Racial Politics in the NFL
What role do you see fans play in the struggles of football to find its place in the battles of racial politics? This question is not as simple as it seems. Anything involving racial politics will always be complex. When coming up with ideas of who to interview for this article my mind instantly thought of one of the most interesting and complex personalities I’ve ever met. One of my best friends, Daniel Preciado, has grown up with me in the same bubble society and reality of Panama City, Panama. Daniel has found his place in popular American football culture through his family. He shares with me the same almost religious experience of watching Sunday football almost every Sunday of the season. However, his stance on the cultural and racial politics of football differs greatly from that of his family. Daniel aligns himself with the ideologies of the left and considers himself a left-leaning Democrat. He not only watches football but observes it from above like a hawk, carefully analyzing the politics involved within the sport.
When asked about the question of football fans playing a role in the battles of racial politics, Daniel gave me interesting insight. He considers the role of fans as a crucial one in the discussion of racial politics. Fans are the ones whose demands are seen on the field. According to him, fans don’t want racial politics to be addressed in the field. He compared the NFL franchise to a restaurant franchise rather than merely an organizational sport. The team owners are like the CEO’s who own the restaurants. The fans are the patrons who come to the restaurant and demand burgers. In a restaurant, the burger is the product and the employees are the ones in charge of giving that product to the customer. In the NFL, the football players and the football game is what is being sold as a product, and at the same time, these players are being employed by the NFL franchises. The players, although crucial for the success and profitability of the franchise, still have to abide by employee-employer rules. In this relationship, according to Daniel, fans have shown that they’ve easily forgotten or ignored the idea that these football players are human beings and not just merely athletes who are being paid to entertain. An example of this, that does not involve racial politics, is fans reactions’ to football players being injured. Many football players have received threats regarding their injuries. These acts show the disregard for their health and wellbeing as humans. Following this train of thought, fans do not care about the players’ life outside the field but only about them being the product they’re paying to consume. In doing so they’ve ignored how racial politics have always played a part in the NFL, or any organizational sport, and in anything in the world, to be honest. Racial politics have always been there.
An astounding percentage of 70% of NFL players is composed of bodies of color. However, white straight cis males are the primary fans of the sport. According to journalist Neal Gabler, “The triumph of the NFL is a tribute to the triumph of American conservatism.” 31 out of 31 team owners are white. These stats clearly show how racial politics play indeed a role in the NFL. The NFL profits off of people of color for a mostly white audience. Daniel argues that the NFL profits off of the mentality that this sport has helped these people of color lead a better life when in reality, the lifespan of an NFL football player is relatively short and most of the players end up bankrupt after their spotlight in the NFL. Fans find it easier, of course, to turn a blind eye when colored players want to protest about how they feel unsafe daily in the United States. Daniel mentions that the fan mentality is concerned more about how the players will earn them points in their Fantasy League than about players being disrespected and experiencing struggles outside of the field.
Ultimately, if the fans demand that the football field is and should stay an unbiased sacred space then it will stay that way. This disregards completely the racial biases and racial politics that will still come into play every day even though they do not want to admit them. The ideal role of fans in NFL racial politics is to have empathy. If they demand to listen to the voices of the players, then the owners of the franchises will have no other choice but to listen to them and therefore provide a safe space for the players. We have seen how this has begun to play into this new NFL season. Since the NFL has to rely on television ratings and ads rather than on filling up stadiums because of Covid-19, it has become more imperative to listen to liberal fans who demographically take up a bigger percentage of TV viewership. The Black Lives Matter protests have also put on a lot of pressure on the CEOs since this is a movement that has become unparalleled in the track of popularity that it has gained. However, it is not enough to only paint “End Racism” on the end zones and show players and coaches wearing anti-racist merch. The NFL must provide a platform that is safe and lasting in its effects regarding the issues of racial politics. One way is to donate money to education campaigns on the struggles of racial biases even if it means losing a bit of the fan base. It is more ethical to have a responsible, informed fanbase than an uneducated one. Money drives ratings and profit but players run that profitability, too. They deserve a platform in which they can safely protest the hardships they’ve faced their whole lives since they are human beings, just like us, at the end of the day.
