Theorizing Athletic Resistance
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Don’t Just Shut Up and Play - Theorizing Athletic Resistance by Patrick Hergott Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Social and Political Thought) Acadia University Spring Convocation 2018 © by Patrick Hergott, 2018 ii This thesis by Patrick Hergott was defended successfully in an oral examination on April 25, 2018 The examining committee for the thesis was: ________________________ Dr. Sandra Barr, Chair ________________________ Dr. Gamal Abdel-Shehid, External Examiner ________________________ Dr. Rachel Brickner, Internal Examiner ________________________ Dr. James Brittain, Supervisor _________________________ Dr. Geoffrey Whitehall, Head/Director This thesis is accepted in its present form by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree Master of Arts (Social and Political Thought) iii …………………………………………. I, Patrick Hergott, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to archive, preserve, reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper, or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I undertake to submit my thesis, through my University, to Library and Archives Canada and to allow them to archive, preserve, reproduce, convert into any format, and to make available in print or online to the public for non-profit purposes. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. ______________________________ Author ______________________________ Supervisor ______________________________ Date iv Table of Contents Abstract: v List of Commonly Used Acronyms: vi Chapter 1: Resistance – 1 Chapter 2: Why Sports Matter – 11 Chapter 3: Revolt of the Black Athlete – 31 Chapter 4: Black Lives Matter – 54 Chapter 5: Taking a Knee - 82 Chapter 6: Conclusion – 106 Bibliography – 115 Appendix - I List of Figures: Figure i (John Carlos and Tommie Smith) – 39 Figure ii (Miami Heat ‘Hoodie’ Photo – 59 Figure iii (Militarized police presence in Ferguson) – 66 Figure iv (‘Hands Up Don’t Shoot) – 67 Figure v (Kaepernick taking a knee) – 84 Figure vi (Marcus Peters raising a fist) – 93 Figure vii (Martellus Bennett illustration) – 93 v Abstract This thesis examines and theorizes anti-racist resistance by male Black athletes in North American professional sports. Drawing on the work of Peter Meiksins, Hugo Radice, and Harry Edwards, professional Black athletes are identified as precariously employed, racialized, and exploited members of the working class. Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony is employed to explain why acts of athletic resistance are relatively rare given the likelihood of a reactionary coercive response. Several historical expressions of resistance by professional male Black athletes are examined, as well as an analysis of various contemporary examples of athletic resistance and a case-study of Colin Kaepernick specifically. It is concluded that professional sports can and do serve as a site of resistance, particularly in regards to expressions of anti-racist resistance by male Black athletes, though the athletes’ decisions of when and how to resist – or not to resist at all - are shaped largely by the athletes’ status as precariously employed and racialized workers. vi List of Commonly Used Acronyms: CBA – Collective Bargaining Agreement ESPYS – Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards GM – General Manager MLB – Major League Baseball NBA – National Basketball Association NFL – National Football League NHL – National Hockey League NOI – Nation of Islam QB – Quarterback vii Chapter 1 - Resistance Is Hip-Hop just the euphemism for a new religion? The soul music of the slaves that the youth is missing This is more than just my road to redemption Malcolm West had the whole nation standing at attention - Kanye West, “Gorgeous.” (2010) 1 Bill Russell held no illusions about his position as a Black athlete playing in a professional basketball league controlled by exclusively White owners. While serving as the defensive anchor for 11 championship-winning Boston Celtics teams in the 1960s and 70s, Russell never lost sight of the fact that his interests and those of the Celtics’ owner, while similar, were nevertheless opposed to each other: “professional sports is a profession. The owners are never going to be in love with you. Never. They’re in it to make money and you’re in it to make money, and never the twain shall fully meet, except in the tumult and ecstasy of a world championship game” (Russell 1966, 64). Russell was also vocal about issues outside of sports. He criticized the city of Boston for being a “flea market of racism” (Wootson Jr. 2017). He publicly aligned himself with Muhammad Ali following Ali’s refusal to serve in the U.S. military in Vietnam (Eig 2017). He refused to play in an exhibition game in Kentucky when he found out that he and his Black team-mates would be staying in a segregated hotel (Russell 1966). Celebrated for his accomplishments on the court, Russell insisted that