I can remember where I was when I first heard about the postponement of the NBA playoff game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin. I was working out and had the pre-game show playing on the television.
When the news broke that the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play — due to their frustration with the ongoing racial injustice, not only in the months leading up to the NBA bubble but for decades prior — I wasn’t upset or disappointed. I was proud that renowned athletes were using their platforms for justice.
Many more playoff games were postponed after the Jacob Blake tragedy — in fact, the NBA season itself was almost cancelled. However, as I wrote for The Varsity back in September, “some things are bigger than sports.” It’s been almost six months since then, and my thoughts on 2020 as a historic year in sports have only grown stronger.
In the 2020 NFL season, players were able to put a social justice message on their helmet plates, similar to how NBA players were allowed to put social justice messages on the back of their jerseys. Breonna Taylor — the woman who tragically lost her life at the hands of the police in March of 2020 — had her name immortalized on the attire of many athletes, with many vocally demanding justice for her death.
Naomi Osaka — a trailblazer in women’s tennis — was scorching competition on the court in 2020, notably winning the US Open that year. More than that, she walked into each US Open match wearing a face mask with the names of Black victims of racial injustice: Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd among others in a shockingly long list — a list that should not be that long. Osaka recognized her platform, and in her own words, “I’m aware that tennis is watched all over the world, and maybe there is someone that doesn’t know Breonna Taylor’s story. Maybe, they’ll Google it or something.”
The Black Lives Matter protests in sports were successful in raising awareness because of the solidarity displayed by the teams. Most NBA players, 300 out of 350, opted to wear social justice messages on their jerseys. Athletes from all backgrounds and sports took to the streets and social media to protest for racial justice, recognizing how powerful their voices could be together.
“Athletes know that together they are stronger and that without their labour the leagues have no games to advertise and no income. Together athletes can leverage their power,” Janelle Joseph, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, said in a U of T News interview. “The initial response from a few players extended to a few teams, then a few leagues, as a result of the intersections of money and power in the anti-racism movement.”
I look back in pride at how sports flipped the world on its back in 2020. The importance of the Black Lives Matter movement cannot be understated. As a relatively light skinned individual, I recognize my immense privilege, especially in the world of athletics.
In the future, I hope social justice becomes a more integral part of the sporting world, and hopefully athletes and sports media figures alike can continue to fight for racial justice, building on the progress made in 2020.
