Sports are a catalyst for our society

The social climate in the 1930's in the United States was a proverbial powder keg. The economy was at one of it's lowest points in our history and racial issues became a social issue. What I mean when I say social issue, is when something becomes important to the society as a whole, not just a select group. Racism was very strong in the south, and a large migration of blacks to northern cities increased tension there; largely because of job competition in a horrendous economy. (Source) In addition to economic issues in America, political tensions were increasing due to the growing Nazi party in Germany. Amidst all of this, Joe Louis an African-American boxer, was establishing himself as one of the greatest boxers in the world. In 1938, Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling for the second time and much to the chagrin of both boxers they became political figures. They were both used in propaganda
by their respective countries and this fight became more then a Heavyweight Boxing match. The United States rallied behind Joe Louis, because despite racial tensions he was better than the Nazi's.



Two years prior to the big fight, Jesse Owens put forth a magnificent performance by winning four Gold Medals in Berlin, Germany. Joe Louis and Jesse Owens became more than just men to America through their athletic excellence. Joe Louis Jr. had this to say about his father, "What my father did was enable white America to think of him as an American, not as a black... By winning, he became white America's first black hero.". I could elaborate further on the great things Joe Louis did, but I think I've sufficiently shown his importance and why he's a personal hero of mine. Both Owens and Louis opened the door for other great black athletes in America who further perpetuated the social status of their race such as Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron.

You can make similar arguments about what sports have done for women's right. Events such as the 1900 Olympics where women were first allowed to compete, Jackie Mitchell becoming the first female major league baseball player (which included her striking out Babe Ruth), Katharine Switzer running the Boston Marathon under a fake name, and Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs in tennis.

The point in bringing up these monumental moments in the history of the United States is to show that sports play a large role in our society and it's progression. Sometimes it's hard to change people's paradigm in conventional ways, and sports provide a unique vehicle to change beliefs. Sports can do this even if it just starts with making it hard to hate someone who plays for your team or country. It is my belief that we are coming up on another serious social issue in America, and that sports are once again showing us the way. The social issue I'm referring to is religious tolerance.

It is my belief that religious tensions have reached a precipice in the United States. It seems like every time I turn on the news or go to CNN.com I hear/read something about a church being burned down, Muslims being discriminated against, or church's protesting seemingly outrageous things (like funerals for fallen soldiers). In addition to these horrendous things, I recently came across a study that showed evidence that Atheists are currently the most discriminated group in America. (Source). What this shows to me is a fundamental lack of respect for one another and it scares me.

Once again, I believe sports are trying to show the United States how we should treat each other. As I watched the World Basketball Championship (WBC) that took place in Turkey this past summer I saw a simple act that got me thinking about this topic. In the previous WBC, certain countries were offended by the dancers who performed at halftime and during timeouts. So this year when these teams were playing FIBA made sure the dancers dressed and danced a little more conservatively. It was a really simple gesture by FIBA, but I believe that simple gestures are all it takes. Another thing that jumped out at me is a slightly looser connection, but to me it is still worth noting. BYU is a religious University and when they decided to leave the Mountian West Conference and become an Independent in football things got a little crazy. The original plan was for BYU to become Independent in football and then join the Western Athletic Conference in all other sports. Things fell apart in the WAC and BYU's aspirations to be an Independent were shattered. The conference who came to BYU's aid is largely comprised of religious Universities(West Coast Conference) who have no affiliation with BYU. In addition to the WCC reaching out to BYU, Notre Dame (a Catholic University) agreed to play a series of games with BYU Football. Since BYU will be an Independent they'll need quality teams to play against to legitimize their team. With Notre Dame and other Universities agreeing to play BYU, they'll be able to put forth a good enough schedule to gain respect nationally. Sure the WCC is going to be bolstered by the addition of a school like BYU to it's conference and the Universities that agreed to play series with BYU will likely get a spike in ratings. But that's the point that I'm trying to make, religious tolerance can be mutually beneficial for all.

Sports like religion bring out the best and worst in people, but we need to take our queues from the positive things we see in both. It doesn't matter what religion you are or aren't, life is hard, so take it easy on people and do what you can to make things easier for everyone. It doesn't take a lot of work and it can be mutually beneficial for everyone if we just treat each other with respect. We've seen it work in the sports world, and I believe we can make it work in our everyday life as well. We've seen the blueprint for change in society with Civil and Women's rights, maybe we can apply lessons learned in the past to our present situation.

That's all for now, check back in next week and it won't be such a serious topic. This is just something that's been on my mind lately and I wanted to get it off. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday.