Athlete Activism at American University

Using their platform as leaders in the campus community, AU Athletics launches Anti-Racism Education Collective and individual teams take to social media to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Written by Elizabeth Scott

Art by Caroline Lougee

Whether professional or collegiate, athletes in the United States have historically used their platforms to stand up for various causes; in particular: racial justice. This year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association will allow students to express their views in more ways than ever before, including on their uniforms.

After a summer of Black Lives Matter protests around the world, student-athletes at American University decided to take action in partnership with AU Athletics to form the Anti-Racism Education Collective. According to their press release, the collective will work “to provide an opportunity for education and awareness on racial inequality and other social justice issues, and to create engagement within the AU Athletics community for student-athletes, coaches and staff.”

“I would say our teams have been receptive to the idea and trying to support our Black student-athletes and let them know that they have a community that’s here and listening,” said Marsha Harper, head coach of the women’s soccer team.

June Mwaniki, a member of the AU cross-country team, said that open communication between athletes and coaches is essential. “The part of the athletic department that I’ve encountered has done well in being inclusive and having conversations,” Mwaniki said. “We’ve been able to have open dialogues with our coaches and teammates about our experiences in encountering racism.”

In late July, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel passed guidelines that allow collegiate athletes to make social justice statements on their uniforms. Student-athletes are able to wear a patch on the front of their jerseys to celebrate or memorialize events, people or other causes. While the status of many sports seasons is uncertain as the pandemic intensifies, the patches aren’t the only thing teams plan on doing.

“The players have also mentioned more ways that we can support the Black community. They’re proposing ideas and drafting ideas where we can start to support more local Black businesses,” Harper said.

Politics and sports are not a new combination, with a long history of athletes using their platform to speak out against racial discrimination.

At the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists on the medal podium in order to protest racial discrimination. In 2003, Toni Smith, a collegiate basketball player, turned her back on the flag during the national anthem to protest the Iraq War. After Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, five members of the St. Louis Rams walked onto the field with their hands up.

This year, at the U.S. Open, women’s champion Naomi Osaka wore face masks with the names of Black Americans killed by police to all of her matches. Each mask honored a different name: Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and George Floyd were featured, among others.

But athlete protests have been met with harsh responses in the past.

After Colin Kaepernick knelt for the national anthem in 2016, he was released by the San Francisco 49ers and has not been able to play in an NFL game since. LeBron James and other NBA players were told to “shut up and dribble” when they spoke up about the challenge of being Black in the United States and critiqued President Donald Trump.

This year, many of these same teams, including the 49ers, posted messages of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. These actions have been criticized by some as being performative activism.

At AU, one of the plans for the athletics program is that studentathletes will meet in small groups on a regular basis. The groups will be discussing books, articles and other material related to anti-racism. Currently, they are reading “White Fragility” and discussing it at their biweekly meetings.

“Every two weeks we try and read a chapter, and give people time to reflect upon the chapter. I can say certainly from my standpoint it’s been great to obviously express how I feel but also hear different people and their viewpoints, through their respective lens,” Harper said. “I think from this process there’s certainly been some growth.”

The creation of the collective followed actions taken by individual teams this year, including Twitter statements of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The AU women’s soccer team started a photo campaign titled “Do You Hear Us?,” in which all athletic teams as well as some athletic administrators participated. Over 50 members of the athletic community took photos with messages of support and solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement and the Black community.

“What’s awesome is that a lot of the stuff that we’re seeing, on our team page in particular, is all student-led. Our communications department has been very helpful for creating the graphics, as well as pushing out the content and the other teams have been awesome,” Harper said.

“Our [social media] captions raise awareness and we stand by the BLM community publicly,” said Malak Hassouna, a member of AU’s swim and dive team.

Throughout the pandemic, people across the country and the globe have used social media to stand up against racism and encourage other people to make their voices heard. AU athletic teams have created videos standing up against racism and also have shared posts encouraging students to vote. Many teams, including the women’s soccer team, have shared graphics showing that 100% of their team is registered to vote.

“Can we get the word out about voting and not make it about one party versus the other but just telling people to vote and encouraging them to do so and educating them on why voting is important, and also giving them the resources.” Harper said.

Following the events of this summer, the Patriot League athletic conference created an anti-racism commission which Harper and men’s basketball coach Ed Jackson work on.

One of the goals of the athletic department is to work with the wider campus community. The Patriot League is working to connect their efforts across campuses as well. Town halls have been discussed as a possibility for when students return to campus.

“It’s good that a lot of things were created to have the issue of racism and social injustice not be just a moment, and instead a movement. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of laying some foundations so that we can make sure that it’s consistent,” Harper said.

Elizabeth Scott (she/her/hers) is a freshman studying International Relations.