Racism, Discrimination, Diversity & America (Part 4) - Drew Brees, Bubba Wallace, and Hope

            If you’ve been following the sports world as of late, you have likely noticed that sports are having a major impact on America and the world’s conversation about race. In the Premiere League, their players are wearing jerseys that say, “black lives matter” on the back while the NBA will allow something similar when they resume their season at the end of July 2020. Formula1 racing in Italy displayed a banner that says, “end racism” on their course.

Many college football players have called out their coaches for their actions or inactions (Clemson & Oklahoma State) as it relates to race conversations and discipline. Moreover, some college players threatened to transfer to another university if their state flag didn’t remove the confederate flag from its design. Other college athletes asked that the names of campus buildings change from the person they were named after because the buildings were named after people who perpetuated systemic racism or owned slaves themselves. 

All of these are stories within themselves, with deep passion and nuance, but none of those situations have been as visceral as the Drew Brees and Bubba Wallace situations. 

Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks and one of the most respected quarterbacks in the NFL.  When the pandemic first broke Brees and his foundation donated $5 million to relief efforts for the city of New Orleans. From what has been reported and announced publicly, that gift is more than any other single athlete from any sport by a few million dollars.

In an interview about the upcoming NFL season, Brees drew sharp criticism for his remarks regarding players kneeling during the National Anthem. Brees said, “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” and for a large majority of people (especially Black people, in particular, Black athletes & POC in the USA), his comments were hurtful and offensive. The backlash Brees received was harsh to say the least.

On the other end of the spectrum, Bubba Wallace is the only current Black driver in all of NASCAR. A couple of weeks ago, he was pushing NASCAR to have the Confederate flag banned at all NASCAR events. After discussion for two days, NASCAR and its leadership decided that the Confederate flag was not to be flown and displayed at their events. As you can expect, this move received backlash from NASCAR faithful.

Moreover, Bubba Wallace decided to the paint the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on his vehicle for the remainder of the season, which is unusual - to use your vehicle to make a statement of this kind. Traditionally, painted spots on NASCAR vehicles are reserved for corporate sponsors rather than personal statements and viewpoints.  These were small, yet monumental steps that Bubba Wallace fought for inclusion of all people at their races and events. Bubba Wallace’s fan base grew as a result. 

Six days after NASCAR officially removed the Confederate flag at its events; however, three days before the scheduled race at Talladega Superspeedway, Bubba Wallace’s team found a rope tied like a noose in his garage. Upon first hearing the news, NASCAR was quick to investigate the situation and even called in the FBI to do its due diligence as it related to the noose. Ultimately, to determine if this was a hate crime towards Bubba Wallace. 

Within 24 hours, NASCAR along with the FBI determined that it was not a hate crime although the rope was in fact fastened like a noose, it had been at the garage for over a year. As you can expect, Wallace and his team received harsh criticism from NASCAR’s faithful as they felt Wallace was creating a scene while making a name for himself.

Moreover, NASCAR faithful did not like the comments made by Wallace because they felt like a personal attack on them, which made people believe that the whole situation was a hoax. A few days later, NASCAR would release the photo of the noose so people could have the opportunity to make their own determination about the rope.

 

Steps in the Right Direction 

It starts by listening to and understanding those who are frustrated and hurting. This is not just about George Floyd's death. This is about hundreds of years of slavery, systemic racism, prejudice, and inequality in our country that are still very much with us and felt by African Americans daily.     

 - Jon Gordon, Author of The Power of a Positive Team

 

I share this to point to what happened after as much as what happened during these events. After Brees’ comments, he had conversations with respected current and former Black NFL players (including Shannon Sharpe) to hear their perspective. Brees also apologized for how his comments hurt the Black community in New Orleans and elsewhere and vowed to show even more support than before.

Brees and his head coach, Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints, called a team meeting (I wish every NFL team did this) for Brees and his teammates to discuss the issue with Shaquille O’Neal as a moderator and peacemaker. After the meeting, the team has seemed to move forward and Brees and his foundation have further helped the Black community in New Orleans since his comments went viral.

On the other side, all of the other NASCAR drivers pushed Wallace’s car to the front of the line in a unified display of support for Wallace on the day of the Talladega race. People who have been watching and covering NASCAR for all of their lives have never seen such display of unity at a NASCAR event.

These are small steps towards unity, but you know what both of these situations fill me with…hope! I believe Americans are starting to have hard conversations with one another and are starting to join together to fight against injustices & biases that divide us. I also believe that these moments of unity are not talked about by most mainstream media outlets because they are paid to talk about things that divide us more than unite us.

 

For Christians

            To think that because something is not important to us, it therefore must not be important to God is arrogant. To think that because something is important to us, it therefore must be important to God is presumptuous. May Scripture guide us and have the final say.

