Keeping the Ball Rolling - Sport Steps In

“We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from another’s vantage point, as if new, it may still take the breath away.”

– Alan Moore, Watchmen

A friend and I were pretty big fans of the graphic novel Watchmen, so much so that we’d attended the film on its opening day. We were also excited that HBO had a follow-up series coming down the pipe last year, and were on the phone with one another a few minutes after the first episode concluded.

We discussed the actors, the cinematography, and the explosive jolt the series had opened with, a racial massacre in 1920’s Tulsa, Oklahoma. His next words were surprisingly unsurprising.

“Thank goodness nothing like that ever actually happened.”

Oh. Oh, my friend.

Sadly, he was not alone in not knowing that we are not quite a hundred years past that exact event occurring in one of the most shameful and swept-aside instances in American history. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was kept from most everyones’ knowledge for years out of a sense of shame and self-interest, and wasn’t even in the history books of the schoolchildren of Oklahoma until this year, 99 years after it’s occurrence. Almost 100 years until it was something those in power could talk themselves into fully recognizing, and on the heels of a TV show exposing it broadly to the world. On the 50th anniversary, the city looked into the events to possibly open public discussion, and were so horrified they simply buried them again. By the 75th anniversary, a commission was formed that took five years to come to conclusions, and nearly another 10-20 to fully embrace the disaster. That seems impossible with something of that size and scope, doesn’t it? How did that come to pass? What happened right after it occurred?

The parts of the nation that even found out about it were outraged, for a time. Then, in a series of broad and underreported stats, the eventual loss of life was recorded at a still heart-rending 36. Terrifyingly, historians now think that number may have been much closer to 300. The fallout from the event was momentarily cataclysmic. Something must be done, had to be done. There were hearings. And promises. And thoughts about how to do better. Many, many, many thoughts about how to do better. The powers that be reassured themselves that the 56 years that had passed since the Civil War had already brought huge progress, and these ideas and promises would help them keep progressing forward.  Nods were exchanged. Backs were patted.

Unsurprisingly, change didn’t come. Eventually, everyone just settled right back into the morass that had allowed the hatred and division to fester. As long as it’s not happening in my home, it’s probably not happening, right? That’s probably just a bonfire and not a cross burning in my neighbor’s yard, right?

The nation was outraged again (and again) after brutal segregation and half-hearted desegregation efforts criss-crossed the country. Unsurprisingly, there were hearings. And promises. And ideas. And… well, you may see what’s next. The Black Panther uprising. The Watts Riots. The Rodney King Verdict. Dozens more, all over this country, year over year over year. Dotting our collective history. Hearings. Promises. Ideas. Everyone always seemingly surprised by the collective anger and upset of an entire people who were understandably tired of being oppressed. Outraged at not sharing the equality promised them in words, and denied them in reality.

Hearings. Promises. Ideas. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Until eventually, it was today. The ball just kept getting dropped. The can continually kicked to the next generation of citizens and government to bear down the road.

It was heartening on Wednesday to hear the news that a consortium of athletes and stars led by LeBron James will take on one of many massive issues that keeps the African-American community in a second-class citizen state, that of voter suppression and education, one of many key issues that need attention and resolution to help finally bring about equality for all, just as we all were promised. Many athletes across the breadth of sport seem to recognize their platform can be of influence to keep pushing this ball forward at a rare moment when so many of us are actually open to discussing it. It will not be easy. It has not been easy. Ask Colin Kaepernick, or any one of the number of athletes who spoke out before him. James addressed the same.

“I’m inspired by the likes of Muhammad Ali, I’m inspired by the Bill Russells and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, the Oscar Robertsons — those guys who stood when the times were even way worse than they are today. Hopefully, someday down the line, people will recognize me not only for the way I approached the game of basketball, but the way I approached life as an African-American man.”

From a single voice in the ever-rising din, here is hoping that LeBron’s efforts and those of so many others in the African-American and every other underserved, downtrodden, and disenfranchised community are able to finally and fully join those of us who have been alone in our privilege far too long, once and for all. Those of us who have always had all of the advantage will also have to be open to willingly sharing it. With this rarest of opportunities upon us, maybe we all can take this ball and continue to run with it. If we can, we can finally fulfill our promises to ourselves and each other. Justice for all. Love for all. Equality for all. It will only happen if we all do it together, and don’t simply work at it long enough for these bad feelings to go away.

If we cannot, it will be our grandchildren and great-grandchildren learning about the events of the last two hundred-plus years from some random drama and remarking, “Thank goodness nothing like that ever actually happened.”

Have a great weekend, DNVR Nation. Please be good to one another, no matter who the other guy is. Maybe we can still make a world that will take our breath away in all the right ways.