another recognizable sports protest, but little has changed.

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Tommie Smith was once among the fastest men on Earth. During his sprinting career, he held 13 world records (11 of them simultaneously). He set the most famous of these on October 16, 1968, when his 19.83-second 200-meter dash at the Mexico City Olympics earned him a gold medal. His countryman and college teammate John Carlos won the bronze. When the two Americans mounted the podium to receive their medals, “The Star-Spangled Banner” blaring over the stadium speakers, each bowed his head and raised a black-gloved fist—Smith’s right, Carlos’s left. Around the stadium, jaws dropped and cameras flashed. Their protest, which was interpreted by many viewers as a Black Power salute, remains one of the most iconic images in the history of sports.

Smith was born in 1944, the seventh of 12 children. His father was a sharecropper, first in Texas and then in California; Smith grew up picking cotton and grapes when he wasn’t in the classroom. In high school, he played basketball and won a scholarship to San Jose State University, where he contemplated becoming a three-sport athlete before settling on track. San Jose’s team was at the time amassing top talent, earning it the nickname “Speed City.” Smith thrived, tying two world records—the 200-meter dash and the 220-yard straightaway—in his sophomore year.

Immediately after running those races, Smith headed to a protest march he knew about through a student athlete turned activist named Harry Edwards, with whom Smith had bonded over a mutual respect for education (“You can’t eat speed,” Smith recalls Edwards telling him). It was 1965, and the civil-rights movement was in full swing; inspired by Malcolm X, Edwards had decided to organize student athletes to protest racial disparities at San Jose State. Smith was an early and staunch supporter of Edwards’s movement, which quickly grew beyond campus. In 1967, as the Mexico City Olympics approached, Edwards formed the Olympic Project for Human Rights with a handful of athletes. The group threatened an athlete boycott of the Games—though Edwards says its real goal “was to change the total perception and understanding of the role that sports played in black life in this country.”

The athletes ultimately decided to attend the Olympics, clearing the way for Smith and Carlos to win their respective medals and stage their demonstration. The protest was meticulously thought out: The men wore scarves to symbolize lynching; black socks and no shoes to symbolize poverty; and gloves, Smith has said, to represent “freedom and power; equality.” They also had on Olympic Project for Human Rights pins, as did the silver medalist, a white Australian named Peter Norman, in solidarity.

When Smith and Carlos raised their fists, the stadium and the world went quiet. “For a few seconds, you honestly could have heard a frog **** on cotton,” Carlos wrote in his autobiography. “There’s something awful about hearing fifty thousand people go silent, like being in the eye of a hurricane.”

The shunning that followed the silence was even more difficult to bear. Both Smith and Carlos were barred from future international competition, effectively ending their sprinting careers. “I never would know how fast I could have become,” Smith later wrote in his memoir. “I would have just turned 28 by the time of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and everyone has seen what runners like Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson have done as they matured.” Back home, the men were ostracized not just by white Americans but by many black people who feared being associated with them. Hate mail and death threats piled up. Smith got one letter telling him to “go back to Africa,” complete with a fake plane ticket. “I was knocked verbally and financially,” Smith told me.

After graduating from San Jose State, Smith was able to find only sporadic employment, including a brief stint on the Cincinnati Bengals’ backup squad. Smith says he could barely afford to supply his infant son with formula during this period, and the resulting stress contributed to the dissolution of his first marriage. He eventually was hired as the track coach and an instructor at Santa Monica College—positions he would hold for more than two decades—but he continued to struggle. As his second marriage was falling apart, in the mid-’90s, he was robbed of tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry and memorabilia.

By then, his notoriety seemed to be fading to anonymity. Delois, his wife, told me that when she met Smith, in the late ’90s, she had no idea who he was. (Her daughters had to look him up online.)

Kaino helped arrange for Smith to meet Kaepernick last fall, an encounter that was filmed for a documentary portion of their collaboration. “He knew about the stand in Mexico City,” Smith told me proudly. “He was on his knee and I was on my feet, but we represent the same thing. The brutality, inequality.”

After the 1968 Olympics, Smith was called a militant and his act was labeled an expression of black power—descriptions he’s been trying to shake for decades. He bristles at the mention of the Black Panthers (though Edwards, the San Jose State activist, was a member), and he insists that his protest was about human rights broadly. “I never focused solely on blacks to the extent that everything else was secondary,” he has written. “I did not want my participation to be about only one kind of people.”
Like Smith, Kaepernick has been vilified and unable to find a job (he’s suing the NFL for colluding against him). Nonetheless, Smith believes that Kaepernick’s actions could prove more impactful than shorter-lived protests by other African American athletes over the past 50 years—among them the basketball players Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in the 1990s. “You just keep working, it will happen,” Smith told me. “I’m not broken to a point that I can’t move forward. Colin Kaepernick is going to be the same way.”

Perhaps needless to say, Smith was not invited to the White House in 1968, as many Olympians are. But in 2016 (shortly before Kaepernick first took a knee), President Obama saw fit to belatedly honor Smith by having him visit; Kaino and Delois came along. As a gift, they brought Obama a drawing of Smith passing a baton during a world-record-setting 4x400-meter relay race. On the back, Smith wrote, in part: “Most importantly, the ‘Baton’ was not dropped.”

Smith returned to the White House again later that year with the U.S. Olympic team, but says that he won’t be visiting the current president. The baton has, in his view, been dropped. “But it didn’t roll out of the lane,” he added. “You can pick it up.”

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/tommie-smith-1968-50-years-later/568294/

In True Left spirit, protestors like these bravely risk their entire careers in order for their efforts to have as wide of an impact on society as possible. To protest against injustice and ensure the baton of the American Dream is not dropped, an individual cannot just remain silent, be "grateful", and take the money.

Malcolm X used the metaphor of the house slave vs. the field slave to illustrate the divide between oppressed individuals who were "grateful" for the luxury they received (and hence did not desire to 'rock the boat') vs. those who hated oppression to such a degree that they would risk their lives for it to end. As we can see from the current wave of sports protests, both attitudes are alive and well in the US.

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"Colin has to make up his mind whether he's truly an activist or he's a football player," Brown said. "Football is commercial. You have owners. You have fans. And you want to honor that if you're making that kind of money. ...

"You have to understand there's intelligence that's involved, OK? I can't be two things at once that contradict each other. If I sign for money, then the people I sign with, they have rules and regulations."

www.thepostgame.com/jim-brown-colin-kaepernick-activist-flag-anthem

(Spoiler alert, Kaepernick has decided that he is the only owner of his soul, and that standing up for Americans who do not have a voice is more important than remaining silent to collect a paycheck).

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www.huffpost.com/entry/megan-rapinoe-trump-disgusting-attack-four-congresswomen_n_5d3393b4e4b004b6adb0c63a

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Outspoken World Cup soccer star Megan Rapinoe blasted President Donald Trump’s comments calling on four progressive congresswomen of color to get out of the U.S. But Rapinoe also said she was energized by the backlash against Trump.

“It’s disgusting, to be honest,” Rapinoe said Saturday on The Van Jones Show on CNN, referring to Trump’s tweets against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.). “To say it’s disappointing ... doesn’t even come close.”

She also called Trump’s “send her back” chant — referring to Omar, the only one of the lawmakers not born in the U.S. — “sad and disgusting and despicable” in an interview published Saturday in The Charlotte Observer.

She added: “I think we’re one step away from just saying a racial slur on national television from the president of the United States. At every step it’s shocking. I hope people don’t stop being shocked by it all, because it’s truly the worst of the worst.”

But the co-captain and star midfielder of the world champion U.S. women’s national soccer team also told Jones that she was heartened by the negative reaction to Trump’s racism. The House voted to condemn his message — and Omar returned to cheers at the airport back home in Minnesota earlier this week.

“The more that we ... are upset about it and don’t accept that kind of behavior from all sides, then the better place we’re going to be,” Rapinoe said on CNN.
...
Asked by The Charlotte Observer if Trump crossed a line telling the congresswomen to get out of the country, Rapinoe responded: “All the lines were crossed forever ago for Donald Trump, dating back to birtherism.”

Rapinoe rocketed into the political arena when she was recorded in an interview before the World Cup saying there was no way she’d visit the “**** White House” if invited. She has called Trump a racist and misogynist, and said he “doesn’t fight for the same things we fight for,” referring to her teammates.

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www.foxnews.com/sports/us-fencer-takes-knee-in-protest-at-pan-am-games

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“We must call for change,” Imboden said afterward on Twitter. “This week I am honored to represent Team USA at the Pan Am Games, taking home Gold and Bronze.”

“My pride however has been cut short by the multiple shortcomings of the country I hold so dear to my heart,” he said. “Racism, Gun Control, mistreatment of immigrants.”

Firstly, thank you.

Secondly, if racism is a problem (and I agree it is), then victims of racism need to own guns and be willing to use them against racists. If mistreatment of immigrants is a problem (and I agree it is), then immigrants need to own guns and be willing to use them against ICE/CBP.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 03, 2020, 11:37:39 pm
OLD CONTENT contd.

