Tempest On a T-Shirt

The Minnesota Lynx are sitting in second place behind the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA's pecking order going into the Olympic break, having started the season by beating their own record for the fastest start in the league's history.

But nobody cares about that right now.  Following a week in which two African-American men from Louisiana and Minnesota and five Dallas police officers were murdered, the Lynx players made news of their own by sporting black T-shirts during warmups before a recent game at Target Center in Minneapolis.   It bore the names of the shooting victims and the organization Black Lives Matter, which has been responsible for most of the protests in reaction to the police-caused violence in African-American communities across the country.  As it happened, that night's opponents were the Dallas Wings.

Four Minneapolis police officers took exception to those T-shirts, leaving their jobs as off-duty security detail for Lynx games.  Bob Kroll, who is president of the local police union, applauded the officers' move.  Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges and police chief Janee Harteau did not, and both strongly rebuked Kroll.

The Lynx players deserve credit for bringing attention to an off-the-court issue.  Yes, we know they're professional basketball players, for some of us who wish they would shut up and play.  But they're also women who have had obstacles placed in front of them because of their sex, their race, their sexuality, or all of the above.  They, like the rest of us, have had it up to here with the hate and violence.

The police officers who walked out are another story.  They have tough jobs, no question about it.  But they are also being selfish for reneging on the more than seven thousand fans who came out to the game that night, all because the message on those T-shirts was offensive to them.  Anyone still wondering why the police don't have as much credibility as they used to?

The recent death of Muhammad Ali is a reminder that sports and activism need not be mutually exclusive.  At the height of his boxing career, Ali fought against induction into the military during a divisive war and won.  Today's athletes, with a few exceptions, can't afford to stick their necks out on the issues of the day.  Not unless they want to lose millions of dollars in endorsement deals, player salaries, fines from the league and goodwill from fans and the media.  When you play sports, your First Amendment rights are left at the door.

The leagues these players are employed in have already made their views known.  They couldn't bend over backwards far enough for Our Men and Women in Blue and Khaki.  Photo ops with the players, free admission for military personnel, flyovers, "surprise" homecomings, special game uniforms for military-themed holidays, the seventh-inning singing of "God Bless America", etc.  It's as if George W. Bush (who once owned baseball's Texas Rangers) was still President.

The Minnesota Lynx did not wear those T-shirts before their next game at San Antonio (too close to Dallas).  They might not ever wear them again.  But the point has been made, even if the team loses a few fans in the process.  Change does indeed begin with us.