Rest in Peace to the phrase “stick to sports.“
The idea never truly existed to begin with, but in today’s extremely charged sociopolitical climate, there’s definitely no time for that.
Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes is about as socially conscious and sociopolitically engaged an athlete as you’ll ever find. He’s been an outspoken advocate for the expansion of college athlete rights. Hayes was also as one of the most prominent critics of how his school handled a very offensive incident at a University football game last fall.
When Nigel Hayes speaks out it helps to make a difference, as the school did revise their decision regarding a racist fan who brought a bigoted, violent prop into Camp Randall Stadium.
Hayes is, as the kids would say these days, “woke.” His sociopolitical awareness, philanthropy and community service are helping to make the world a better place.
"Help out when you can.
"Make the world a better place."Proud of you, @NIGEL_HAYES. https://t.co/vS4XQm4FHp
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 21, 2017
We certainly need that as these are very trying times in America right now.
The #10 Badgers got off to a 16-0 start at Illinois Tuesday night and never looked back, going on to win 57-43. After the game Nigel Hayes was asked about all the activism taking place all across the country right now.
“It’s just the timing, the way you look at the history of the country, the way things progress. There’s a period of build-up, things start to get a little hectic, erratic and then finally people come together, and enough is enough, that’s when you start to see protests, rallies, and changes etc.”
“After our recent events with the ban, you start to see a lot more, and hopefully it can be resolved quicker rather than later, more peacefully than it usually has been in the past. Just make sure that you’re on the right side of things. Make sure you’re not promoting continuing or encouraging the racism and discrimination that’s prevalent in the world right now.
“Try to do your best to be a good person.”
“The ban” that Nigel Hayes was referring to is of course the “muslim ban” President Donald Trump enacted over the weekend, which has sparked massive outrage all across the country and massive protests at airports nationwide.
Trump has taken openly hostile actions and implemented blatantly discriminatory policies against immigrants and refugees from other countries. There’s been a major backlash abroad. Domestically, mayors of sanctuary cities have spoken up and fought back.
There have been a lot of strong voices within the National Basketball Association speaking out against these injustices, but unfortunately most of the sports world outside the NBA has been largely silent. It’s imperative that this trend towards silence changes, and kudos to Nigel Hayes for doing his part.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, Bold and the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication, appears regularly as a guest on CGTN America, WGN CLTV News and KOZN.
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