Good advice:

sports.yahoo.com/mario-balotelli-racist-abuse-verona-brescia-italy-soccer-171939632.html

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The latest incident, just like so many before it, occurred in Italy. Early in the second half of a Serie A match between Hellas Verona and Brescia, Verona fans hurled abuse at Brescia striker Mario Balotelli. Balotelli, who has been subjected to racism dozens (and likely hundreds) of times throughout his career, snapped as he dribbled toward the corner – and into earshot of the crowd. With the ball still in play, he picked it up and punted it into the stands.

What happened next is complicated, and unknowable from afar. The referee pulled out his yellow card, but never actually issued it. Players from both teams confronted Balotelli in varying fashions.

Balotelli himself looked like he had had enough. Looked like he wanted to walk off. Teammates and opponents appeared to try to convince him to stay. A few appeared to console him. Those heated pleas turned into tense, serious discussions over a four-minute-plus delay, during which a statement was reportedly read over the stadium’s public address system.

While the PA announcer reportedly condemned the racist chants, neither Balotelli nor any other player left the field during the stoppage.

And therein lies the problem.

Players – the majority of whom were white – wanted the game to go on. The referee wanted the game to go on. Italian soccer authorities presumably wanted the game to go on. Fans surely did.

None of them empathized with Balotelli. If they did, none had the courage to act upon their empathy. It appeared that the purpose of their conversations with him after the incident was to console him and calm him, rather than to stand with him. In doing so, they left him to fight racism alone. They sided with a sport that turns a blind eye to racism instead of siding with a peer who was suffering from it.

That’s what has to change.

Neither Italy nor Europe instantaneously developed a racism problem in recent years. Rather, players have begun exposing it. Talking openly about it. Walking off fields in response to it. Their actions are courageous and meaningful. They should, at some point, affect change.

But they need help. Help from those whose lives aren’t impacted by racism on a daily basis. Help beyond brief suspensions of games. They need allies. They need white players to put their arms around them and walk off fields with them, en masse, rather than convince them to play on.

The Balotellis and Kalidou Koulibalys and Raheem Sterlings of the soccer world deserve to be lauded. Their willingness to fight rather than fall in line, as the white majority wants them to do, is remarkable. It represents progress. But without more support from the majority, it will soon become an illusion of progress.

Because while incidents like Sunday’s continue to make headlines, they don’t provoke meaningful responses. Hellas Verona won the match and picked up three points. They won’t be docked any. Their players will be happy. The club will be happy.

The game will go on, and therefore racism will go on, until Balotelli’s teammates and opponents – and their equivalents around the world – decide it won’t.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPZirZgOAqc

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www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1205066?cid=eml_nbn_20200512

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NFL star Malcolm Jenkins, who co-founded the coalition with retired wide receiver Anquan Boldin, told NBC News that the request for federal intervention also carries a greater purpose.

"The sad truth is that Ahmaud's case isn't unique at all," Jenkins said. "He is a representation of the ongoing level of distrust that a large part of our communities have in law enforcement and elected officials and the importance of placing reform like-minded people in office who will uphold the highest standards of the law for everyone, regardless of color."
...
Arbrey's death has resonated with Jenkins and others who say they see themselves in his shoes. He said that as a black man — regardless of his status as a pro athlete — he understands the burden of being scrutinized and the implicit bias of others when he's out in public.

"Everyday. Walking the dog, taking out the trash, just walking through my own neighborhood, you always must be conscious of what you look like," he said. "People should not have to worry about the color of their skin or gender to go out for a run in their own neighborhood."
...
enkins said the video apparently showing Arbery locked in a physical struggle with Travis McMichael was hard to watch.

"Any human being who has seen the video should connect to Ahmaud," he said. "That said, it is an extremely hard pill to swallow as a black person to watch yet another black body be shot down in the middle of the street. But the most infuriating thing is, as you mourn the loss of a life, is to have their murder justified by white fear and self-defense."
...
"The anger and frustration being expressed by professional athletes and people of color all over the country stems from a centuries-long thread of violence against the black body that goes without consequence or justice," he said. "This has been going on since emancipation."

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https://sports.yahoo.com/why-nfl-players-kneel-reason-1-million-athletes-add-voices-death-of-black-man-in-police-custody-195251764.html

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAq3fpCgyve/?utm_source=ig_embed

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www.yahoo.com/news/lewis-hamilton-completely-overcome-rage-054200670.html

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Lewis Hamilton has explained the feeling behind his passionate outburst over Formula One’s silence against racism, with the reigning world champion saying that he has been “completely overcome with rage” at the sight of George Floyd’s death in the United States and saying that people of Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity backgrounds should “not feel as though we were born guilty”.

The six-time F1 world champion has taken a vocal stance against racism, having previously spoken of the sport’s white-male dominated industry given he is the only black driver to have competed, and this week he has broadened his outrage over racial inequality following the disturbing death of African-American Floyd.
...
Having seen the fallout from Floyd’s death increase the spotlight on racial inequality, Hamilton spoke out again on Tuesday night to explain why he feels so strongly on the subject, having suffered from racial abuse during his F1 career - most notably in 2008 when fans in Spain dressed up in black face and taunted him with monkey chants.

"This past week has been so dark, I have failed to keep hold of my emotions," Hamilton wrote to his millions of Twitter followers. "I have felt so much anger, sadness and disbelief in what my eyes have seen.

"I am completely overcome with rage at the sight of such blatant disregard for the lives of our people. The injustice that we are seeing our brothers and sisters face all over the world time and time again is disgusting, and MUST stop.

“So many people seem surprised, but to us unfortunately, it is not surprising. Those of us who are black, brown or in between, see it everyday and should not have to feel as though we were born guilty, don’t belong, or fear for our lives based on the colour of our skin. Will Smith said it best, racism is not getting worse, it’s being filmed. Only now that the world is so well equipped with cameras has the issue been able to come to light in such a big way.

“It is only when there are riots and screams for justice that the powers that be cave in and do something, but by then it is far too late and not enough has been done. It took hundreds of thousands of peoples complaints and buildings to burn before officials reacted and decided to arrest Derek Chauvin for murder, and that is sad.

“Unfortunately, America is not the only place where racism lives and we continue to fail as humans when we cannot stand up for what is right. Please do not sit in silence, no matter the colour of your skin. Black Lives Matter #blackouttuesday.”

On Sunday night, Hamilton called out the rest of the F1 grid and the sport itself for remaining silent on Floyd’s death, which prompted a number of drivers to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

F1 finally broke its silence on the issue on Tuesday night, with the official Twitter account posting a message that read: "We stand with you, and all people in the fight against racism. It is an evil that no sport or society is truly immune from.

"And it is only together we can oppose it and eradicate it. Together we are stronger."

---

https://sports.yahoo.com/le-bron-james-turns-laura-ingraham-shut-up-and-dribble-into-a-statement-on-police-brutality-002829456.html

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Meanwhile in Turandom:

www.kxan36news.com/ukrainian-football-fans-unfurl-free-derek-chauvin-banner-in-support-of-ex-cop-charged-with-killing-george-floyd

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www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2020/06/17/texas-a-m-qb-kellen-mond-advocates-removal-sully-statue/3204526001/

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Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond tweeted Tuesday night in support of removing a statue of former president Lawrence Sullivan Ross. The statue is known as "Sully" and has been on campus since 1919.

"LET'S NOT FORGET SULLY," Mond captioned his statement.

Ross, president at Texas A&M from 1891-1898, was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army and has faced claims of mistreatment of Black and indigenous people in Texas.

Mond's statement reminded its readers of these specific instances and noted that his role in building the university does not excuse that.

"That is like saying someone who murders half of a family, but gives the other half of the family millions of dollars and resources to be successful for the rest of their lives, should be forgiven by the family," Mond wrote of people who forgive Ross based on his university role. "Based on your ideology, not only should you forgive the murderer, but you should also glorify the murderer."
...
Mond concluded his statement by saying, "The values of Texas A&M University do not align with RACISM, VIOLENCE, SLAVERY & SEGREGATION, but (head coach) Jimbo Fisher's most prominent statement will always stick with me: 'Your actions speak so loud I can't hear what you're saying.' The Lawrence Sullivan Ross Statue NEEDS to be removed. Texas A&M University, I NEED to see action."
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 03, 2020, 11:41:07 pm
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-to-play-black-national-anthem-lift-evry-voice-and-sing-before-star-spangled-banner-at-week-1/

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/26/us/matt-rhule-panthers-nfl-anthem-spt-trnd/index.html

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Carolina Panthers coach becomes 2nd to say he may kneel alongside his players

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nba-black-lives-matter-courts/

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NBA reportedly plans to paint "Black Lives Matter" on courts when season resumes
...
"Black Lives Matter" would be painted on the court inside both sidelines in all three arenas, ESPN reported.  The WNBA is also in discussions to do the same when they begin their shortened season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.


NBA reportedly plans to paint "Black Lives Matter" on courts when season resumes

By Christopher Brito

June 30, 2020 / 1:20 PM / CBS News

The NBA is planning on painting "Black Lives Matter" on courts when the season restarts in late July, ESPN reported Monday. The league and the players' union, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), reportedly agreed on highlighting the movement at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

The death of George Floyd has pushed Black Lives Matter to the forefront, inspiring protests that included some current players. As NBA leadership and its players were in discussions to return playing, some stars brought up the possibility of not playing to retain the focus on social justice issues. Now, according to the report, the NBA will use the hardwood to keep the spotlight on the movement.

