Black Athletes Who Won't 'Shut Up'

LeBron James

Infamously, a couple of years ago Laura Ingraham told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble.” At the time talking head Ingraham was chiming in to join the chorus of indignant voices criticizing well known athletes for speaking out about politics, especially politics to do with race. Recently we’ve heard similar criticisms meant to muzzle other professional athletes, especially if they are black. 

As most people know, the leader of the chorus of those calling fouls on the restrained protest gestures of LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, et al, was President Donald Trump. In 2020, the NBA, NFL, etc., have changed their tunes ... but not Trump.

Closer to home, via the Internet, some local VCU basketball fans have hurled their own versions of “shut up and dribble” at Rams players, coaches and even at sports writers who have one way or another publicly supported the Black Lives Matter protests in Richmond and elsewhere. Those who are bashing the BLM supporters would have us believe that when America was supposedly "great" -- perhaps in the middle of the 20th century -- there was a wall separating politics and sports; especially politics to do with race.

Well, let's fire up the Wayback Machine and look briefly at just a few examples that expose that claim about a wall of separation to be utter bullshit.

In 1966 the NCAA men’s basketball championship was won by an underdog Texas Western team with an all-black starting lineup. The betting favorites, Kentucky, featured an all-white lineup with an unabashed racist coach, Adolph Rupp. Without framing it with the race-related context, you can’t tell that story of what was then the biggest upset ever in a NCAA final game. To say it changed college basketball for good is an understatement.

Nor can you tell the story of just two of America’s greatest sports heroes without mentioning the importance of the confluence of race and politics that washed over their entire careers. They are: heavyweight boxing champ, Muhammad Ali, and Hall of Fame baseball player, Jackie Robinson. Of course in their glory days, plenty of sports fans rooted against them and wished their amazing accomplishments had not been celebrated on front pages of sports sections. 

Nonetheless, both of them persisted in spite of long odds and plenty of death threats. Moreover, in spite of what the likes of Laura Ingraham might say, today's outspoken black athletes are bravely following in a great tradition.

There were many more athletes who could be listed here, but I hope my point has already been made. Bottom line: Saying “shut up and dribble” is tantamount to saying “go back to the plantation and obey your master.” 

-- Image from The Guardian