The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

IF enough of us speak, someone is bound to hear. If enough of us speak, someone will listen. If enough of us speak, someone will be influenced. If enough of us speak, lives can be changed.

Let me be the first to state my amazement over the local reaction to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to take part in the singing of the American national anthem during pre-game festivities in protest of the systematic racism faced by minorities in the US.

My amazement is not over the support he’s getting from local circles, it comes with the lack of support local athletes and/or activists receive when addressing problems that are all too real to us, right here in the Bahamas.

Why has the social commentary and reasoning been so mixed? If political stances do have a place in sports, why haven’t our local athletes that have stood up and spoken out on national issues received more support?

We can all agree that athletes, through their various fields of play and competition, should address social inequalities and unfairness.

We can all agree that their social clout makes them more than men and woman who suit up when scheduled, entertain us while performing, and soon after, fade away without any social commentary.

Since this is the case, why hasn’t the action of Waltiea Rolle and Derrick Atkins been celebrated?

While they weren’t standing up or speaking out for an issue as “woke” and “social conscious” as systematic injustices faced by minorities in a Caucasian-centric society like America, lending their voices to basic injustices faced by athletes in the Bahamas should be viewed as a great metric.

In recent months, these two outstanding athletes have stood in protest over the actions of local athletic organisations and how political influences have driven their actions.

Rolle, the country’s first female basketball player to be drafted to the WNBA, took exception to the country’s move to celebrate Jonquel Jones, the most recent player to achieve the feat whilst overlooking her completely.

In a three paragraph rant on Facebook a couple of months back, Rolle seethed over how she “bussed” her butt to represent the Bahamas and put it on the basketball map - to no applause or adulation.

Similarly, Atkins took exception to the treatment of recent first round NBA draft pick Buddy Hield. Noting that he, like several other local standouts, deserved like treatment for their efforts but never received it.

Where is that good old “stand up for what is right” argument? Instead, these two particular athletes are being viewed as bitter, jealous and out-of-touch performers.

The points raised by both are matters that we all feel, all see and mostly, all understand - but when Rolle spoke, all we heard was her claims related to Jonquel Jones, and when Atkins spoke, all we heard was his blunt classification of Buddy.

Why have we remained quiet over their claims that inaction within these organisations are slowing the growth of sports?

Why have we glossed over their points that the manner in which we celebrate our athletic greats spurn many at the price of cheering a few?

In reality Kaepernick’s actions have propelled many of us to take a second look at how minorities are treated in the US and precisely how the media has opted to cover the topic, a lot more than we have in the past.

Why haven’t we stopped to ponder the actions of our two athletes the way we have in regard to Kaepernick? Instead, we have allowed the messenger to drown the message.

At times, it leads me to believe that the old plantation mentality is still alive and well. The old “if it is foreign, then it’s better” moniker still reigns true.

For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around the idea that we, as Bahamians, could be so aware of stances and protests all over the world, but can find neither the need nor passion to support one right here on our doorsteps.

Yes, black-lives matter, but so do quality sporting programmes for youth in the Bahamas.

Yes, the rights of women do matter, but so does the growth of Family Island sporting programmes.

I guess we have spent so long viewing our athletic greats as just our family, friends and neighbours; and thus, unable to accept how important their words and actions actually are. Maybe it is time we all take a step back and analyse how we view ourselves.

• Fourth Quarter Press appears every Monday in The Tribune.