Welcome to another edition of Inbox-and-One. Today’s newsletter will be a bit different. I planned to write on parity in women’s basketball, but I can’t in good faith continue my typical reporting. Not after the act of violence committed at Brown University on Sunday. And not when the shooter is still at large.
But today, we are going to talk about Brown, politics in sports and gun control.
Two years ago, I wrote an article about Columbia basketball star, Abbey Hsu, who lived through the Parkland High School shooting that took place in February of 2018. Eighteen people were killed that day, some Hsu knew, some she saw in the halls, some she would never get the opportunity to meet.
That kind of tragedy, she told me, never leaves you.
And it won’t leave the students at Brown, nor the friends and family of the victims. Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov both lost their lives. Nine others were injured. And every person, directly or indirectly affected by the shooting will deal with the trauma for the rest of their lives.
USC women’s basketball coach and Brown alum, Lindsay Gottlieb spoke about the tragedy after her team’s game on Sunday.
“It doesn’t need to be this way,” Gottlieb said. “Sending thoughts and prayers to my teammates who have kids there. To the parents that have to worry about their children, I’m just going to end it with that, but just to say we’re the only country that lives this way.
“The college football cycle has been in the news a million times and are we going to report about this? It’s the guns. We’re the only country that lives this way. Parents should not be worried about their kid — I have a teammate who has a daughter who is in the basement of a library because they don’t know what’s going on there. And she’s flying there tomorrow."
Gottlieb is right. It’s the guns. We need gun control, and we need it now.
If you’re wondering why I’m writing this, or if you are a person who thinks we should keep politics out of sports, here’s the truth: Sports are political. They always have been.
It was political when Jesse Ownes competed in the 1936 Olympics, held in Nazi Germany.
It was political when Jackie Robinson suited up to play for the Dodgers.
It was political in 1967 when Kathrine Switzer fought off race officials who didn’t want a woman to compete in a marathon.
It was political when Title IX was passed, giving women a fair opportunity to compete in college sports.
People like Gottlieb and Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has been a longtime advocate for gun control, speak about this issue, not to create political divide, but because something must be done.
“I just want people out there — it doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican, or gun owner, non-gun owner — I just want people thinking, ‘What if it were my child?” Kerr asked on Monday. “What if it were my brother or sister?’ Would you be willing to stand up to your representatives and say, ‘You know what? Enough. I’m not gonna vote for you unless you are going to stand up for gun violence prevention through common-sense laws that the vast majority of Americans agree on.' “
He’s right.
It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat, a Republican, or something else. It doesn’t matter if you want to keep politics out of sports.
Because believing that children have the right to live is not political.
Believing that college students deserve the right to pursue their dreams without being shot dead on their campus, is not political.
And it’s not political to understand this simple fact: People are more important than guns.