Use Sports to Talk to Children About Social Justice

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As a parent of a sports-minded 10-year-old, I was grateful to be able to survive the Michael Jordan era with my son by watching The Last Dance , an ESPN TV series covering the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls season. I was even more gratified that this led us to expand on Jesse Helms’ racist story, sports economics, and the expectations often placed on star black athletes to speak with authority on social issues.

Today’s lack of live sports coverage, coupled with the myriad ways that two current major events in the United States cross-relate to sports, now provide ample opportunities for parents to have a deeper conversation with sports-loving children about important social issues.

For example, currently unsigned NFL player Colin Kaepernick began to kneel to protest police violence against the black community in 2017 – and now there have been protests and rallies in every state in response to the death of George Floyd following a clash with police in Minneapolis.

In addition, the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak increased when Utah jazz star Rudy Gobert tested positive before the game, leading to an immediate suspension of the NBA season. Now the NBA has recently approved a plan to continue the season; a decision that – perhaps more motivated by economic interests than by public health interests – provides an opportunity to talk to children about whether or not to return to sports in the midst of a pandemic without a vaccine.

“I think this is a great opportunity to actually demonstrate a little bit about how power works, how money works, and create a space for conversation [with the kids] about how sports can be reimagined,” says Dr. Amira Rose Davis, associate professor … History and Women’s, Gender and Sexual Studies at Pennsylvania State University. “Why do people want this [return to sports] to happen? What are the risks? Who makes the decisions? “

Davis’s research focuses on race, gender, sports, and politics in the United States of the 20th century. She is also the co-host of Burn It All Down , a popular feminist sports podcast, and is writing a book titled Can’t Eat a Medal: The Lives and Works of Black Athletes in the Age of Jim Crow . She notes that sports provide an opportunity for parents to engage in dialogue with their children about social and cultural topics that are often avoided, especially by white parents.

“Research shows that white parents are much less likely to talk to their children about systemic oppression and other things beyond that, especially race,” Davis says. “Since sport is a very popular cultural thing that is widespread, parents can play a huge role in defining the context of which messages children can passively receive.”

At a basic level, sports are simply a way to stimulate children’s curiosity, starting with a simple understanding of the rules and nuances of each game. Jessica Luther, journalist and author of Unsportsmanlike Behavior: College Football and the Politics of Rape , notes that these simple questions can lead to more serious and important questions.

“You can talk to the kids about all sorts of things to get them thinking about, like why are we doing it this way?” Luther says. “Some of this is not serious, like where the three-point line is or why the goalkeeper might touch the ball. But it can lead to big things, like why does the NFL’s Washington team have a racist name? Or why don’t boys and girls play sports together? “

Luther also notes that some of these conversations don’t happen simply because the parents don’t want to ask the questions themselves.

“It’s easier to say, ‘The kids don’t get it,’ than to actually talk,” says Luther. “We think … we have to defend the innocence of children or something like that, which of course is only true if you belong to a certain demographic. Most of the time it is difficult for white parents to talk about race, but black parents discuss it with their children. ”

Dr. Paul Emory Putz, Associate Director of the Sports Ministry Program at the Truett Seminary at Baylor University, studies the relationship between sports and Christianity. As a child, his interest in sports was one of the reasons he later became a historian.

“Sport helped me [as a child] see that there are people who came here before,” says Putz. “And because they play sports, they are actually part of this much larger story and narrative. It was really convincing for me as a child. “

Topics such as race and gender span generations, and Putz notes that using sports as a starting point to engage children and learn a story can provide them with a set of skills that they can apply to more complex topics as they grow. and growing up.

“If you have a team where you interact with your child, talk to them and go watch old games or read the history of the team,” Putz said. “Just opening up the past to them is kind of the first thing that can be helpful, and recognizing that it won’t be as difficult or socially focused at first as you hope it is, but it could be the entry point into broader conversations.”

Davis also notes that even if children do not fully understand the racial or gender context, they still observe certain things and may be provided with the tools to take a more critical look at youth athleticism.

“I remember reports of the importance given to the boys ‘and girls’ soccer teams in fifth grade, even though I didn’t have the language to express it,” says Davis. “I remember what was said about the girls who continued to play with the boys and what was included in the messages we received about this. This is precisely how we value women and the resources devoted to women’s sports.

“A 10-year-old can understand that his team is all white, and that the team with a different zip code is all black. Youth sports already carry so many of the same problems, but this is definitely a place to start a conversation and perhaps ease them a little in the future when he moves into a college or professional environment where it is really easy to get lost in the sauce of fandom. “

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