 | Edition #1069 July 7 |
| From The GIST Team |
Hi, friend!
Welcome to The GIST's Sunday Scroll, where we dive deep into one timely sports topic.
After a week spent observing Canada Day and Independence Day, and as national pride is at an all-time high ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics (which start in 19 days!), we're diving into nationalism in sports — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
| Quote of The Day |
 | This is a moment where it's bigger than basketball. |
 | — WNBA Players' Association president Nneka Ogwumike (pronounced NEH-kuh Oh-gwoo-MEE-kay) in her new documentary, Power of the Dream, reflecting on how in 2020, the league united against former Republican U.S. senator Kelly Loeffler. The WNBA is so important. |
| The Scroll |
📚 The history
What exactly is nationalism, and how does it differ from patriotism? According to 20th-century U.S. journalist Sydney J. Harris, "The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does."
In the U.S., the link between sport and national pride can be traced back to the performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" during the 1918 World Series, when the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs en route to their fifth franchise title.
- With the sobering reality of World War I plus incidents of domestic terrorism in Chicago ahead of the series, the anthem served as a unifying and uplifting agent during a time of increased anxiety. And the tradition stuck.
- After the September 11th terrorist attacks, MLB upped the patriotic ante, adding "God Bless America" to the seventh-inning stretch as a show of national unity — just like their 1918 forebears.
🇺🇸 Sports as political warfare
Sports have long served as a tool for advancing political ideologies, as seen in instances like the famous "Miracle on Ice," when an underdog rag-tag American men's hockey team defeated the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics, solidifying a sense of national superiority over the Americans' Cold War–foe.
The inspo for the best sports movie ever made aside, sports have also been used to perpetuate racist stereotyping through the extensive use of Indigenous mascot imagery across amateur and professional sports — all while ignoring the national historical atrocities that created those stereotypes.
- While league officials like MLB commissioner Rob Manfred argue no ill intent, studies have shown that these names reinforce stereotypes and negatively impact Indigenous peoples' self-esteem, especially children.
💪 The women's sports paradox
Nationalistic views can help empower some groups, including women athletes. During large-scale global events like the Olympics and the FIFA Women's World Cup, women's games are finally televised nationally with high-quality broadcasts and are hosted in large, often sold-out arenas.
- But the fairytale quickly dissipates when national team members return to regular pro play (and, sadly, sometimes even before). Many women's leagues lack public support, despite captivating the country and dominating the news cycle during international competition.
- Thankfully, folks are beginning to take notice, and support for women athletes has never been higher — even when they're not rocking national team jerseys.
Ironically, though, it all comes back to pesky national pride and its masculine connotations. Dr. Courtney Stzo of Canada's Queen's University theorizes that a women's team repping their flag is a patriotic (masculine) act and, therefore, subconsciously more "acceptable" for broad (read: male) audiences to watch, versus women's domestic leagues with no country affiliation.
- Without the nationalistic buffer, sexist views take center stage. To quote Taylor Swift, this is exhausting, y'know?
🏅 Under pressure
Global events place the weight of the nation on star athletes' shoulders. That immense pressure can result in mental and physical health risks.
Look no further than the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, when Team USA's GOAT gymnast Simone Biles faced extreme hate after stepping down from competition to focus on her health due to a scary and severe case of the twisties. Turns out, putting her wellness first paid off, as a healthy Biles is poised to make her triumphant return at this month's Paris Games.
And then there's the state of men's soccer, which has endured a series of racist attacks during international play, spanning from the Euro 2020 final to this summer's Copa América. In both incidents, Black footballers suffered racist abuse under the guise of the players "letting the country down."
Finally, some countries care so much about their global sports results that they impose doping on their athletes. Russia is a very obvious example of state pressure leading to abuse, most recently displayed when figure skater Kamila Valieva (a minor) was stripped of her gold medal in the 2022 Beijing Games after testing positive for Trimetazidine (a heart booster).
🌎 The bigger picture
International sports certainly aren't going anywhere, and neither is national pride — and you wouldn't want them to. But as you don your nation's jersey and cheer for your squad while they go for gold in Paris, it's important to keep in mind how nationalism in sports can easily become damaging and harmful.
- We can celebrate the wins national support has clinched — like the USWNT achieving equal pay — and recognize the ugliness it can cause. Both can be true at the same time.
| The GIST's Picks |
Peep our squad's MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
📱 Who to follow
IllumiNative, a social justice nonprofit organization centered around Indigenous and Native stories. Follow, learn, and take action to help create a more equitable nation.
📚 What to read
This article describing athletes' complex relationships with the Olympic Games — it's both their dream come true and a source of unrelenting pressure.
📺 What to watch
Simone Biles: Rising, Netflix's latest docuseries about the GOAT's work to repair her physical and mental health on and off the mat. Her competition in Paris may still be weeks away, but she's already won.
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Today's email was brought to you by Dee Lab, Katie Kehoe Foster and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Rachel Fuenzalida. Fact-checking by Molly Potter. Operations by Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster and Alessandra Puccio. Managing edits by Ellen Hyslop.
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