"Black Lives Matter" would be painted on the court inside both sidelines in all three arenas, ESPN reported.  The WNBA is also in discussions to do the same when they begin their shortened season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
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The report also said some WNBA players are considering wearing warm-up shirts with "Say Her Name" to draw attention to female victims of police brutality, including Breonna Taylor. She was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky by officers conducting a drug investigation in March while she was sleeping.

In addition, the NBA and the players' union are working together on uniforms with personalized social justice messages on the back of the players' jerseys, rather than their last names, according to ESPN.

Every initiative helps!
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 13, 2020, 01:04:41 pm
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/motorsports/news/lewis-hamilton-anti-racism-messages/1lrovznkmhgqa1mgiyaj14l84d

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Hamilton, the circuit's only Black driver, first took a knee prior to the competition's return last week amid the coronavirus pandemic. While Hamilton kneeled, six drivers decided to stand. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen, Carlos Sainz Jr. Daniil Kvyat and Antonio Giovinazzi were those who remained standing.

Sunday showed a repeat of those actions, with drivers continuing to stand alongside a kneeling Hamilton.

"The drivers spoke after the drivers' briefing this weekend about what we intended to do and some were asking, 'Why do we have to continue to do this?'," Hamilton said via AFP News. "Some felt like once was enough last week.

"I just had to encourage them that racism is here, going to be here and probably be here longer than our time here — and people of color, who are subject to racism, don't have time to take a moment to protest and that be it. We've really got to think, as a sport, what we can do because those are nice signs, but passion is needed."

While some drivers — such as LeClerc and Verstappen — who didn't take a knee prior to the Syrian GP explained their actions (or lack thereof), there is more than a bit of a disconnect among Hamilton and some of F1.

While Hamilton is calling for a better anti-racism focus, Sunday's broadcast of the Syrian GP — a race which Hamilton won comfortably — drew heavy criticism from viewers, when cameras cut away from the pre-match gesture and messages of anti-racism.

https://twitter.com/theamzi/status/1282299210260459521
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 27, 2020, 11:09:45 pm
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29549338/nfl-stencil-end-racism-takes-all-us-end-zone-borders-kickoff-week

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As part of the NFL's ongoing commitment to social justice programs, the messages "It Takes All of Us" and "End Racism" will be stenciled on all end zone borders for home openers, the league office informed clubs on Monday in a memo obtained by ESPN.
...
The memo also confirms that players will have the option to wear helmet decals honoring victims of systemic racism.

"Each player will have the option to honor an individual by displaying that person's name via a decal on the back of their helmet," the memo said. "Players will be offered a list of names and short biographical information to help guide their decision-making, however, they can also select a victim of systemic racism who is not represented on this list."

If coaches desire, they can honor victims of systemic racism by wearing patches on their hats.

Nice!
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on August 05, 2020, 12:34:22 am
A different angle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INxGbTHybvc
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest5 on August 11, 2020, 11:19:14 pm
Trump: NBA Players Are "Nasty and Dumb"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw-u0xiVqII
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on September 19, 2020, 11:23:26 pm
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/ufc-star-works-black-lives-matter-every-answer-las-vegas-press-conference-b475134.html

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UFC fighter Tyron Woodley had just one point to make at a Thursday press conference: "Black Lives Matter."

The former welterweight champion showed up to his UFC Vegas 11 presser wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and a red hat emblazoned with the words "Make Racists Catch the Fade Again" in the same style as President Donald Trump's famous "Make America Great" caps.

Woodley kept his answers brief and pointed, answering every reporter’s question with a variation of his chosen message.

"I'm just excited that Black Lives Matter," the 38-year-old said when asked about meeting his longtime rival, and noted Trump supporter, Colby Covington at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

"I feel like, you know, a victory here just really shows how much Black Lives Matter," he said in response to another reporter's question.

When asked if there was anything specific that he wanted to say about the Black Lives Matter movement, Woodley straightforwardly replied, "Just the fact that Black Lives Matter. I think it's pretty simple."

Every little bit helps.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on October 26, 2020, 11:00:11 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWLj2-a6FLI
Title: Re: Diplomatic decolonization
Post by: guest5 on December 09, 2020, 09:00:58 pm
Racism allegations rock CL game
Quote
PSG and Istanbul Basaksehir teams walk out mid-game during UEFA Champions League match after Turkish side assistant manager Webo accused fourth official of using racist language
https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugxo3P7bIa_mfKl_lIx4AaABCQ
(https://yt3.ggpht.com/6qsVOK21SpZUatv0ZB7N2gV0wNk0rHlmDTmerVmiItOC3zZh-aXc4Y4jogXDMCDCCPIvRpD4JzSs=s640-nd)

Quote
Muhammad Bilal
14 hours ago
Now a days this is normal hypocrisy of EU countries.
Quote
Astana Vista
17 hours ago
Freedom of speech, i think it is what it is.
Just P A T H E T I C
Quote
Astana Vista
17 hours ago
@Visum Europe's attitude along with France towards others who doesn't share the same color and religion, yet I am not judgin them cuz they are doing what their ancestors did.
Quote
Alexander Jacobian
13 hours ago
@Astana Vista exactly, all sadness and misery on this planet is because of their ugly disgusting greedy behavior, they are simply demons with good looking appearance
Quote
Antonio Bruno
6 hours ago
@Alexander Jacobian You act like Africans, Arabs and other groups can’t be greedy and racist. Anything you consider “greedy” that we’ve done. You would’ve done the same, we just beat you to it.

Quote
Numinous Sun
1 second ago
@Antonio Bruno You ignorant fool no other civilization attempted to colonize the non-western world and never would. Colonialism is a purely western phenomenon.
Quote
Numinous Sun
1 second ago
@Alexander Jacobian They only look good to non-western people because western colonialism has left non-westerners with low self-esteem.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on January 07, 2021, 04:37:51 am
https://us.yahoo.com/sports/election-wnba-appreciation-raphael-warnock-defeats-kelly-loeffler-us-senate-runoff-georgia-150907967.html

Quote
Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler will no longer serve in the U.S. Senate, a conclusion to months of heated campaigning that prompted Dream players and WNBA stars to publicly support her opponent.

Loeffler, a Republican, lost the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia in a race called early Wednesday morning by the Associated Press. She was appointed to the seat in January 2020 and had to run in a special election on Nov. 3. It went to a runoff since no one had 50 percent of the vote.

Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, was declared the winner on Wednesday. He had a 35,000-vote lead with 97 percent of the vote counted.

The WNBA did that. Warnock was polling at 9 percent at the beginning of August when the WNBA players began supporting him with T-shirts and interview mentions. Loeffler, who drew their ire by speaking out against the support of the Black Lives Matter movement, was polling at 26 percent at the time.

Their activism has not stopped since that moment in the WNBA bubble, which led to the league’s inclusion as one of Yahoo Sports’ Transcendent 12 athletes in 2020. As results came in late Tuesday and into Wednesday, the sports world gave their appreciation to the league and its players on Twitter and celebrated the victory.
...
The rest of the sports world gave the WNBA some love and appreciation, particularly the Dream and the reigning champion Seattle Storm. Veteran superstar and four-time champion Sue Bird helped lead the way to wearing “Vote Warnock” shirts after and explained their stance on the ESPN broadcast that night. They spoke with Warnock on a video call to make sure their values aligned. Every other team wore the shirts in a calculated response and none of the players spoke Loeffler’s name in interviews the rest of the season.

A lot of tweets in the original article, check them out!
Title: Re: Cancel Culture
Post by: guest5 on January 12, 2021, 01:45:47 pm
Bill Belichick Declines Medal Of Freedom From Trump
Quote
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick declined to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday after last week's deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3guP-0VZ5Q8
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest5 on January 19, 2021, 11:30:25 pm
Enes Kanter Raises Awareness of Factory Farms Conditions
Quote
Enes Kanter hopes people will consider plant-based diets in order to curb the spread of infectious disease.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7BB1NiFJGE
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest5 on January 24, 2021, 02:14:05 pm
Ronaldo reportedly rejects lucrative offer to promote Saudi tourism
Quote
Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly rejected a multi-million-dollar deal to promote tourism in Saudi Arabia. #Ronaldo​ #Messi​ #MBS​
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FsY34X9GkY
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest5 on February 12, 2021, 12:11:32 am
Mark Cuban Directs Mavericks To Stop Playing National Anthem
Quote
Mark Cuban is directing the national anthem not be played at Mavericks games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIZkIt1CJQ

Quote
Brian Cayanan
2 hours ago
I’m utterly Shockled. Not in all my years of being a semi proud American did I not take the time to wiki the National anthem. Holy jfc those words will never even mumble out my mouth ever again!!!
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: acc9 on March 03, 2021, 04:43:07 am
https://www.nba.com/news/jeremy-lin-asian-americans-tired-of-being-told-they-dont-experience-racism

Jeremy Lin speaks out on racism....
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest5 on March 13, 2021, 01:58:19 pm
Company cancels World Cup contract after migrant workers' deaths on construction sites | DW News
Quote
Dutch Company 'Hendriks Gras' has canceled its deal for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. That's following media reports that more than 6,500 migrant workers have died on construction sites. Supplying the grass for the World Cup pitch is usually a dream job for businesses in the turf industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52ucOyk_UOE
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: Zea_mays on March 14, 2021, 05:36:25 pm
This is why we protest. Even random sports announcers are white supremacists.
Quote
Moments before the start of a girl's high school basketball game between Norman High School and Midwest City in the Oklahoma 6A State Basketball Tournament on Thursday night, a broadcaster used a racial slur while making comments about Norman players taking a knee during the national anthem.

