Cancel culture real for Black athletes in this political climate

Black athletes have always had to tread lightly when speaking up politically or for the culture.

The Black community expects them to speak up. The other side has often pushed back with rhetoric like “Shut Up and Dribble!”

As challenging as activism has been in past years and decades, speaking out in the high-stakes world of sports has become increasingly difficult for Black athletes in the current political environment they are navigating.

“I think it’s more so heightened in this political climate where we have these individuals who are very sensitive and possessive, to put it politely,” said University of Houston Sociology professor Dr. Billy Hawkins. “They don’t take kindly to criticism, questioning, or any of that.

“Back in the 60s, when Black people in general were silenced, they were accused of being communists. It’s similar, but I think it’s heightened now because of how persuasive technology is and the surveillance we are constantly under. I think it’s magnified now; this notion of being able to speak out and the repercussions immediately.”

Black athletes who take a political stand, like former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and former Chicago Bulls point guard Craig Hodges, have found themselves blackballed out of their profession. Today, the backlash when speaking up can almost feel like the world is crashing down on you.

In May, New York Giants second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced racially polarizing U.S. President Donald Trump at a rally. In the NFL, where the players are overwhelmingly Black, there were likely hundreds of players around the league and in his own locker room who took issue with Dart’s outward support of Trump.

His teammate, linebacker Abdul Carter, spoke up, saying on social media, “Thought this shit was AI, what we doing man.”

Suddenly, the story was much less about Dart’s controversial support of Trump and more about Carter’s stand. Carter, who was drafted by the Giants third overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Dart were taken 22 spots later in that same draft, also said that it was “bigger than football” and that the two had talked and smoothed things out.

But that hasn’t stopped others, like former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, from criticizing Carter for taking a stand. Esiason deemed Carter’s reaction a “boneheaded error” while questioning his maturity.

“That’s the other thing when you talk about the ability to construct a narrative and the counter-narrative to control all of those moving parts,” Hawkins said. “Even in this case, when it’s negative, it’s often reconfigured to work in their favor. That’s one of the challenges we have, especially when we talk about the power of technology and the media.”

That power is so alluring and, at the same time, can be detrimental to the Black athlete and the team that franchises and college programs have invested millions of dollars in training athletes and coaches to communicate with the media and to know which subjects it’s best to avoid.

Prairie View coach Tremaine Jackson, who is outspoken, has advised his players not to speak to the media about anything other than the game they are about to play or have played.

“We always tell them to steer clear of the trap questions,” Jackson said. “When we are getting ready for the postgame, we keep everything about the team, about the game, and never about our opponent and never about anything political.”

University of Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson takes a slightly different approach. He is much less concerned about them speaking up and more concerned about them being politically aware and educated before speaking out.

“Over the course of time, things come up. I will advise them, and I usually advise them with the factual evidence,” Sampson said. “I will pull something up just to make sure they are aware of it.

“I don’t ever tell them what to say. This is America. You form your own thoughts, but you need to know certain things.”

What has made speaking up in the name of activism, particularly at the collegiate level, so problematic is that, in doing so, student-athletes can jeopardize lucrative, life-changing money that those at the highest level of college athletics can receive from NIL and revenue-sharing deals.

Like the pros, college athletes can see the money they now make go away if they upset the wrong rich donor or their sponsorship partners. The stakes were high when a group of Black athletes in the 1960s, led by Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and noted sports sociologist Harry Edwards, chose to support Muhammad Ali in what is known as the Cleveland Summit. 

But with athletes now making millions, the stakes are even higher.

“It’s a tough one because you can be canceled in a minute,” Hawkins said. “Financially or whatever the case may be, that’s a big ask, especially when you are talking about individuals at the start of their careers.”

At the professional level, the backlash has been evident toward some Black athletes who speak up, while there seems to be greater tolerance for athletes like NBA stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who have been outspoken about the actions in this current political climate. Players in the WNBA have also not been afraid to express their political views, sometimes wearing messages on their warm-up shirts to support their activism.

But there is no doubt that the cancel culture still exists.

Kaepernick was effectively banned from the NFL for taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem as a silent protest against police brutality. But instead of addressing why he was kneeling, people like Trump shifted the narrative to Kaepernick disrespecting the American flag and being non-patriotic.

A quarterback who had led his team to the Super Bowl a few years earlier found himself out of work and unemployable in the NFL. The owners and league, which doesn’t fully guarantee most contracts, had sent their message to the players about what can happen when they step out of line.

“They see that, and they recognize how easy it is, regardless of your level of talent, you can be silenced,” Hawkins said. “Whenever you step up or stand out of line, say the wrong thing, support the wrong cause, they see that as an example.

“There is a lot on the line: Supporting families, supporting themselves, living the dream. Athletes put a lot of hard work and time in, and it’s hard to ask them to stand up for this, or you might have to turn down one or two million.”