Sports should be used to unite, not divide people

LeBron James is absolutely correct when he talks about sports and its ability to unite people of all races and ethnicity.

James plays in the NBA, which included this past season a record 62 foreign-born players, many of them white, from 33 countries.

"Sports was the first time I ever was around someone white," James said during an interview with Don Lemon on CNN. "I got the opportunity to see them and learn about them, and they got an opportunity to learn about me, and we became very good friends. Sports has never been something that divides people. It's always been something that brings someone together."

James said in the same interview the president was using sports to divide people, which prompted a strong response from the president as he began a 10-day vacation.

"Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon," the president tweeted just before midnight on Friday. "He made Lebron look smart, which isn't easy to do. I like Mike!"

I'll leave the political discussions about these remarks to others. And before someone accuses me of expressing a liberal view, let me remind you I strongly criticized members of the Arkansas women's basketball team who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem at Bud Walton Arena two years ago.

I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now when athletes kneel before the flag. I've seen how much sports can bring people of different backgrounds together during 34 years as a sports writer, and I've experienced it in my own life as well.

My parents moved from Caraway to Grand Rapids, Mich., when I was young, and I graduated from an inner-city high school that stood seven stories high. My brother and I were bused across town from a mostly white area to a rougher neighborhood that included a large family of boxers, Floyd "Money" Mayweather, among them.

My parents didn't like this arrangement, but it was one of the best things to happen to me.

I was exposed to people who were different from me, and it came mostly through sports. I lined up in football with players who were black and Hispanic, and I became good friends with a guy whose parents were from Latvia, which is near Russia. After initially sitting apart in the lunch room, we gradually began hanging out together and sharing the ups and downs people go through during their teenage years.

That bonding continued throughout high school and provided me a life lesson about race and preconceived ideas about people. I learned to judge people individually through my own interactions with them and not by the stereotypes I had been taught at a young age.

As a sports writer, I've always enjoyed covering games at Springdale High and Fort Smith Northside, where the student bodies are diverse and the school buildings themselves remind me of my old high school, Grand Rapids Central. There are black kids, white kids, Asians and Hispanics, mostly from middle-class backgrounds.

I enjoy watching them and how they interact with one another while playing sports. I love the smiles and high fives when they win or the hugs they share when they lose.

It's all about one goal, one team and, quite often, friendships that can last for many, many years.

So, I applaud LeBron James for sharing his story and his attempt to help unite us on race. He reminds us what sports can do for people, all people.

Sports on 08/05/2018

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