The man on the call for the National Federation of High Schools Network's online broadcast of the game has been identified as Matt Rowan, who operates the live-streaming platform that broadcasted the game.. Before using the slur on the call, he announced that the broadcast would be back after the national anthem performance. But his microphone was not off.

While believing the broadcast was on a break, the announcer said,"F-- them. I hope they lose," after seeing the Norman players not standing during the national anthem. "C'mon Midwest City. They're gonna kneel like that? Hell no ... F---ing n-----s."

So racism is a mental illness I guess?
Quote
Rowan released a statement in which he blamed his comments on having Type 1 Diabetes.

"I will state I suffer Type 1 Diabetes and during the game my sugar was spiking," Rowan said. "While not excusing my remarks, it is not unusual when my sugar spikes that I become disoriented and often say things that are not appropriate as well as hurtful."
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/announcer-directs-racial-slur-at-high-school-girls-basketball-team-for-kneeling-during-national-anthem/
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on March 27, 2021, 10:21:56 pm
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/naomi-osaka-shares-stopasianhate-message-214528405.html

Quote
Naomi Osaka is condemning anti-Asian hate.

On Saturday, the 23-year-old professional tennis player, who is both Japanese and Haitian, shared a message on Twitter, calling out those who "profit or enjoy" various aspects of Asian culture but do not stand with the community when support is needed.
...
"#stopasianhate <- It's really sad that this even has to be a hashtag/slogan. It should be common sense but it seems like common sense is uncommon in this world now," she wrote on Instagram.

Also in a video from the Women's Tennis Association, Osaka makes an appearance along with fellow tennis stars, who share their support for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander community.
...
Last month, Osaka condemned anti-Asian hate and spoke out on the lack of coverage and discussions on the issue in a different social media message.

"The amount of hate, racism, and blame for COVID towards the Asian community is disgusting," Osaka tweeted in February. "The fact that this topic is not very widely covered makes me concerned. I only found videos and information because I was scrolling through my IG feed and by some algorithm it appeared."

"And while I'm here- saying 'Ching Chong' and 'shrimp fried rice' when talking about/to [an] Asian person isn't cool. You aren't funny, it's not a joke and you're beyond pathetic," she added in a separate tweet.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on April 02, 2021, 10:09:43 pm
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31183822/mlb-moving-all-star-game-atlanta-georgia-voting-law

Quote
Major League Baseball announced Friday that it is moving the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to a new Georgia law that has civil rights groups concerned about its potential to restrict voting access for people of color.

The 2021 MLB draft, a new addition to All-Star Game festivities this year, will also be relocated.
...
The Players Alliance, consisting of more than 100 current and former players who have united in an effort to empower Black communities, came out in support of MLB's decision with a statement that read in part: "We want to make our voice heard loud and clear in our opposition of the recent Georgia legislation that not only disproportionately disenfranchises the Black community, but also paves the way for other states to pass similarly harmful laws based largely on widespread falsehoods and disinformation."
...
Stacey Abrams, a Democratic former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights activist, tweeted about her disappointment but understanding over MLB's decision.

"Like many Georgians, I am disappointed that the MLB is relocating the All-Star game; however, I commend the players, owners and League commissioner for speaking out," Abrams wrote. "I urge others in positions of the leadership to do so as well."

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, said she supports MLB's decision. Atlanta will no doubt share in the economic loss, though the Braves' home stadium is now located outside the city, in suburban Cobb County.

"Unfortunately, the removal of the MLB All-Star Game from Georgia is likely the first of many dominoes to fall until the unnecessary barriers put in place to restrict access to the ballot box are removed,'' Bottoms said in a statement.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is to guide the National League All-Star team, applauded MLB for moving the game from Georgia.

"I think in a world now where people want and need to be heard -- and in this particular case, people of color -- for Major League Baseball to listen and do something about it, to be proactive, it sets a tone,'' said Roberts, the son of a Black father and Japanese mother.

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said last Friday that he "would look forward" to discussions around moving the Midsummer Classic -- slated for July 13 -- out of Atlanta. Five days after that, President Joe Biden, who won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes, told SportsCenter he would "strongly support" such a decision, calling the new bill "Jim Crow on steroids."

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who has an ownership stake in the Boston Red Sox, was among those expressing support for MLB's decision on Twitter.
Title: Re: Racist bullying
Post by: guest5 on April 06, 2021, 12:38:08 am
Quote
In an interview with ESPN, Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim, 20, said she has been the target of anti-Asian hate and racism since winning her first snowboarding medal at age 13. Kim also recently shared screenshots of racist messages she had received on Instagram via an IG Story. Kim, who is Korean American, says people ‘belittled’ her win because she was Asian. ‘There were messages in my DMs telling me to go back to China and to stop taking medals away from the white American girls on the team,’ Kim told ESPN.

Kim says she is afraid for her parents’ and her own safety amid an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and violence against Asians. She revealed that she now carries Tasers, pepper spray, and a knife for protection. ‘I never go anywhere by myself unless it's for a quick appointment or I know the place is crowded,’ said Kim.

Kim joins dozens of other influential Asian and Asian American athletes, celebrities, and activists in speaking up about the racism they and others in the AAPI community have endured. Calls to #StopAsianHate have skyrocketed following more than a year of increased violence and attacks against Asians. In 2020, there was a nearly 150% increase in hate crimes against Asians in the U.S. The AAPI community has led the charge in raising awareness about the crisis and providing resources for vulnerable Asian populations across the country.
(https://yt3.ggpht.com/OwrtV41OQfjtQvULRr0Z4wnLtfvmHWYfoOApLiRvTkq8weYn2sNaXcHCLB4Yl5UqR6liG9NAu_H7=s640-nd)
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on April 18, 2021, 10:09:05 pm
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ibtihaj-muhammad-says-religious-freedom-france-hijab-ban-154036813.html

Quote
Ibtihaj Muhammad won't stand for Islamophobia in France.

Muhammad, who is a member of the U.S. fencing team and the first Muslim woman to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics in the country's history, shared a photo of herself in her fencing garb donning her hijab. Alongside the image, she wrote about the French Senate passing an amendment that would ban women from wearing their hijabs in public, which would affect Muslim athletes who would also be prohibited from wearing them at competitions, including nationally. She also opened up about the challenges she's faced being a Muslim athlete.

"Being the first Muslim woman in hijab on Team USA was a journey riddled with obstacles, but never was I denied the opportunity to play sport because of my faith. Religious freedom is a human right. It’s painful to see how far France has digressed and how normal virulent xenophobia has become," she wrote in the caption. "My first world championships was actually in Paris, France. It was held at the Grand Palais and one of my most vivid memories of that competition was the support I received from all of the French Muslims in the stands — my hijab serving as a marker of the faith we shared."

Muhammad also gave thanks to Les Hijabeuses and Lallab, organizations that fight for the rights of Muslim women for their work against Islamophobia.

"Every woman should have the choice to wear what she wants and the opportunity to play sport, regardless of her faith. We must stand together and vehemently denounce discrimination in all of its forms. Thank you to my French sisters @leshijabeuses and @assolallab who continue to push against anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic legislation, helping to defend not only the rights of Muslim women in France, but for women around the globe," she concluded.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on April 23, 2021, 04:41:26 am
https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics-protest-us-athletes-response-gwen-berry-202718086.html

Quote
American Olympians, along with a council representing all Team USA athletes, criticized the International Olympic Committee on Thursday for its reiteration of a ban on protests at the Games.
...
"The IOC are hypocrites who continue to silence athletes for capital gain. Again, they are on the wrong side of history. I encourage all athletes to STAND in their power and do what they feel is right!
✊🏾"
...
Berry, who in 2019 protested systemic racism by raising her fist on a Pan American Games podium, said the restrictions wouldn't prevent her and others from demonstrating at the Tokyo Olympics.

"This doesn't deter me, or athletes like me, who want to talk about issues that need to be recognized," Berry said. "We'll speak out. We'll say what needs to be said. And we'll do what needs to be done.

"And we do have support from legal teams and maybe the USOPC."
...
The USOPC AAC said in its statement: "Until the IOC changes its approach of feeding the myth of the neutrality of sport or protecting the status quo, the voices of marginalized athletes will continue to be silenced.

"We believe that athletes are humans first and athletes second, and we stand firm in our commitment to empower, support, and protect members of Team USA who use their platform to fight for racial and social justice."
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on June 10, 2021, 10:40:46 pm
Contrast Ireland with Hungary:

https://us.yahoo.com/sports/orb-n-defends-soccer-fans-112737996.html

Quote
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday defended the soccer fans who booed the Irish national team while they were kneeling as a sign of solidarity against racism at a game this week.
...
Before the match, the Hungarian soccer federation had already released a statement indicating that the country's national team would not kneel.

Orbán said Hungarians only kneel before God, before their country, and when they ask for the hand of their lovers.

