Early Career
Craig Hodges is a retired professional basketball player born in 1960 from Chicago Heights, Illinois. Hodges got recruited as a Sophomore in high school, to which he ended up at California State University Long Beach on a basketball scholarship. In 1982, Hodges was drafted by multiple NBA teams until finally staying with the Chicago Bulls from 1988-1992.
During his time on the Chicago Bulls, Hodges was considered a less-established player who rarely started the games and had an average playing time of 9.5 minutes per game. While hidden in the shadows of teammate and basketball icon Michael Jordan, Hodges soon found his claim to fame through his distinguished and unfailing free throws. His more recognized accomplishments include his three consecutive year victory at the All-Star Weekend 3-Point Contest hosted by the NBA in 1990, 1991, and 1992. Additional accomplishments include his successes with the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 and 1992 NBA Championships.
However, Hodges was recognized mainly for his passion for speaking up about systemic racism and intersectionality and how these have affected many Black athletes within professional sports and society. He became involved in many different social justice events; however, to understand the full measures taken by Hodges, it is essential to consider the history of race within basketball first.
History of Race in Basketball
James Naismith, an Anglo-American physical education teacher at the YMCA, was labeled as the inventor of basketball in 1891 (Clevenger, 2020). The ‘invention’ of sport has recently come into question, as historians challenged the idea of Modern capitalist sports, such as basketball, being developed directly from Western culture (Clevenger, 2020). Alternatively, developing a sport stems more from intercultural appropriation and the process of cross-cultural adaptations, modifications, and transformations rather than ‘invention’ (Clevenger, 2020).
Before the 1970s, basketball was constructed as a white man’s sport, directly linked to racial discrimination and segregation within society (Criblez, 2015). However, given that 75% of athletes within the NBA are Black, it may be hard to believe that what is now considered a predominantly ