R&B singer Sevyn Streeter was a guest on The Breakfast Club Thursday morning. The topic du jour was of course the 76ers abruptly cancelling her national anthem performance because she wore a “We Matter” jersey.
The Sixers released a statement that said in part “we use our games to bring people together…” Well if that is the case I’m not quite sure how stating “We Matter” prevents people from coming together. Racism is what causes people to be divided. Bringing awareness about a group of racially oppressed others should be a rallying point. We live in America, right? Liberty and justice for all? I think I read that somewhere…
The statement also says: “as we move from symbolic gestures to action, we will continue to leverage our platform to positively impact our community.” The language symbolic gestures to action is right in line with Adam Silver and the NBA’s soft messaging around this. It’s also a common deflection device used to soothe people that might be uncomfortable.
I get it, the NBA is a multibillion dollar business with white men controlling said billions. Adam can’t have anything messing up the money or offending the white men in control. Funny thing about that, if real action is what you say you want, do you think that won’t offend and impact the money?
Sevyn appears to be taking it all in stride and shared her thoughts with the crew at The Breakfast Club. See the video below, courtesy of Revolt.