he be respected off of the court as well. He openly aligned himself with the goals of the Black power movement, and his militancy on affairs of social inequality played a role in the fact that he did not get a statue outside of the Celtics’ arena until 2013. This came 44 years after he retired and two years after President Obama said that he hoped there would be a statue built to honor “not only Bill Russell the player, but Bill Russell the man” (Levenson 2011). Bill Russell is an icon of both athletic achievement and athletic resistance. Yet in retirement, he has stayed mostly to himself. He makes appearances at the occasional National Basketball Association (NBA) game, particularly when it is time to hand out the 2 “Bill Russell Award” during the NBA finals, but otherwise stays out of the public eye.1 On September 25, 2017, however, that changed. It was on this day that Bill Russell joined Twitter explicitly to make a show of support for Colin Kaepernick, the National Football League (NFL) quarterback who had begun to take a knee during the playing of the American national anthem before NFL games just over one year earlier (Russell 2017). The then 83- year-old Russell tweeted a picture of himself kneeling while wearing his presidential medal of freedom. This act exemplifies a linkage between the actions of contemporary activist athletes with those who came before them. Both the form – by 2017 Twitter had become a significant platform for the broadcasting of one’s ideas – and content of Russell’s actions – support of Colin Kaepernick, who had recently been vilified by President Donald Trump – made explicit the connection(s) between contemporary generations of athletic activists and previous generations. Colin Kaepernick, Michael Bennett, Eric Reid, LeBron James and other professional Black athletes are now carrying the torch once held by Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and others. The specific forms of their resistance may have changed, but the central concern of combatting themes of injustice and racism remain, and clearly demonstrate how professional athletes can engage in acts of resistance via the platform of professional sports. Through an examination of American professional sports, the premise of this thesis is to theorize resistance amongst male professional Black athletes.2 This theorization of 1 This award is given to the Most Valuable Player of the NBA finals, and is named after Russell in recognition of his remarkable performances while helping the Boston Celtics win 11 championships during his 13 year career. 2 Each chapter begins with a hip-hop lyric to recognize the ways in which Hip-Hop can serve as a form of resistance to societal inequalities. The rap group NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) serves as perhaps the most well- known example of this. What’s more, there are long-standing ties between Hip-Hop and professional sports. As Lil Wayne said, “Athletes wanna be rappers, and rappers wanna be athletes” (Legaspi 2014). The reason 3 resistance amongst male professional Black athletes contains a very particular understanding of what theory is, however; Gilles Deleuze once said in a conversation with Michel Foucault (2004, 208) that theory is like a pair of glasses to view the outside. Therefore if the theory is not to one’s liking, i.e. it does not allow one to ‘view’ or understand the subject of observation, use another. In this sense, I will draw on a number of different theorists to offer ‘glasses’ through which one can examine sports generally and the topic of resistance amongst male professional Black athletes more specifically. In the following pages, I present the work of Jean-Marie Brohm (1978) and Peter Hoch (1972) as examples of a traditional understanding of sports as an instrument of bourgeois hegemony. This understanding of sport has its merits, but is also contradicted by the presence of athletic resistance. While there are many examples of athletes who refuse to ‘just shut up and play’ there are others who use the platform of sports in a (limited) counter-hegemonic fashion.3 Choosing to look through the theoretical ‘glasses’ of Harry Edwards (1969; 1973), and Gamal Abdel-Shehid and Nathan Lamb (2011), I seek to discern how sports may serve as a site of resistance. that the lyrics of Kanye West are being used is because Kanye is incredibly relevant as one of the most prominent figures in Hip-Hop in the 21st century, both as an artist and producer. Additionally, Kanye frequently comments on various political issues in his work while also referring to sports and athletes, and using the lyrics of a single Hip-Hop artist also allows for a sort of unity in the lyrics that wouldn’t be possible when citing multiple artists. 3 It should also be noted that much of this thesis draws from journalistic sources. The academic publishing process is notoriously slow-moving, and therefore my examination of relatively recent events draws on journalistic coverage for primary sources out of necessity.