When it comes to athletes and sports, our so called president is a pain. Over the past couple of NBA and NFL seasons, athletes of color have been put through the unnecessary just because of their beliefs. Being told things like “shut up and play” “shut up and dribble”. Donald Trump has said he questions our loyalty to the flag and our loyalty to the country. He has even shared such opinions like those who do not stand for the countries anthem or show their respects simply do not belong in the sport, even more the country. After all the controversy we lately have seen in the NFL and Nba we are faced with a bigger question: Is it possible to have sports without politics?

Some argue that the two do not mix. I am one who says that they are inseparable. It’s impossible to separate them because sports are apart of what we are in the U.S, they are the makeup of our country. There are many ways sports can be taken from a political standpoint. One that is very obvious is what happens at the end of every NBA/NFL season. When president journey to the white house. The tradition started when president Andrew Johnson welcomed the Brooklyn Atlantics baseball club on Aug. 30th, 1865. The tradition is still carried out today, but it is for more than just honoring a team for winning a superbowl or becoming finals champs. It is also used to honor the work they do throughout the communities they are in.

Lots of people, like Trump, argue that the two are very separated, and athletes shouldn’t have nothing to say politically and they should just focus on the sports that they play. Like Laura Ingraham, a fox news journalist, who while on television made comments about Lebron James telling him to “shut up and dribble”. Pretty much saying he had no business talking politics. Lebron in a car ride interview said “The No.1 job in the country, the appointed person is someone who doesn’t understand the people,” also saying that some of the comments being made by the president are “laughable and scary”. They believe that we should just focus on the sport we play run up and down the field, or pull up three’s all day, and then go about the rest of our day as if things like police brutality or our criminal justice system isn’t getting worse.

I’m debating that the two absolutely belong together. Once again taking Lebron James, one of the biggest athletes in the world, if not the biggest. He recognized that there wasn’t much we can do on a fighting standpoint as a people. So he was one of many athletes in the NBA start rocking the t-shirts during warm-ups with the “I CAN’T BREATHE!”. That may not seem like much, but that was a sign that us, the little people had the support of those who are really upper class. I’ve actually seen people, like during my High School basketball games wear those same exact t-shirts. In my opinion, it gets taken politically once the whole country takes notice of it and starts to address it as a huge problem.

There has been many others even like Colin Kaepernick who have had something to do with the movement He was the first recognized NFL player to take a knee during the national anthem. He stated “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppressed black people and people of color”. The old San Francisco 49ers Quarterback is no longer signed to a NFL contract. Not as if he is a bad player or anything, because he helped lead a team to a superbowl in which he was only a 3rd year player yet a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. the dude is tuff and would be a huge help to any losing franchise today inneed of a qb. But because he believes in something different, owners won’t sign him.

SPORTS AND POLITICS MIX. It’s just that simple. Here in the United States we built our reputation centuries ago off of being a very competitive country both politically and athletically. It’s just who we are. Lebron or Kaepernick, neither of them have to be politicians to speak upon their country. They are both blacks who recognize what their people are going through. They aren’t no more than a voice for those who won’t speak up. The fact that we have a president, or even then citizens and politicians, who let the opinions of athletes get inside their heads, even more so proves why I say the two are inseparable.