He also said Hungarians do not have the moral duty of those from countries that had slavery.

“Hungary has never been a slave-keeping country," he said. "We cannot feel that moral weight that those countries do.”

If forced labour is slavery, Hungary certainly was involved in slavery:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_Protocol

Ireland, on the other hand, is a country which truly was never involved in slavery or any aspect of colonialism. Yet its athletes kneel in solidarity with BLM. Therefore Orban is wrong. It is because Ireland was not a colonial power that it finds it easier to sympathize with the colonized elsewhere. It is because Hungary was a colonial power that it still maintains the colonialist attitudes.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest5 on June 11, 2021, 12:03:00 am
Quote
"I think racism in football right now is at the all-time high. Why? Because of social media now as well."

Racism against black players is all too common in European football, and the responses from official bodies such as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) are business as usual.

Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku believes racism in football is at an "all-time high" ahead of the start of the European Championships. Lukaku, who often speaks out about the racial abuse he endures, thinks abuse towards players is only getting worse.

"For me, to be honest, I don't really see progress. I see a lot of campaigns and all that stuff, but really until there is no real action taken."

Lukaku has received racial abuse a number of times throughout his football career, notably when he was subjected to ape-like grunts and monkey chants by a number of home fans  in 2019.

The striker talked about the response to the racist abuse in Italy, stating: “In practice we tried educating people on things that aren’t good, because Italy is a really beautiful country and I was mostly accepted by both home and away fans.”

He added: “I think when it happened, something changed. That’s what all leagues should do. They should talk to players and basically try to start doing things with the players and teams.”

When it comes to football's response to racism, Lukaku compares the racist abuse in football to the European Super League, a proposed restructure of club football in Europe that fell apart as a number of teams withdrew following strong criticism from fans.

Lukaku notes that while the response to the Super League was intense and organised from fans, response to the issue of racism has always been comparatively muted. “Why don’t you put the same energy [as went into Super League protests] also when it comes to racism? Because they are basically the same platforms.”
https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugz7-GswiMgYe5je70R4AaABCQ
(https://yt3.ggpht.com/kXDaz6ZfzNYbRySdNJLed5vMnig5WtnkvSOYeTDsknqNj44jbsSt65qdEp6hg8l-AzD-qUfFgnfZjPQ=s640-nd)
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on June 25, 2021, 11:00:13 pm
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jun/7/lebron-james-most-hated-player-nba-study-finds/

Quote
Sports analyst David Hookstead noted Mr. James’ selective and partisan activism and criticism of police, which has led him to attack an NBA owner for standing up for Hong Kong marchers protesting a totalitarian government while cheering on Black Lives Matter protests.

Same as us! This is not "selective", it is consistent. BLM opposes police oppression of ethnic minorities. Hong Kong rightists want democracy (ie. oppression of minorities). But don't expect Westerners such as Hookstead to understand.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on June 29, 2021, 01:37:03 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRmnmQ2u5eo
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 03, 2021, 02:52:37 am
For entertainment only:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X0b5_LUYGo
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest55 on July 16, 2021, 11:32:36 pm
Beitar-Barcelona match cancelled over Jerusalem
Quote
A friendly match between FC #Barcelona and Beitar Jerusalem has been “cancelled” after the Spanish club reportedly refused to play in Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arIbetCSCig
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: Zea_mays on July 20, 2021, 08:48:37 am
Who would have thought? Being able to view individuals as individuals makes people less tribalist.

Quote
Can exposure to celebrities from stigmatized groups reduce prejudice? To address this question, we study the case of Mohamed Salah, a visibly Muslim, elite soccer player. Using data on hate crime reports throughout England and 15 million tweets from British soccer fans, we find that after Salah joined Liverpool F.C., hate crimes in the Liverpool area dropped by 16% compared with a synthetic control, and Liverpool F.C. fans halved their rates of posting anti-Muslim tweets relative to fans of other top-flight clubs. An original survey experiment suggests that the salience of Salah’s Muslim identity enabled positive feelings toward Salah to generalize to Muslims more broadly. Our findings provide support for the parasocial contact hypothesis—indicating that positive exposure to out-group celebrities can spark real-world behavioral changes in prejudice.
[...]
 In February 2018, fans of one of England’s most storied soccer clubs, Liverpool F.C., celebrated a decisive victory in soccer’s most elite league. A 5-0 win over F.C. Porto in the U.E.F.A. Champions League previewed an excellent season that saw Liverpool F.C. advance to the final. Mohamed Salah, a young Egyptian striker, was key to the club’s success. After the victory, fans chanted:
If he scores another few
Then I’ll be Muslim, too.

If he’s good enough for you,
He’s good enough for me.
Sitting in a mosque,
That’s where I wanna be.

Fans created more homespun chants as Liverpool F.C. continued their successful season:
Mohamed Salah
A gift from Allah.
He’s always scoring,
It’s almost boring.
So please don’t take
Mohamed away.
[...]
Salah is noteworthy not only for his skill on the soccer field, but also for his conspicuous Islamic identity—which was arguably unprecedented in elite soccer. European fans were not accustomed to seeing players prostrate to perform a Muslim prayer (sujood) after scoring goals, for example. His popularity fueled media speculation that Salah’s Muslim identity might be reducing Islamophobia among fans (The National 2018; Thomas 2018).1 Some pundits argued that Salah portrayed “favorable images of Muslims, helping to reduce stereotypes and break down barriers within communities” (Monks 2018).
[...]
This “Salah effect” is likely not unique to Salah. Celebrities with role model-like qualities have long been thought to shape social attitudes. When Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947, his “efforts were a monumental step in the civil-rights revolution in America … [His] accomplishments allowed black and white Americans to be more respectful and open to one another,” according to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (Williams and Sielski 2004, 212). British-Bangladeshi Nadiyah Hussain, the headscarf-clad winner of the most watched program on British television, The Great British Bake-Off, was credited with doing “more for British-Muslim relations than 10 years of government policy” after her 2015 win (Wiseman 2018).
[...]
A rich literature documents the relationship between various forms of intergroup contact and prejudice. The contact hypothesis posits that personal contact across social lines can reduce prejudice if that contact is positive, endorsed by communal authorities, egalitarian, and involves cooperating to achieve a common goal (Allport 1954). Such contact has been found to reduce prejudice by alleviating intergroup anxieties, inducing empathy, highlighting commonalities, and forging friendships, among other social, emotional, and cognitive pathways (Pettigrew 1998; Pettigrew and Tropp 2006).
[...]
Finally, Salah’s Muslim identity is highly salient. His first name is recognizably Muslim, he prostrates in prayer after scoring a goal, and points his index finger to the sky while reciting the shahada, the Muslim profession of faith. Die-hard fans will also know that Salah’s daughter, Makka, is named after Islam’s most sacred site, and his veiled wife can often be seen cheering him on from the sidelines. Salah is distinctive in this way: Europe has seen many excellent players of Muslim heritage, but most are dissociated from Islam in the minds of fans because of their lack of public piety. By contrast, fan chants centered on Salah refer to mosques, Muslims, and Allah while the Liverpool F.C. coach, Jürgen Klopp, has also pointed to Salah’s religiosity as an integral part of his identity (Bascombe 2019).
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/can-exposure-to-celebrities-reduce-prejudice-the-effect-of-mohamed-salah-on-islamophobic-behaviors-and-attitudes/A1DA34F9F5BCE905850AC8FBAC78BE58

As far as I can tell, Salah isn't even an activist or anything. Simply by existing and being a decent person, he still makes people less racist:
(https://static.cambridge.org/binary/version/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20210606155758238-0012:S0003055421000423:S0003055421000423_fig3.png)
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 22, 2021, 10:43:47 pm
Our enemies' perspective:

https://www.amren.com/commentary/2021/07/england-can-never-win-the-european-championship/

Quote
What is the point of the English soccer team? If it is a collection of players from around the world who happen to wear an English jersey, what makes it English?

It is funded by English taxes?

Quote
It’s just a brand. Rooting for it is as silly as cheering for Coca-Cola or Pepsi. The Italian team has a real connection to its people, so its victory was a victory for Italy. That’s what a national team should be.

People like sports because it allows for pure expressions of loyalty and opposition, victory and defeat, and feelings of “us” and “them.” It’s a socially acceptable way to express primal drives. Diversity poisons sports, just as it poisons everything else. English fans can’t identify with their team. A true English patriot should be relieved that “his” team lost, and his country was spared weeks of lectures about why England needs blacks.

No further comment required.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: rp on July 22, 2021, 11:54:34 pm
Hence the absurdity of illiterate "journalists" referring to rightists as "nationalists". They are identitarians, plain and simple.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 27, 2021, 12:25:06 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujSq2huH_Bo
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on November 19, 2021, 08:21:02 pm
https://sports.yahoo.com/sports-world-reacts-to-kyle-rittenhouse-not-guilty-verdict-in-kenosha-protest-shooting-201349766.html

Quote
Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot and killed two men and wounded a third during the protests and rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was found not guilty by a jury on all charges on Friday. It drew reactions from athletes, many of whom had walked out of games last summer following the police shooting of Jacob Blake that prompted the protests.
...
The shooting of Blake, a Black man left partly paralyzed, spurred protests around the sports world, led by Milwaukee Bucks, NBA and WNBA players opting not to play games for a night at their respective Florida bubble sites. Following the Bucks' lead, the Milwaukee Brewers led a walkout. Other sports followed.

