josh howard is a small forward who plays for the dallas mavericks. i must admit, i am not a big fan of his playing style, but recently, he has done something that excites me. of course, it is this very thing that has him in the shit house with the corporate media and ignorant fans. not long ago, on youtube (is it just me, or is everything on youtube now?) howard said that the national anthem doesn't mean shit to him because he is black. judging by the reaction, you would think he was starting wars. well hey, i don't give a shit about the national anthem either. this is the same josh howard, who as a college student at wake forest, said that the iraq war was a war for oil. at the time, it was thought that he would be a lottery pick, but because of his "personality" issues, he wasn't taken until the end of the 1st round.
the treatment of howard brings to mind previous players who have been blacklisted. chris hodges, a great three point shooter for the champion bulls, was also a muslim with strong anti-war convictions. during the first war with iraq, the bulls were invited to the white house to celebrate a championship. hodges took the opportunity to write a letter to president bush, expressing his position. he never played in the nba again. by the way, hodges played with jordan. don't you think a word from jordan could have helped hodges stay in the league? jordan, as always, exercised his right to remain silent.
mahmoud abdul rauf, aka chris jackson, was also a muslim with a progressive politics. his "crime" was not standing for the national anthem. for this, he was castigated by a fascistic media and ignorant fans. jackson was soon run out of the league, and this was a guy that could play his ass off. years later, he built a house in mississippi. shortly after it was built, the house was burned down, and the letters "kkk" were emblazoned on the lawn. i only know of this because dave zirin has written about it. you would think that espn, or a major newspaper, may have found this worthy of mention.
it seems that you better be a dominant player, a kareem abdul jabbar, a steve nash, a bill walton, a bill russell, or a jim brown if you plan on saying anything. anyone else will be thrown aside. people will say that politics has no place in sports, but these same people will never acknowledge that the elimination of hodges and jackson from the league was an act of overt, reactionary politics. in fact, the playing of the national anthem before every game is, of course, an example of the marriage of politics and sports. when they tell us that the army is a sponsor of the game, that is an example of the marriage of politics and sports. when they invite teams to the white house, that is an example of the marriage of politics and sports. when professional teams who have players from all over the world, get american flags stitched onto their uniforms, that is an example of the marriage of politics and sports. when teams are named after people that this country has committed genocide against, that is an example of the marriage of politics and sports.
it is not only "political" to oppose various elements of the warfare state, it is also "political" to support them. but sadly, no one is about to "blacklist" the national anthem, or army sponsorship, or teams named after indians, or american flags on uniforms. in fact, no one will even mention this in a mainstream context. it will appear to the average american to be as natural as air.
welcome to the normalcy i like to call american fascism.
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