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GREGG DOYEL
Black Lives Matter

Doyel: Why black T-shirts matter

Gregg Doyel
gregg.doyel@indystar.com
Members of the New York Liberty basketball team wore plain black shirts this week in support of "Black Lives Matter," as did Fever players.

Players on the Indiana Fever are not racists. They do not support cop-killers. Hard to believe those sentences need to be written — but apparently they do. Because these were among the many sentences written to me, by IndyStar readers, after the Fever joined two other WNBA teams in wearing black warm-up shirts to support the Black Lives Matter movement:

“Hopefully,” wrote one reader, “all those against racism will boycott these teams that side with cop killers and vandals.”

Wrote another: “FEVER wearing Black Lives Matter shirts ... get the hell out of town. NEVER EVER will I support racists...”

Side with cop killers …

Get the hell out of town …

What we have here isn’t a failure to communicate, but a failure to understand. And right here, right now, do me a favor and understand what I’m writing. And understand what I’m not.

WNBA rescinds fines for teams wearing black warmup shirts

Not writing: A demand, a plea, even a suggestion that everyone get on board with Black Lives Matter. What a waste of time that would be, writing anything like that. Your opinions on social issues (and mine) are deeply embedded: Our side is right. Their side is wrong. Don’t tell me what to think.

So, fine. I’m not telling anyone, “This is what we should think.”

But: This is what we should understand. We should understand that support of Black Lives Matter does not equate to support for the cop-killers of Dallas or Baton Rouge — not any more than support for fallen police officers equates to approval of the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge or Philando Castile in Minneapolis.

“Black Lives Matter” is missing a word, but not the word its harshest opponents would tell you. The word “only” is not implied in that slogan.

But this word is: “Too.”

Black lives matter … too.

“Just because someone says ‘Black Lives Matter’ doesn’t mean that other lives don’t matter,” New York Liberty guard Tanisha Wright said Thursday night. “People put out this imaginary ‘black lives only matter’ whenever people say, ‘Black lives matter.’ What we’re saying is, ‘Black lives matter, too.’ Period.”

Food for thought. Think about, don’t, whatever. Your call.

Indiana Fever players take stand, wear shirts in support of 'Black Lives Matter'

In the wake of the killings of Sterling and Castile and — yes — the police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Fever players and players on two other WNBA teams (the Liberty and Phoenix Mercury) made their call: wearing black warm-up shirts.

Fever star Tamika Catchings, as generous and gentle a soul as you’ll find, has explained that decision twice this week, and both times she made it clear that the T-shirts mourn fallen police officers as well.

“We definitely want to pay respect to the cops in Baton Rouge and Dallas,” Catchings told IndyStar’s Jordan Wilson on Tuesday. “And of course, we stand united in supporting Black Lives Matter.”

Tamika Catchings said that players, in wearing black T-shirts, "are paying respect and tribute to the cops that were killed in Dallas," too, "but there’s a lot of other stuff outside of basketball that’s going on"

On Thursday in New York, Catchings said something similar in an interview with Excelle Sports:

“We definitely are paying respect and tribute to the cops that were killed in Dallas,” Catchings said, “but there’s a lot of other stuff outside of basketball that’s going on.”

There is. And WNBA players, same as you and me, are entitled to share their opinion. Don’t tell them to “stick to basketball,” not unless you’re willing to hold yourself to the same standard — and hold your tongue on issues that matter to you.

Stick to being a salesman!

This issue, by the way, isn’t nearly as black-and-white as some would think. On Friday a former player for the Indiana Pacers, who wishes to remain anonymous, told me this in a text message:

“I don't agree with the Black Lives Matter movement's message,” he said. “It should be broader to include all Americans and turn it from a message of segregation to one of unification."

The ex-Pacer who doesn’t agree with Black Lives Matter? He’s African-American.

And here’s the headline of a story posted recently on Vice.com:

“I’m a White Cop and I Support Black Lives Matter.”

Meanwhile, the WNBA doesn’t support its players publicly aching for the recent high-profile violence in America. The league fined players on the Fever and the other two teams that wore black warm-up shirts $500 each for violating the league’s uniform policy. The three teams were fined $5,000 each, too.

Indiana Fever speak out after WNBA fines team, players for Black Lives Matters shirts

WNBA players, in a league in which more than 70 percent of the players are African-American, were offended. So Fever and Liberty players protested again Thursday by refusing to answer questions unrelated to Black Lives Matter.

“It's really disappointing the league isn't having our back on this one,” Fever guard Briann January told reporters after the game.

Added Catchings: “Instead of the league taking a stance with us, where they tell us they appreciate our expressing our concerns … we're fighting against each other.”

WNBA players have spoken. Does the league understand what good people like Briann January and Tamika Catchings are saying?

Do you?

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter:@GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.

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