I'd rather not comment on this, but will anyway.
I don't think this is a "powerful statement". Honestly, professional sports , now more than ever, is only being followed by sharply focused fans of that sport, not by the public at large. As the casual NBA fan who is playing in the playoffs, which teams are favored, who the stars of each team are, and I would guess few would know. Throw in a Covid "we need money" season, and frankly even fans don't care.
After the Bucks canceled their game, other professional teams and sports joined in, not in solidarity, but for fears of having an angry mob point their attention and fingers towards them. What does cancelling a game or even season mean? Will it result in less black men being shot by cops, less poverty in black neighborhoods, less crime, better educational outcomes? No, of course not. You'd have to connect an awful lot of dots to see how now playing a basketball game will do those things. You'd much more reliably look at the summer sky at night, and connect the dots to find Cassiopeia.
As Panther pointed out only a few days ago, and I agree, our perspective of the world and country are shaped by where we see it from. Look at El Capitan from 2 miles away and it looks like a big boulder, not the massive edifice it is. Look at it from its base and you don't understand how massive it is.
Understandably, any black person has reasonable fear when getting stopped by a cop. 13 unarmed black men were shot and killed by police in 2019. However 48 law officers killed also in 2019. I would imagine their heightened concerns are also justifiable when you consider the violence in primarily black neighborhoods..
Consider that the national outrage over those 13 deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police in 2019, and those that occurred this year, and compare it to Chicago. In Chicago alone, in the first 6 months of this year, there have been 440 homicides and 2200 shootings!!!!!!!!!!!! C'mon man!
Class of 72 posted a summary, that I won't dissect, but there are often realities that are ignored. Blake was armed with a knife, and we may or may not know precisely how that figured into the shooting, but there is a very good chance it contributed to it. Lest we minmize knife vs. gun, once someone is intent of getting or using the knife, armed or not, a cop is in a life threatening situation. People will talk about 7 shots, and some morons will say, "Why not shoot him in the hand to disable him?" I think it takes about 1.5 seconds to fire 7 shots, and once deadly force is used in a life threatening situation, it is not feasible to shoot to disarm.
The thread will be locked and rightfully so according to policy.
I don't even care one way or another about seasons shutting down or suspended over this. I DO care about how disingenuous protests, violent or not, really are, when there is no substantive change behind it. It isn't all about educating police either. With 2200 shooting in Chicago alone, violent rioting, vandalism and looting in many major cities, defunding the police to punish them is just about the most idiotic thing anyone could suggest. How about stiffening laws for even possession of an unlicensed firearm where mandatory sentences are required even when a felonious crime is not committed? How about doubling sentences without bail when a gun is used in the commission of a crime?
Instead , we have violent offenders charged with assault or more, of any race, who are released with bail in NYS. Hilariously, there are reported instances of these guys being released and committing more violent crimes the very same day. We have rhetoric calling protests "peaceful" even when cars are burned, mobs stalk homes in the middle of the night shouting obscenities, threatening murder, where stores are vandalized and looted, where those opposing mob rule are violently beaten or killed. In no instance have I seen the peaceful protesters stop the violence when a store owner, property owner, or someone who simply shouted an opposing view was being violently beaten of worse.
We are in sad, sad times. Win lose or draw, all the protests and violence will end in November. You can pretty much bet on it.
Suspend game? Seasons? Disband these leagues where athletes are trotted out for our amusement? Sure, fine, go ahead. I really don't care.
Ending all murder and oppression of innocent people of all colors and professions, especially people of color. I'm all in for that. It's not simply a one way street, and until we acknowledge that, ZERO will change.
The stats from FBI database:
[URL]https://www.fbi.gov/news/press...forcement-officers-killed-in-the-line-of-duty[/URL]
