MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Professional athletes have a history of joining movements for social change and social justice at times of crisis, particularly where racial justice is concerned. This is particularly the experience of African American athletes, facing the co-dependent oppressions of racism and business “sports” colonialism which asserts extreme limitations over the professional opportunities of athletes. To struggle against the conservative tendencies of sports businesses (professional teams, privately owned), or of society at large, is dangerous to an athlete’s professional career, while not to struggle is a decision that maintains such modes of oppression. The corporate view of the athlete may be limited to the bottom line, or broader political interests relevant to that bottom line, yet, the public’s view of the professional athlete demands much: at one moment, sophistication in the public’s presence, at another moment, a simple silence.
On a broader level, situational struggles made by athletes in common struggle against social oppression constitute a public display for change that may inspire broader movements, or reflect already constituted social movements. Social protest by athletes may repel fans and threaten the athlete’s personal career (hence, the entry point to the public’s attention that the protesting athlete depends on). This paper will consider the contradictions of protest by charismatic professional athletes in the age of Trump – an era hyper-critical of progressive protest, especially by prominent celebrities, including athletes. Athletes are a group who may have one portion of their personal biographies in oppressed communities, even while the other portion has been elevated to elite status. In that elite status can be lost in an instant, protest by professional athletes is risky terrain threatening their celebrity status.