Sporten och skjutningarna i Minnesota

Ska man skilja på sport och mänskliga rättigheter? Eller som Trump menar, sport och politik? I går söndag skickade NBA:s spelarfack ut ett pressmeddelande som inleds med konstaterandet att de inte längre kan ”remain silent.”

”Now more than ever, we must defend the right to freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice,” the NBPA statement read. ”The fraternity of NBA players, like the United States itself, is a community enriched by its global citizens, and we refuse to let the flames of division threaten the civil liberties that are meant to protect us all.”

NBA har alltid varit en mer medveten och modern kraft i professionell amerikansk sport. Det är också flera NBA-lag som vägrat besöka det som återstår av President Trumps Vita Huset efter att man vunnit – som annars traditionen kräver.   

Trump älskar golf, MMA och amerikansk fotboll. Jag tror inte att det flertal som tävlar där är intresserade av vad som händer i Minnesota.  Jag tror flertalet, inte alla, stödjer ICE och Trump.

Jag fäster mig också vid att NBA-laget Minnesota Timberwolves egen präst blivit hotad av ICA. Han heter dessutom Matt Moberg. Så här står det i The Guardian: 

”Matt Moberg began his statement by saying:

If you’re a church posting
prayers for peace and unity today
while my city bleeds in the streets,
miss me with that softness
you only wear
when it costs you nothing.
Don’t dress avoidance up as holiness.
Don’t call silence “peacemaking.”
Don’t light a candle and think it
substitutes for showing up.

As reported earlier, the Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Alex Pretti before its game against the Golden State Warriors, which was postponed yesterday after the fatal shooting.

The chaplain continued his statement by saying an ICE agent had taken a photo of him and told him threateningly, “We’ll be seeing you soon.”

Moberg said:

Peace isn’t what you ask for
when the boot is already
on someone’s neck.
Peace is what the powerful ask for
when they don’t want to be interrupted.
Unity isn’t neutral.
Unity that refuses to name violence
is just loyalty to the ones holding the weapons.”