Freedom Socialist • Vol. 27, No. 4 • August-September 2006

What's My Name, Fool? A look at sports, racism, and rebel athletes

by R.V. Murphy

Ain't gonna study war: Ali, 1967.

In the 1960s, you could tell a lot about a news media outlet by how they referred to the best known athlete of the era. It may come as a surprise to a whole generation that boxer Muhammad Ali was still called Cassius Clay by many sportswriters and sportscasters for several years after changing his name.

When Ali fought Floyd Patterson, who was also Black, Patterson said, “This fight is a crusade to reclaim the [heavyweight boxing] title from the Black Muslims. As a Catholic I am fighting Clay as a patriotic duty.” Ali easily defeated Patterson, chanting, “What's my name? Is my name Clay? What's my name, fool?” as he pummeled his opponent for nine rounds.

This is the story behind the title that author David Zirin picked for his great book, What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States (Haymarket Books 2005). Make sure you read it!

Zirin chronicles athletes like Ali who stood up to the status quo. He also examines the narrowing divide between the sports world and the so-called real world.

He rejects the notion that anthems, military jingoism and players thanking their savior in postgame interviews be accepted — at the same time that writing about racial prejudice, sexism and athletes who speak out against the war is criticized as being too political. And is there anything more political than cities building sports stadiums for professional teams with taxpayer money? Zirin writes about this as well.

The appearance of Ali on the cover of Zirin's book is particularly important. Ali was ultimately stripped of his title for refusing to fight in Vietnam. At the time, he explained, “I ain't got no quarrel with the Viet Cong.” Contrast that to the 1990s, when basketball superstar and North Carolina native Michael Jordan refused to endorse a Black candidate running against longtime segregationist Jesse Helms. “Republicans buy shoes too,” exclaimed Jordan — who is as much a cultural icon as Ali, but is also a man who never met a commercial endorsement he didn't like.

Following Ali's lead. But while Jordan sells his Nike sneakers, Zirin writes that there are echoes of a new sporting resistance. Most Valuable Player Steve Nash and the Washington Wizards' Etan Thomas are among several NBA players who are critical of the war in Iraq; Toni Smith, a guard with the Division III Manhattanville College women's basketball team, turned her back during the playing of the national anthem in her senior year, right after the U.S. invaded Iraq; former NFL star Carl Eller used his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame to chastise America for turning its back on Black men; and former NFL defensive tackle Esera Tuaolo came out as gay. No active major league baseball, football, basketball or hockey player has yet done so.

These athletes rank as the spiritual successors to the “radical” athletes of the late 1960s and early 1970s, who stood up to the institutional racism and corporate greed of the time (with an unpopular war as a backdrop). Along with Ali, this group includes U.S. Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the Black Power salute while standing on the podium in Mexico City after Smith received the gold medal and Carlos the bronze in the 200 meter run (Black athletes had considered boycotting the Olympics); Dave Meggyesy, a former NFL star and author of Out of Their League, which deals with how big-time sports dehumanizes athletes; and Curt Flood, who challenged baseball's reserve clause.

And all these athletes, in turn, are the spiritual and political descendants of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, who successfully challenged baseball's color line in 1946. Zirin writes about Robinson but also about Lester Rodney, a champion against segregation in major league baseball who has been forgotten by the mainstream media.

Politics and sports, a great mix. Rodney began as sports editor of the U.S. Communist Party newspaper, the Daily Worker (yes, they had a sports editor), in the 1930s. He soon started crusading against racial segregation in baseball.

He also covered the Negro Leagues, unheard of in the establishment press, writing articles about their great stars like Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell.

Zirin follows that tradition. His work has appeared in publications as diverse as the International Socialist Review, the Los Angeles Times, the Pittsburgh Courier (a leading Black newspaper), and SLAM, a basketball magazine geared toward younger, hipper basketball fans. Some of Zirin's columns can be found at the website www.edgeofsports.com. His book is about to go into its second printing.

“I consider myself a radical journalist,” Zirin told writer Mark Schneider on the Reporters Declaration website. “I think the best journalism is about taking sides consciously.” Amen!

R.V. Murphy is a veteran reporter who writes about sports from a political point of view on his web log, Raymurphy@blogspot.com.