Tag Archives: NFL protest

The Politics of Sports and Protest: Colin Kaepernick and the Practice of Leadership

Many Americans view sports as race-neutral and apolitical. However, sports both influence, and are influenced by, society. Athletes, fans, coaches, and owners are not immune from all of the social ills impacting the larger society, including evidence of racial injustices. Protests in sports are not new (Rhoden; Smith). Tommie Smith and John Carlos, elite American sprinters, famously raised fists of freedom in the air on the medal stand during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, to protest unequal treatment facing black people in America, and other people of color around the globe. More recently, some black athletes have joined, and led efforts to again protest unequal treatment facing people of African ancestry in America with the hopes of bringing about positive social changes. 

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