                              - Shai Linne, rapper

 

I believe that we Christians need to read Matthew 23 again, the entire chapter. Reading the chapter for myself I felt convicted in many ways. In verses 3-4, Jesus says, “they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger,” (ESV).

Later in Matthew 23:23 Jesus speaks about how the scribes and Pharisees follow the law to the minutia, but “have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others,” (ESV).

We as Christians are called to personal holiness and have an individual relationship with God, but cannot forget to live justly, with mercy, and with faithfulness. It can be easy for us to focus on justice over holiness or holiness over justice and not live out the full Gospel narrative. We tend to be in one of those two camps. Some of us focus more on justice while others of us focus more on holiness. We need both, a life seeking justice and mercy that is being transformed from the inside, out.

Moreover, the apostle Paul says that God gave us the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:11-6:2) where we are helping people reconcile their relationship with God and with each other. We can’t be good ministers of reconciliation when we have hatred towards a group of people or live as if we are superior when God calls us walk humbly with Him.

It is our time to step up and live out the calling that God has placed on our lives where both individual holiness (righteousness) and justice reign! We do so following Jesus’ example, of how he humbled himself, became a lowly man (Phil. 2:7), sacrificing His life (Romans 5:8), so He could reach us and save us from our sins (John 3:16) while initiating the coming of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:4).

We need to live as if we are convicted by the Word that compels us to live passionately for Jesus’ coming kingdom where every tongue, nation, and tribe will be represented. Let’s be people who share and give hope to others!

 

For Non-Christians

            I desire to show you a Jesus that not only loves you individually, but that is passionate about restoring our world and making it a new. I believe the current American Christian narrative has not been received well by you because we Christians have drifted far away from what Jesus had intended it to be. I’ll go as far to say that most Christians need to repent of the way that we’ve lived for ourselves more than we live for justice and with mercy. 

Moreover, the Bible makes it abundantly clear how we Christians are called to live by teaching us to "be doers of the Word, not hearers only," James 1:22 (ESV). I am passionate about changing the narrative of what a Christian looks like to you, even if you reject Jesus or think Christianity is a joke.

            If you want to know more about Christianity and what it means to follow Jesus and be a minister of reconciliation, check out this link.

            

My Challenges for Unity:

You can’t create unity in a crisis, the work happens long before the crisis begins.

                                - Vergil Brown

            Have public conversations where people with different perspectives talk and listen about racism and discrimination. This conversation is best among people who know each other and can have a constructive conversation in public. A good example of this is being done by the leaders of Humble Beast in Portland where church leaders are talking to one another and Emmanuel Acho (Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man). 

             As I shared in the last post, it is easy for us to cancel someone’s perspective when it differs from ours, but that doesn’t build unity. I am always curious as to how someone arrived at their viewpoint and I try to see where we agree even though we may differ on an issue. A large majority of the time I see where we agree and use that to build unity. When I understand where someone is coming from, I know how to communicate and listen better with them. It reminds me of this episode from the Golden Palace, a spinoff of the Golden Girls.

            Nevertheless, I know that the truth about most issues is somewhere in the middle rather than on the extremes. Let’s fight for that middle ground rather than getting our way. Compromise isn’t about winning the other person to our way, but working to find a middle ground where we can all work together.

            Find a way to bridge the gap between head knowledge and action. If you have done some listening and learning over the past few weeks you probably have learned a lot about Black or POC cultures and experiences, but don’t know what to do. I think you can start small and go from there. You can partner with an organization that is doing something you’re passionate about and work with them. You can start something on your own that you’re passionate about that can be a bridge to relationships.

            For example, Maya Moore was a professional basketball player (and one of the best ever) who suspended her career to fight for the release of an imprisoned man who she felt was wrongfully convicted of a crime. Maya met this man through a prison ministry that she volunteered with, and recently this man was released from prison because of the work Maya and others did to help him. The courts in Missouri, where he was imprisoned, determined he was wrongfully convicted of a crime after he served 23 years of a 50-year sentence as a 16-year-old. What an incredible act of love Maya displayed to seek justice! 

            Not everyone needs to give up their career to fight against injustice, but you can do something small and make a major impact. Start small and with something that you're already passionate about. It is simpler to put knowledge into action when you're already passionate about it. If you're passionate about reading, then start a book club. If you're passionate about your neighborhood, host a block party to build connections with your neighbors. If you're passionate about sports, use sports to build bridges. No matter what passion or skill you have, you can use that to bridge the gap between new information you learned and the action needed to help make your community, or city, or our country better.

           Thank you for taking the time to read my posts about racism, discrimination, & diversity in America. I pray that this was an encouragement to you as well as a challenge. I am filled with hope that America is changing partially because of all of you who are reading, learning, and making a difference. Let’s move forward together both individually and as a nation.