Transcriber: Maia Cotelo Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo
When I was 21 years old, my father passed away early in the morning
after a very brief illness.
I spent that day in shock, but I spent that evening
watching my Green Bay Packers win a football game.
At halftime, I ate for the first time all day.
And I know, sports should not have mattered on a day like that day,
but they did.
Twenty years later, I continue to work to try and advance
the core lesson of that day.
Sports have power, therefore we need to teach sports.
Not how to play them, I think we have that covered.
But how to consume them,
how to understand them, how to talk about them.
Because when we teach sports,
we often teach those larger issues as well:
gender, domestic violence, religion, identity.
Two-thirds of Americans don't own a passport,
but over 95% report consuming some form of international sports media.
Our world gets wider when sports enter the equation.
Sports provide teachable moments
for some of our most difficult conversations,
such as that taboo topic of race.
For instance, a quick glance at a swimming competition
could lead someone to falsely believe
that blacks simply cannot swim as well as others.
However, there's far more to the story than that.
In the American South, part of that story involves generations of black Americans
not being permitted at pools, lakes, or beaches.
Mom and dad can't go to the pool. They don't learn to swim.
They don't encourage their children to swim,
because they don't feel they can teach them,
or save them.
Generations go by, the cycle continues.
Even today, US rates of drowning are triple for blacks than whites.
So we need to teach and advance causes
such as USA's Swimming's Make A Splash initiative that teaches minorities to swim
or we can simply relegate all blacks as simply bad swimmers.
Teach the former. Reject the latter.
But it's not just our sports history that needs teaching, it's also the language.
Let's take a sport we are quite familiar with in Alabama, football.
Most recent studies would tell you that media stereotypes
surrounding black quarterbacks being inferior no longer exist.
However, more covert forms of stereotypes still remain.
Such as when a commentator references a white wide receiver
who is... deceptively quick.
Or a black quarterback who is stubbornly committed to being a pocket passer.
These linguistic choices imply that certain races
have certain limitations in certain areas.
So, by teaching the flaws in these presumed limitations,
we cannot only increase sports participation,
but participation in diverse majors, careers, and cultural experiences.
See, whether you believe that wins and losses are all that matter,
or that you believe that sports are far too elevated in our society,
you're still arguing the same core belief.
Sports wield power.
So let's use that power to have conversations
about segregation, xenophobia, homophobia,
and much, much more.
Thank you.
(Applause)