Could Athletics be the Start of the General Strike?
The NBA is striking, and I hope it will set an example.
As everything seems to continue to spiral out of control and the American people are left to fend for themselves, picking up the pieces alone in the aftermath, I’ve begun to think that a widespread general strike may be one of the last chances the United States of America has to achieve the change it needs just to survive by peaceful means. But as much as I might have wished for one, I’ve been all to aware of the fact that achieving a mass general strike of the size and scope necessary in order to leave an impact would be incredibly difficult to achieve for a number of reasons, many of which are too obvious to even bother listing. Naturally, one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of something like this has been a lack of prominent, well known national figures or organizations to draw attention to it, and get the broader American public interested in the idea.
That is, perhaps, until now?
After Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot yet another unarmed Black man named Jacob Blake seven times at close range in the back in front of his three children, the nation has once again risen to respond in protests throughout the country, and stories coming out of American professional athletics have certainly captured my attention.
The NBA’s players have decided to strike.
Jack Hamilton with Slate writes:
“On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play basketball against the Orlando Magic in the NBA bubble, and in doing so may have set in motion a sea change in the social fabric of American sports. In the aftermath of the Bucks’ decision, news quickly arrived that the Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, and Trail Blazers would not be playing either. Around noon Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the players will return to play, though as of this writing, no one knows when. Regardless, the force of this action will reverberate through professional sports for years to come. Once this is on the table, it doesn’t come off.”
They weren’t alone. Today, baseball’s New York Mets and the Miami Marlins took to the field for 42 seconds of silence. After that they walked off, leaving nothing on the field but a Black Lives Matter shirt.
That, right there, is what gives me hope.
If it’s done the right way and should they chose to do so, there’s not a doubt in my mind that these athletes who felt compelled to use their platform for the greater good could be starting something incredibly powerful.
In response to their protests Bree Newsome Bass weighed in on Twitter, saying:
“Athletes — Please connect w/ local organizers who’ve been leading the fights in your cities. Most already have well thought out demands & initiatives they’ve been working toward for years. Your support can be the breakthrough they need. Listen to them over the local establishment.”
Any movement — especially ones with potential for such a massive and widespread impact on not just the American culture of law enforcement but capitalism and white supremacy overall — will always have people with ulterior motives ready and waiting to co-opt it. There’s not a doubt in my mind every single team owner is already planning on ways to water this down and ultimately bring anything beyond it’s theatrics to an end. But if these athletes do indeed chose to listen to local community organizers over their team owners and local elected officials, this could spread well beyond professional sports. As much money as these players are costing the leagues, the owners, and the channels that air their games, imagine the ramifications of entire workforces followed their lead.
And that, of course, is what terrifies people who oppose their actions the most.
I’m doing my best not to get my hopes up. There’s no denying we live in a nation that’s been conditioned to be incredibly apathetic and wary, with tens of millions of people too busy working in order to bring in just enough money to survive, without a second to step back, breathe, and consider the fact that it does not and should not have to be this way. But with athletics being one of the country’s favorite means of escape, and the imagery of these powerful national figures showing us exactly how we can use our collective power to take a stand, a piece of me can’t help but hope that the message will get through to some.
We may not have the platform that these athletes do, but we certainly have the numbers. I can think of no better way to fight back than to hit back at those who continue to wage war on Black and Brown people and the working classes of this nation where it hurts the most: their finances.