Athletes around the nation reacted to the verdict on social media, with many noting they weren't surprised and questioning if it would have been the same had Rittenhouse been Black.
...
𝘿𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 outcomes from our justice system this week, but one thing remains the 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚: we still have a lot of work to do.

Yet again, a necessary reminder that social justice is not a 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, it is a 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.
...
Ha, let the boy be black and it would’ve been life…hell he would’ve had his life taken before the bullshit trial.. sad
...
Kyle Rittennhouse can kill without a sliver of doubt & walk free but Julius Jones is in jail for life without the chance for parole after being on death row for 20 years with all types of doubt in his case. What is Justice? God help us.
...
Guess the forced tears worked..
...
Not like that but like that you can be white and get away with anything!!! I’m scared for my life and my kids life.. But African Americans is locked up for life for **** they didn’t do!!! Damnit man!!!!What about those peoples families?? No justice for anything? **** that judge
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: acc9 on February 20, 2022, 12:58:21 am
https://radiichina.com/world-class-athlete-eileen-gu/

Eileen Gu Ai-ling, who won 2 gold and 1 silver for China at the 2022 Winter Olympics first time round, is more than just a high-flying skier of the day.....


Quote
In seventh grade, Gu gave a public speech about gender inequality in sports. Furthermore, she began to advocate for gender equality in high school by leading discussions about the gender wage gap and the misrepresentation of female athletes in media.

Quote
Given the recent rise of anti-Asian sentiments in the US, Gu has been actively using her social media platform to raise awareness of the issue and share resources for the community. She considers her identity as a minority in freestyle skiing powerful because it gives her the ability to “educate others on experiences that they might not have known.”
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: acc9 on February 21, 2022, 09:08:21 pm
https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3167144/winter-olympics-us-skier-says-twitter-account-suspended-after-he

Quote
Three-time Olympian Aaron Blunck said he was suspended from Twitter after he and his US ski teammates praised China for its “stellar” operations at the Olympic Village.
“They have honestly done a stellar job with the whole Covid protocol,” the 25-year-old told reporters in the press room, before criticising biased coverage of the Games.
“I didn’t really know what to expect, being stateside you’ve kind of heard some pretty bad media, and that is completely false – it’s actually been phenomenal.”
The 25-year-old said his Twitter account was then suspended, as he resorted to Instagram to protest the social platform’s unexplained decision, reposting a fan’s comment that read: “Aaron Blunck [is] out here telling the truth and getting punished by his own government.”
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on March 05, 2022, 07:47:09 pm
It's OK to be a "white" tennis player:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/serena-williams-says-shed-probably-234414149.html

Quote
Serena Williams says she'd 'probably be in jail' had she had acted like Alexander Zverev toward an umpire
...
Serena Williams says that "there is absolutely a double standard" in the world of tennis.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday, the 23-time Grand Slam champion reflected on the response to Alexander Zverev's recent outburst at the Mexican Open. The top-ranked German star lashed out at an umpire, smashing the official's chair with his racket before getting booted from the tournament.

"I would probably be in jail if I did that," Williams said. "Like, literally, no joke."

Williams has undoubtedly faced harsher punishment for far less serious offenses throughout her illustrious professional tennis career. Most famously, she was issued three penalties — including a point penalty — and a $17,000 fine for speaking out against an umpire and smashing her racket in frustration during the 2018 US Open final against Naomi Osaka.

Though Williams technically broke the rules, tennis fans and experts widely agreed that three violations and a $17,000 fine were excessive. And there's no question that Williams' punishment was not commensurate with those delivered to white male players who have had similar, or worse, outbursts on the court.

More about Sverev:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Zverev#Domestic_abuse_allegations_by_ex-girlfriend_/_defamation_allegations_against_journalist

Quote
Sharypova named multiple instances where Zverev allegedly became violent towards her, including punching her in the face during an argument that took place in the pair's hotel room while Zverev was competing at the 2019 Laver Cup.[190]

He also looks like what we would expect, of course:

(https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/72/590x/1570660_1.jpg?r=1645657740861)
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: Zea_mays on June 06, 2022, 06:14:00 pm
Quote
DeSean William Jackson (born December 1, 1986) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent.
[...]
In July 2020, Jackson posted an Instagram story featuring a quote falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler, reading: "because the white Jews knows [sic] that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep Americas [sic] secret the Jews will blackmail America. They will extort America, their plan for world domination won't work if the Negroes know who they were". The post also read "Hitler was right."[120][121][122]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeSean_Jackson#Controversies

Quote
Jackson later deleted the posts in question and apologized for his statements.[123] After the incident, Jackson spoke with leading Philadelphia Jews including Rabbi Doniel Grodnitzky of Chabad Young Philly, Philadelphia 76ers co-owner, Michael G. Rubin, and David J. Adelman, Chairman of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.[126] Jackson also talked with a Holocaust survivor and agreed to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp.[127]

Epic fail.
Title: Re: Diplomatic decolonization
Post by: acc9 on November 21, 2022, 01:24:41 am
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/remarkably-deluded-fifa-president-gianni-infantino-brutally-mocked-following-bizarre-speech/46LOLDPBQRGA3FPTEREWK4DXJY/

"For what we Europeans have been doing for the last 3000 years we should apologise for the next 3000 years before starting giving moral lessons to people.” Kudos for FIFA chairman Gianni Infantino whose speech at the opening ceremony of the World Cup 2022 dared challenge the human rights accusations of the "West" on Qatar.
The entire speech is not found in "western" media, and it's only in the NZ Herald that I found quotes from the speech. But according to a Chinese news media, Infantino is supposed to have also mentioned how little aid the "western" countries have offered to help desperate immigrants, and now that Qatar is offering jobs to so many of them, the West" is juggling with the stats to smear Qatar for mistreating these immigrant workers.

Not surprised, this is one of their textbook tactics in demonizing countries they don't like!

Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest78 on November 21, 2022, 01:43:32 pm
Gravitas | Western Hypocrisy: England takes the knee in Qatar, not in Pakistan
Quote
BBC did not broadcast the opening ceremony of the World Cup. England decided to take the knee before their first match in Qatar. But It never took the knee when playing in Pakistan. Is West being selective in its protest? Priyanka Sharma calls out western hypocrisy.

#Gravitas #England #Qatar 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qEisUdJZA8

Footballers wearing a ‘One Love’ arm band is offensive to Qatar | Ann Widdecombe
Quote
"It is a form of offence to the host nation. You are demonstrating against them."

If Harry Kane or Gareth Bale wear an armband to support the LGBTQ+ community, this is “offensive” to Qatar, former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe tells #TimesRadio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3wLJO0h0wo

Is criticising Qatar unfair?
Quote
"Everyone went to the Beijing Olympics and no one talked about how China had come out into the world. So there is a slightly capricious sense that there is a new focus on these things in Qatar."

Criticising Qatar about the World Cup and traditions is ‘capricious’, The Times’ middle east correspondent Richard Spencer tells #TimesRadio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsAhI2PbrhE
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on November 21, 2022, 03:14:14 pm
Also:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/arabs-shun-israeli-media-qatar-185237609.html

Quote
Arabs shun Israeli media at Qatar World Cup, cooling hopes of a thaw
...
DOHA (Reuters) -Arab soccer fans at the first World Cup in the Middle East are shunning Israeli journalists in Qatar trying to interview them, illustrating challenges facing wider "warm peace" ambitions two years after some Gulf states forged formal ties with Israel.

Israeli officials have voiced hope that the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords reached with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020, and later Sudan and Morocco, would spur further normalisation, including with Arab heavyweight Saudi Arabia.

Interview attempts with Arab fans, however, fell flat with reporters from public broadcaster Kan and top-rated Channel 12 TV telling Reuters they had been mostly snubbed. Footage circulating online showed two Saudi fans, a Qatari shopper and three Lebanese fans walking away from Israeli reporters.

A Channel 13 reporter said Palestinian fans held an impromptu protest next to him, waving their and flags and chanting "go home".

Qatar does not officially recognise Israel
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest90 on November 21, 2022, 05:28:52 pm
Hypocrisy aside, if the teams and fans criticising Qatar truly did care about the issues they’re so poorly “protesting”, they would have pulled out of the competition and boycotted the tournament. A rainbow armband wouldn’t have done anything but aggravate the host nation, they’re still bringing in money for the host simply by being there.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on November 25, 2022, 06:26:49 pm
Much needed visibility:

https://sports.yahoo.com/iran-government-supporters-confront-protesters-132034424.html

Quote
Iran Government Supporters Confront Protesters at World Cup
...
Tensions ran high at Iran’s second match at the World Cup on Friday as fans supporting the Iranian government harassed those protesting against it and stadium security seized flags, T-shirts and other items expressing support for the protest movement that has gripped the Islamic Republic.

Some fans were stopped by stadium security from bringing in Persian pre-revolutionary flags to match against Wales at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. Others carrying such flags had them ripped from their hands by pro-government Iran fans, who also shouted insults at fans wearing T-shirts with the slogan of the protest movement gripping the country, “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
...
Shouting matches erupted in lines outside the stadium between fans screaming “Women, Life, Freedom” and others shouting back “The Islamic Republic!”

