With NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest continuing to appear in headlines, UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Black Student Union hosted an open discussion on the role of student athletes in campus social justice movements.
“Talk to Me Tuesdays” is a new initiative lead by the WBSU to stimulate an open discussion of racial issues and experiences related to race. The meetings are held every Tuesday at the Multicultural Student Center.
WBSU officials emphasized that the discussions are open to students of all races and backgrounds.
“We do invite not just black people to the conversation,” WBSU President Marquise Mays said. “We do want all other people to come to this conversation. That’s when we can really engage in dialogue and talk about the issues like fragility or how you may have grown up or things like that.”
The focus of the discussion was “the power of protest in athletics,” but attendees touched on topics as wide-ranging as the role of allies in a movement to appropriate uses of privilege.
Several students expressed disappointment during the conversation at the lack of attendance from UW-Madison's student athletes. WBSU leaders said that they had extended numerous invitations, but men's basketball starter Nigel Hayes was the only student athlete present at the event.
Both Mays and WBSU Vice President Adetola Coker expressed that the open nature of the discussion was essential to getting a free flow of ideas.
“Everyone always says discussion is the answer so that's why we're bringing opportunities where we can come and talk about it”, said Coker. “It's way more fruitful in a sense, because everyone who is here is fully committed to the conversation and participating and engaging in an exchange of ideas and solutions.”
