Jason Collins Makes Sports History?

Yesterday, is being called a monumental day in sports history.  And they’re saying it’s monumental not just for one sport – but all sports.  But I see it differently.

Yesterday, 10 year NBA center, Jason Collins came out of the closet.  At nearly 7 feet tall, you might think that’s a relief.  After all, being an extra large man hiding for so many years in a space clearly too small for him couldn’t have been very comfortable.  But you might not really understand the unbearable discomfort that prompted him to go into the closet in the first place. 

A number of people have been comparing Jason Collins’ announcement – the first active professional athlete to come out as gay – to Jackie Robinson’s breaking into professional baseball.  At least in terms of the courage it takes to face the kind of taunting and harassment that comes with crossing a line that make others so uncomfortable.   

One could argue that it’s not the same thing.  After all, breaking out of something is different than breaking in.  Jackie Robinson hadn’t gotten into the professional ranks.  He didn’t have anything to give up except the poverty, struggle and anonymity of playing in the negro leagues.  And if the worst thing happened, and Jackie Robinson didn’t make it to the major leagues, everyone would have still known he was black. 

One could argue that Jackie Robinson’s move to the big leagues didn’t risk his relationship to his family.  Or his friends.  And it didn’t risk his potential to sign with other interested teams.   

But you can’t argue with the truth that with this announcement, Jason Collins joins Jackie Robinson in risking his life for the chance to live a dream.  For Robinson, it was the dream of being a professional baseball player.  For Collins, it is dream of being the same person in public as he is in private. 

There is an excruciating pain that comes with cramming yourself into a space that you know is too small for you.  Contorting your identity and keeping it a secret…  Trying to look disaffected when your friends or even family slander you without knowing it – sometimes even egging you on to join in…  It’s a secrecy that breeds shame and self-loathing.  The kind so suffocating you realize that life without basketball – even life without a few of your friends – is better than life without your integrity.  You risk something dying either way.

Breaking the color barrier happened in the same way that all barriers of oppression are broken.  Slowly.  With great risk.  Person by person.  Story by story. 

When a story breaks and we learn that people we’ve known face the pain of oppression every day – for no other reason than the color of their skin or the love in their heart – we stop feeding into that oppression. 

Having an active professional athlete come out is powerful.  True, it may change his life.  But having fellow players, owners, agents, fans support him changes the whole game. 

So, I don’t really believe that yesterday was a monumental day in sports history.  Yesterday was simply a monumental day in history.