Small mobs of men surrounded three different women giving interviews about the protests to foreign media outside the stadium, disrupting broadcasts as they angrily chanted, “The Islamic Republic of Iran!”

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Emblem_of_Iran.svg)
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on December 08, 2022, 04:11:58 pm
https://twitter.com/MarkOgden_/status/1600189047812390917

Quote
Morocco celebrate their win against Spain with a Palestinian flag. Every North African and Middle East team has made sure that the Palestine issue is prominent at every game

Thank you!

(https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2022/12/000_32ZH6YK-1-e1670352200969.jpg)
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on February 21, 2023, 08:55:29 pm
Good idea:

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/brazil-confederation-may-punish-acts-racism-with-points-deductions-2023-02-15/

Quote
Brazil Confederation may punish acts of racism with points deductions

Feb 15 (Reuters) - The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has the right to sanction teams whose employees or fans commit acts of racism with the loss of points, according to the league's statute approved by the 20 first division clubs.

In the CBF's fight against racism and discrimination in the country's stadiums, the ground-breaking measure will come into force for the Copa do Brasil, which kicks off on Feb. 22.

"The fight against racism is in a hurry. Measures have been discussed for centuries and have never been put into practice... We decided to go further with punishments and we can even take away points from a club in one of our competitions," CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said.

"It is considered extremely serious the discriminatory offense practiced by managers, representatives and professionals of clubs, athletes, coaches, members of the Technical Committee, fans and arbitration teams in competitions coordinated by the CBF."

As the first Black man to lead the CBF in more than 100 years of the organisation's history, Rodrigues considers the fight against discrimination in football to be one of his priorities.

The CBF is the first ruling body in the world to adopt such a measure.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva has sanctioned a law which equates the crime of racial insult to racism and provides for increased penalties for offences committed at sporting and cultural events in the country.

Every sports organization should follow suit!
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest98 on March 12, 2023, 03:32:02 pm
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bbc-lineker-britain-migrants-1.6776069

Quote
BBC sports presenters refuse to work after host suspended for criticizing British migrant policy

Former soccer star Gary Lineker compared home secretary's asylum seeker comments toNazi-era colonial era rhetoric

Britain's BBC was forced to axe much of its sports coverage on Saturday after presenters refused to work in a show of solidarity with Gary Lineker, as a row over freedom of speech threatens to turn into a crisis for the national broadcaster.

Former England soccer captain Lineker, the BBC's highest paid presenter and the anchor of the soccer highlights program Match of the Day, was taken off air by the broadcaster on Friday after criticizing Britain's migration policy earlier in the week.

Many sports programs did not air as scheduled on Saturday after multiple presenters walked out, prompting the BBC to apologize to viewers.

The Lineker row has sparked a debate over the BBC's neutrality, and pitched the government against one of the country's most high-profile and popular sports presenters.

The furore comes after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a new law earlier in the week that bars the entry of asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the English Channel.

Lineker, 62, took to Twitter to describe the legislation as a "cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s."

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Lineker's reaction to the policy was "offensive."

Seeking to resolve the dispute, the BBC said there needed to be an agreed position on Lineker's use of social media before he can return to presenting.

The opposition Labour Party and media commentators accuse the BBC of silencing Lineker, bowing to pressure from the Conservative government.


Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest98 on May 30, 2023, 02:26:46 pm
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/german-soccer-club-punished-walking-off-field-after-99690626

German soccer club punished for walking off field after alleged racist slur

Quote

A lower-level German soccer team called its punishment for stopping a game in protest after racist abuse was apparently directed at team captain Marcus Coffie “a slap in the face.”

Hamburg-based Teutonia Ottensen was leading 2-1 at Bremer SV in the fourth-division game on Saturday when Coffie, who is Black, said he was racially abused by an opposing player. Coffie’s teammates reacted by walking off the field and the game was abandoned before halftime.

The North German Soccer Federation said Monday it had no evidence that Coffie had been racially abused. It awarded Bremer SV a 5-0 victory. It also questioned “whether when such an accusation justifies calling off a game or not continuing it.”

This judgement and the way it was written demonstrate a tolerant attitude towards the problem of racism underlying this incident,” Teutonia said in a statement.

“The decision is not just an example of what is wrong in the sport, what is still wrong in our society," Teutonia said, "but it’s the latest example of looking the other way, the latest example of a decision to tolerate racism in the sport and therefore in society.”


Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest98 on June 18, 2023, 02:41:09 pm
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/6/17/ban-on-israelis-could-see-indonesia-lose-world-beach-games

Ban on Israelis could see Indonesia lose World Beach Games

Quote

Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia – While the people of Bali are famed for their tolerance and hospitality, a foreign policy impasse between Indonesia and Israel dating back to the 1940s is threatening to derail a little-known but symbolically important Olympic-recognised competition on the island.

The inaugural World Beach Games was held in Qatar in 2019, with subsequent events cancelled as a result of COVID.

With a tourism-dependent economy that was crippled by the pandemic, Bali’s winning bid last July to host the event announced to the world that the island was back open for business. But Bali’s hosting rights for the event are on a knife-edge.

Last year, the Indonesian Olympic Committee gave assurances that qualifying athletes from all countries would be accepted at the games. But Bali’s Governor Wayan Koster has now said Israeli athletes are not welcome, citing a preamble to the Indonesian Constitution calling for the universal abolition of colonialism and the country’s immutable support for Palestinian statehood.

“I remain consistent in refusing the Israeli team’s participation in the 2023 World Beach Games in Bali,” he told The Jakarta Post in April.

The preamble has prevented Israeli passport holders – even if they are Palestinians – from visiting Indonesia since the Jewish state declared independence in 1948.

If Indonesia is stripped of hosting rights over the dispute, it would be the second major sporting event derailed by Koster this year.

A little more than a month before Bali and two other Indonesian islands were set to host the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup on May 20, he rejected the presence of the Israeli football team in Bali and accused world football’s governing body of double standards for blacklisting Russia over its invasion of Ukraine while turning a blind eye to Israel’s actions[It's OK for hypocrisy to be "white"].

“I invite the people of Bali to pray together so that FIFA will be moved to act fairly by eliminating the Israeli team in the FIFA U-20 World Championship, the same way it did when eliminating the Russian team in the 2022 FIFA World Championship in Qatar,” Koster said.

FIFA was not impressed. It revoked Indonesia’s hosting rights for the U-20 World Cup and expelled the Indonesian team from the competition, which took place in Argentina, and restricted funding to the Football Association of Indonesia.

In the world’s most populous Muslim nation, support for Palestinian statehood is almost universal and a tough stance on Israel often appeals to conservative Muslim voters – the most important bloc in any national election.

The move to ban Israeli athletes from sporting events in Indonesia is supported by the Ulema Council, Indonesia’s top Islamic scholars’ body, as well as the powerful Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline Islamist organisation and pressure group with a prominent social media presence, and other Muslim groups that held protests in Jakarta in March at which Israeli flags were burned and banners proclaiming “Israel is the enemy of Islam” were displayed.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest98 on June 19, 2023, 04:02:20 pm
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65955793

Two international matches abandoned after alleged racist abuse

Quote

Two international matches were abandoned on Monday following allegations of racial abuse.

New Zealand said they refused to play the second half against Qatar after saying Michael Boxall was abused by a Qatari player during the first half.

The Republic of Ireland Under-21s' friendly with Kuwait also ended early after an alleged racist remark.

The Football Association of Ireland said a Kuwait Under-22 player made the remark to a Republic substitute.

Both matches were taking place in Austria, with New Zealand beating Qatar 1-0 in Vienna and the Republic U21s leading 3-0 against Kuwait in Bad Radkersburg before the abandonments.

"Michael Boxall was racially abused during the first half of the game by a Qatari player," New Zealand posted on their Twitter account.

"No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match."

The FAI said it will report the incident during the Kuwait match to Fifa and Uefa.

"The FAI regrets to announce that today's U21 international against Kuwait has been abandoned after a racist remark was made by a Kuwaiti player towards one of our substitutes," said the FAI's statement.

"The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA."

Last week, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr will lead a special anti-racism committee made up of players which will suggest stricter punishments for discriminatory behaviour in football.


Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: guest98 on June 21, 2023, 03:41:20 pm
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/6/21/to-tackle-racism-in-football-spain-needs-to-face-its-history

It's OK for Spain to be "white"?

To tackle racism in football Spain needs to face its history

Quote

The global outrage over the racist abuse of Vinícius Jr should spark a society-wide conversation on racism and colonial history in Spain.

It has been a month now since Black Brazilian forward Vinícius Jr suffered yet another disgusting episode of racist abuse during a match in Spain.

The incident triggered outrage in my country, Brazil, and across the globe. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on football bodies to “take measures so we don’t allow racism and fascism to take over”.

The Brazilian football authorities immediately took action to protect our player. They not only condemned the racist abuse and demanded action on it, but also organized an anti-racism campaign and had the whole national team take a knee while dressed in black jerseys during a friendly match against Guinea in June.

Meanwhile, other Black footballers have spoken up in solidarity with Vinícius Jr and have even considered forming a union to fight racism together.

