Thank you, Josh Howard

Athletes in the U.S. are expected to keep their mouths shut when it comes to either questioning or criticizing any injustices that exist. They are ingrained from the time they are born with the notion, “My country, right or wrong, love it or leave,” like the rest of society.

During the height of the Black liberation movement and the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Black athletes like Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos took heroic stances against the Vietnam War and racist oppression at home, leading to a reactionary backlash.

Today, in the absence of a mass movement, professional athletes are paid millions of dollars in salaries, especially basketball, football and baseball players. At the same time, they pay a heavy price. These are high-priced “gladiators” expected to just perform and willingly take any kind of abuse from the spectators, as well as not say anything that smacks of being anti-patriotic.

This is why it is important to take special note of the actions of Josh Howard, a gifted African-American National Basketball Association player who is a member of the Dallas Mavericks. At a charity football game this past summer, while the Star-Spangled Banner was playing in the background, Howard was caught on YouTube saying that, in essence, he did not have to respect the U.S. anthem because he is Black.

This is not the first time that Howard has taken a progressive stance against U.S. policies. For instance, as a senior at Wake Forest University in 2004, Howard came out against the U.S. war on Iraq. He has also been criticized for publicly stating that he smokes marijuana, which so many athletes in all sports do. His Josh Howard Foundation is “dedicated to helping to improve the quality of life of economically challenged communities by utilizing programs and services that focus on academic improvement, community outreach, and athletic and fitness training.” (www.joshhoward.com)

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said that Howard had apologized for his comments. Cuban also posted comments about Howard’s stance on his blog to show that he was more concerned about the horrendous racism expressed against Howard than about Howard’s rejection of the U.S. anthem. (blogmaverick.com)

Some of the responses on the blog urged Cuban to fire Howard and others stated that Howard should leave this country. Other anti-Howard messages were linked to hostility toward Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. There are also positive comments defending Howard.

Sports commentators on Fox News and ESPN have added fuel to the fire by making negative statements about Howard’s stance.

Just the fact that Howard said that he is “Black” is a powerful political statement understood by so many Black and other oppressed peoples. It goes to the very heart of institutionalized racism in the forms of police brutality; incarceration; lack of jobs, education and housing; and, last but not least, demonization that Black people, especially young people, face day in and day out in the U.S. So Josh Howard should be applauded and defended for doing what he did.

Larry Hales, a national organizer with the youth group Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST), told Workers World: “This is great and long overdue for a major sports star to make such a political statement. Though he probably didn’t intend for it to go public and he hasn’t been given the chance to expound, and probably will be made to apologize, I’m sure he refuses the anthem because it implies acceptance of the history of slavery, theft of land, genocide and U.S. imperialism.”