Fear the Deer
How the Milwaukee Bucks’ unilateral action sparked a second phase of civil protest in 2020 America
The Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA put on the most powerful demonstration of social justice this year when they opted to boycott Game 5 of their first round playoff series with the Orlando Magic.
The clock ticked down, and the Bucks never took the floor.
If only it didn’t have to come to this.
Police brutality was already an issue that hit close to home for the Bucks as team member Sterling Brown has been a victim of unnecessary abuse by police in January 2018. He wrote an essay about his experience in The Players Tribune entitled Your Money Can’t Silence Me.
Further reasoning for the team’s absence came from yet another evil illustration of police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. This was where Jacob Blake, a black man, was shot seven times in the back by police, which left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
Protesters and armed racists alike flooded the Wisconsin streets in the aftermath, that had the majority pleading to be heard and the minority itching to kill. Yet again, the minority won out.
Yet again, well known, professional, and yes, black athletes were put on the spot to respond with their commentary on what we should do. As if the answer isn’t so blatantly obvious. (Do not shoot people!)
Over three months ago, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by four policemen in Minnesota, cities across America burned. Sports were still a long ways away from restarting, however, advice was still sought after from these athletes.
The complexities of devising a multi-layered solution to restart professional sports safely in the midst of a global pandemic were further pushed into chaos as athletes questioned how they should best respond to the never ending cycle of police brutality that had highlighted the nation’s racial injustices.
One question NBA players had was, should we not even restart the season?
Ultimately, the NBA rebooted in a magical bubble safe from disease and injustice for those inside. There were protests during the national anthem, Black Lives Matter was painted on the courts and player chosen statements such as ‘How Many More?’; ‘Vote’; and ‘Say Her Name’ donned the backs of their uniforms.
In this instance what was on the back of the jersey was more important than the name on the front.
Not even those calculated measures, however, could ease the tensions in the streets and initiate satisfactory change. Putting out generic press releases and the planned demonstrations soon became—as we predicted in our earlier newsletter—the new silent.
That is why what the Bucks did on Wednesday afternoon was so beautiful courageously radical. They took the next step of action to not play the game after analyzing the fact that what they had been doing to that point clearly was not being effective in stopping police from simply shooting people point blank.
In the process the players on the Bucks—who did not notify their team or NBA management—risked it all for a common goal of advancing justice reform. They risked forfeiting the game, millions of dollars and their reputations.
And make no mistake this was a boycott. Teams once again contemplated even canceling the season. Instead it turned into a three-day postponement with games to resume Saturday, August 29.
With all due respect to Clinton Yates and others who view this as a technical strike, this is simply not the same and therefore should not be classified as such.
A boycott is when people voluntarily and intentionally withhold services from an entity (person, company, or country) to protest on moral, social or political reasons. In this case, the Bucks did for all three reasons and did so to exclusively put pressure on their local government leaders.
Not only did the Bucks’ players withhold services from their company, but in the process directly prevented services from being delivered to the nation, which people and government leaders have grown to rely on for unity, civil obedience and economic prosperity.
If this were an ordinary player lockout or strike, people would be focusing on the petty monetary disputes between Billionaires and Millionaires.
In this case, the players initiated a boycott for purposes of enhancing civil rights for black people in 2020 by forcing the nation to have no choice. You cannot choose to even ride the bus if there is no bus. The NBA players were feed up with being pawns and jesters for the entertainment of the nation while those in power continued to punish without proper due process.
For some, it must have felt like an unbreakable cycle of a 21st century modern age slavery or indentured servitude. It is inescapable. As we have heard over and over again: they are tired.
As a result NBA players—some of the most wealthy and popular people in the world— temporarily took away the bus. It had a trickle down effect to other leagues like the MLS, MLB and WNBA, where athletes are becoming more empowered and boycotted their own games.
The purpose was not to get the NBA front office on board with some policy, it was to get government leaders to take action and hear their protests. Well moments after their boycott, the Bucks were on a three-way conference call with Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and Luietenant Governor Mandela Barnes discussing reform inside of their own locker room.
The Bucks did what is the hardest for anybody to do: they were the first. They had the courage to take a stand and protest against the current social justice environment and boldly boycotted their payoff game. They brushed aside any negative ramifications or consequences for the greater good.
The Bucks followed the courageous blueprint of civil rights heros Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Senator John Lewis. Although, I am sure that any athlete would say what they are doing isn’t nearly as noteworthy or inspirational of those three and so many more from that era. Though, it is still an important moment in time as these are the next steps taken in the fight for racial (and gender) equality.
Dr. King depicted the ‘White Moderate’ being focused on order and staying silent as the most dangerous stumbling block to the black community. The White Moderate is to a deer on the side of the road as racists are to speeding cars in the night. The petrifying fear of being hit inhibits you from crossing the street to continue your journey.
The White Moderate will only cross the street when there are no cars and it is ‘socially acceptable’ to move forward with certain action. Otherwise, they stand still. Waiting for a more appropriate time, which may as well be never.
The Bucks made sure to take action. Their goal: to continue to have more and more people take action. Dr. King Jr. observed from a Birmingham jail cell that human progress is not inevitable; and the entire sports community is trying to do their part by recruiting others to take action by voting, saying their names, or nonviolently protesting.
Coniceidently, today is the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington (the MLB is also honoring Jackie Robinson for breaking the color barrier today since there was no baseball in April).
The Milwaukee basketball team has a slogan: Fear the Deer. To evolve, the White Moderate has to put themselves into the conversation, even if staying silent would be less messy. The fear should not be of getting hit; rather the goal should be to make others aware of your presence in order to reshape the system.
The objective is to make the speeding racist car stop and proceed with caution as they approach the deer. The end result would be for both to live in peace in a better, changed world.
And if the White Moderate individual gets hit? Well if a blow to reputation, wealth or class status is the sacrifice that the Bucks were willing to make, then that is a risk you cannot afford not to take.
Besides, there is typically more damage done to the car—the speeding racist on America’s corrupt streets—than to the deer.
You are more powerful than you think. Be an advocate for change; Vote; and remember you are the Deer to Fear.