COLOMBIA – Stay with sports?
How could they?
South Carolina basketball coaches, Dawn Staley and Frank Martin, talked about the country’s unrest because they wanted to and were obliged to do so. Anyone can express their opinion about the protests and movements; many coaches and athletes make simple statements condemning systemic racism and police brutality.
That would not be enough for Staley and Martin.
“I would have done something anyway, but I thought doing the play would certainly launch a bigger net and it was a place where I could do that, because I did some other plays with them, and it has been great,” said Staley, who criticized President Donald Trump in a story he wrote entitled “Blacks are tired” for The Players’ Tribune. “I had a lot of fun talking to them and trying to go a little deeper than just an ordinary article.”
Martin, whose wife Anya is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, also has a strong stance.
“What doesn’t work is if you feel a certain way and keep your mouth shut. Or you speak falsely, ”he said. “Phonics doesn’t work. Do you know where the anger comes from? When you make someone think that you are doing something to help them, and in reality, you are just trying to deceive them. “
Each spoke about their own experiences with racism, past and present. Each asked to simply start a conversation, with everyone – their players, their community, the legislators to really embrace and enact change.
And each, as they did throughout their terms at USC, had their own unique point of view.
Staley was one of the few figures in the sport who directly called Trump for some of his messages during the protest, such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”.
“I stick to what I said that we need someone who is a unifier. If it’s not unifying our entire country, then we need to change, ”said Staley. “If I train only eight of our 12 players, I am doing a terrible job for the whole team. Because I’m dividing. When you are a divider, you only speak to a certain number of people. Everyone else, they are on their own. “
Staley, the women’s basketball coach at the United States Olympics, was not concerned with the potential repercussions in her article or in subsequent interviews.
“I am not intentional, I am not calculating when I do things. I just speak from my heart, ”she said. “I only know one way, and that doesn’t mean we have to agree. But our behavior must speak to everyone ”.
Martin strongly criticized Colin Kaepernick in 2016, when the then-ex-NFL defender found the press wearing a Fidel Castro shirt after refusing to run for the national anthem before an NFL preseason game. Martin’s parents escaped communist Cuba.
“Kaepernick can say what he wants,” said Martin in 2016. “This is the beauty of this country. Colin Kaepernick in Cuba was reportedly put in prison. “
But this week he remembered a conversation with his team in 2016, when former SEC Player of the Year, Sindarius Thornwell, called a meeting in the locker room to express his feelings about racism.
“That is a difficult, very, very difficult word,” said Martin. “Like hate, hate is a very, very difficult word. We sat in that locker room for three hours. Sin, Duane (Notice), (Maik) Kotsar as a freshman spoke, although he is from Estonia. These are powerful moments. But you have to have the conversations. If you don’t, you are failing the children. “
Frank Martin and his wife, Anya, released a statement during the Columbia protests. Sent / Frank Martin
Martin has encouraged his players to speak for the past two weeks, organizing Zoom meetings and lining up speakers. One of his best friends who grew up in Miami is now a senior in the Miami Police Department and he joined the call.
Miami Heat striker Udonis Haslem played for Martin in high school and Martin conveyed Haslem’s message to his team. There are many police procedures that need to be changed, but portraying all the authorities as the bad guy is not the right attitude.
“The badge is not the one with the hate. It is the soul of the man who has hatred, ”said Martin, using Haslem’s words. “There are many things that need to be worked on, whether police training or whatever, with regard to racial profile. I’m still here because the cops took care of the neighborhood kids. Without them, we will have problems.
“So there is a lot more good than bad. I know that in my heart. I also experienced what is ugly, I was racially discriminated against as a car driver, so I understand. But I was protected and helped by police many more times. We have to get up and fix the problems. “
Staley is close to Richland County sheriff Leon Lott, who was named honorary deputy in 2015 and has been helping the department. She sees her leadership and how the community responds to her.
“Sheriff Lott has devoted his whole life to law enforcement. Some people may have a problem, but overall, it doesn’t change who he is, how he leads because of the number of people he affects, ”said Staley. “He serves everyone. Most of the time, people love how he leads. They are one with the neighborhoods they protect and serve. “
Staley attended one of Columbia’s protests and also two of his players, Destiny Littleton and Olivia Thompson. She hadn’t heard if any of her teammates had it in their respective cities (Littleton is rehabilitating an injury here and Thompson is from Lexington), but that doesn’t mean they didn’t.
“Our team, I think everyone is socially aware. Everyone wants to use their voice in some way, ”she said. “I think as a team, as players, they are discovering how to use their voices and have a platform for long-term change.”
Martin, also recently appointed head of a racial reconciliation committee, is likewise. He constantly asks his players to share what they are feeling with him, because that is the only way he can know and then help.
“I have internal conflict all the time because there are many good things, but there are also some ugly ones. But I talk to our team about it all the time, ”he said. “The most difficult thing with players, especially in this age group, is that they allow themselves to let you into their core. It is difficult to do with my children, it is difficult to do with my players ”.
Athletes are becoming more empowered and allowing their voices to be heard in discussions that have nothing to do with their sport. At USC, each basketball coach is encouraging, contributing his own words and waiting for change.