But while international support for the Brazilian player has been strong, in Spain, reactions have been mixed at best. It is this ambiguity and lack of serious action that led an angered Vinícius Jr to write on Twitter: “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the Federation does too, and the opponents encourage it.”

Instead of showing unconditional support for the Brazilian player, La Liga, the elite Spanish football league, did the exact opposite. Its president, Javier Tebas, attacked Vinícius Jr for his tweet, saying: “Since those who should have, haven’t explained to you what La Liga is doing and can do in cases of racism, we have tried to explain it to you, but you have not shown up for either of the two agreed dates that you requested yourself.”

Instead of admitting that La Liga has a racism problem, Tebas passed the ball to the Spanish police, which also has done little to combat racist abuse when complaints have been lodged by football teams.

Before the most recent incident, Real Madrid had filed nine formal complaints in two seasons over racism specifically targeting Vinícius Jr. Despite the clearly systematic nature of the racist torment, the Spanish authorities did not take any action on some of these complaints.

One has to wonder whether there would have been any reaction from the Spanish authorities to the racist abuse during the Valencia-Real Madrid game had there been no international outrage.

That Vinícius Jr had “provoked” his racist abusers appeared to be a popular opinion in Spain.

Despite the long and rich track record of anti-Black racism in Spanish football, the common refrain after the Valencia-Real Madrid match was: “Spain is not a racist country”. Spanish society appears to be in denial about its racism problem which by far is not limited to football.

A 2016 report on the situation of Spain’s Black community prepared by several Spanish non-governmental organisations states that racism in Spain exists “in insidious and persistent forms”.

“[There is] an absolute public and educational erasure of the enslaving and colonialist Spanish past.”

While European nations, in general, do not seem too eager to admit to and apologise for the enslavement and colonisation of other peoples, Spain seems to be particularly behind in coming to terms with its history.

One just has to look at the reaction of Spanish politicians when US President Joe Biden declared ahead of Columbus Day in 2021 that the arrival of Europeans to North America led to a “wave of devastation” for Native Americans and called for “these shameful episodes of our past” not to be buried.

In response, Pablo Casado, leader of Spain’s conservative Popular Party (PP), said in a video posted on Twitter: “Does the Kingdom of Spain have to apologise because five centuries ago it discovered the New World, respected those who were there, created universities, created prosperity, built entire cities? I don’t think so.”

Spain clearly is not ready to apologise, much less remember its history correctly. Apart from the destruction Spanish colonisation wrought on two continents, official historical memory also conveniently excludes the role the Spanish Empire played in slavery.

Clearly Spain needs to be invaded.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on July 06, 2023, 10:57:27 pm
https://www.yahoo.com/news/french-people-looked-soccer-stars-192850733.html

Quote
"It's a shame that we have to look to football players as examples for our politicians to follow in terms of how they should address the issue," Sanaullah told Insider.
...
On an international level, French officials have rejected accusations from the UN about systemic racism in their police forces, per Le Monde.
...
Some players from the French national soccer team, on the other hand, addressed the issue head on, without mincing words.

"A bullet in the head...It's always for the same people that being in the wrong leads to death," French goalkeeper Mike Maignan tweeted after Merzouk's death.

French defender Jules Kounde was more direct.

"As if this latest police blunder wasn't enough, the 24-hour news channels are taking advantage of it by making a big fuss," Kounde tweeted. "The 'journalists' ask 'questions' with the sole aim of distorting the truth, criminalizing the victim and finding extenuating circumstances where none exist. An age-old method for masking the real problem."

The sentiment was shared by young French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who said that he heard his mother's voice in Nahel's mother's cries for her son after he was killed.

In an open letter twitter thread criticizing police brutality and French media coverage of the protests, Tchouameni questioned the regularity of racialized police violence, the double standard of critiquing racism in France, and asked for solutions.

Underneath each of the players' tweets, fans thanked them for speaking up.
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: 90sRetroFan on October 13, 2023, 06:15:10 pm
https://sports.yahoo.com/england-refuse-light-wembley-arch-095756357.html

Quote
The Wembley arch will not be lit in the colours of Israel and supporters will have flags confiscated when England play Australia on Friday night.
...
Lord Triesman, the Jewish former FA chairman and ex-government minister, said the Wembley arch “absolutely should” have been lit in the colours of Israel’s flag.
...
The FA put BLM logos on shirts & got players taking the knee to support BLM.

“BLM are currently supporting Hamas as they murder children.

“Now the FA won’t show solidarity with Israel by lighting Wembley as they did for other terror attacks.

“Just pathetic.”

It is logically required: the FA supports BLM; BLM supports Hamas; Hamas is fighting against Israel; so of course the FA would not support Israel!

Quote
Mark Jenkinson wrote: “ The FA are quite the outfit… BLM support, taking the knee – and now this.”

Do no Westerners understand logic anymore?

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/allies/blm/msg22681/#msg22681
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: braveheart on October 13, 2023, 08:39:32 pm
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/10/13/celtic-fans-pledge-unequivocal-support-for-palestine-despite-backlash

Celtic fans pledge ‘unequivocal support’ for Palestine despite backlash

Quote

The Green Brigade ultras group calls on fans to ‘raise the Palestinian flag’ at Champions League match despite backlash from the club’s board.

Fans of Scotland’s Celtic Football Club have pledged to continue their display of solidarity with the people of Palestine and “show the world that the club stands with the oppressed, not the oppressor” in the wake of Israel’s ongoing attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip and despite backlash from the club’s board.

The Green Brigade, an ultras group of **** Celtic fans, displayed banners saying “Free Palestine” and “Victory to the resistance!!” during the club’s Scottish Premiership match against Kilmarnock in Glasgow last week.

Israeli international and former Celtic midfielder Nir Bitton criticised the fans on social media, saying they had been “brainwashed”.

“Shame on you!!! Yes free Gaza from Hamas not from Israel!!” he said on Instagram.

However, the fan group remained undeterred and called on all Celtic fans to raise the Palestine flag during the club’s UEFA Champions League match against Atletico Madrid on October 25.

We must apply learning from apartheid South Africa to dismantle apartheid Israel – if we are neutral in situations of injustice, we have chosen the side of the oppressor,” the Green Brigade said in a statement this week.

“We send our sincere solidarity and prayers to our friends across all of Palestine at this traumatic time when yet again much of the international community turns its back in cowardice while war crimes are inflicted on a largely defenceless, imprisoned population,” the statement added.

Al-Arian said it is “becoming increasingly hard” to show support for the Palestinians in Western countries because some governments in Europe have banned protests against the Israeli attacks in Gaza and have threatened to ban the display of the Palestinian flag.

“The question on any reasonable mind should be why? Why are Ukrainian lives more sacred than Palestinian lives?” it said.

Celtic’s fierce local rival Rangers have, in turn, supported Israel whenever both teams have met in the Old Firm – local derby – fixture over the years.

The blue-and-white-kitted Glasgow club held a minute’s silence for the people killed in Israel ahead of their Premiership match last weekend.

According to Al-Arian, the contrasting stances show that football is “never really separated from politics”.






Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: . on October 21, 2023, 05:12:08 am
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/10/17/algeria-to-host-palestine-football-matches

Algeria offers to host Palestinian football matches amid Israel-Gaza war

Quote

Algeria has stepped in to host all matches involving the Palestinian national football team and bear all associated costs due to the continuing war in Gaza.

Algeria has agreed to stage “all official and non-official matches involving the Palestinian team’s preparation for qualification to the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup and to assume all associated costs,” an Algerian football federation statement announced in a statement on Monday.

The move, subject to approval from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was announced after a request was put forward to the Algerian authorities by Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian football federation.



Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: Worldwide on October 29, 2023, 05:18:10 pm
Calls for Benzema to lose citizenship over Palestine support | Al Jazeera Newsfeed
Quote
A French politician has demanded that Karim Benzema be stripped of his Ballon d’Or and his French citizenship after the footballer expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEiVbvUl9Fo
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: Indonesia on November 06, 2023, 12:21:50 am
7 month old video:

Indonesia stripped of Under-20 World Cup over Israel issue | Al Jazeera Newsfeed
Quote
FIFA has stripped Indonesia of hosting rights for the upcoming U-20 World Cup after local objections to Israel’s participation. It also means the Indonesian team will no longer be playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2WrVXvmEds
Title: Re: Sports as a platform for protest
Post by: KyrieIrving on November 25, 2023, 03:21:15 am
Kyrie Irving Wears Palestinian Keffiyah During Post-Game Press Conference. What Does This Mean?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TunNc_OxnR4

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I’m so proud of the Palestinian movements! People are NOT going to be tamed in to fear and silence
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Kyrie Irving is on the right side of history.
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I’m so impressed and proud of Kyrie for supporting the Palestinian just cause
Title: Re: Operation Gaddafi
Post by: france on December 19, 2023, 08:29:21 pm
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/algeria-soccer-star-on-trial-in-france-for-inciting-hatred-with-hamas-post/

Algeria soccer star on trial in France for inciting hatred with Palestinian preacher post

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Algerian international footballer Youcef Atal goes on trial in France, accused of inciting hatred after posting a video in which a Palestinian preacher threatens Israel with a “black day.”

Atal, who plays for Ligue 1 side Nice, shared the video on his Instagram account, which has 3.2 million followers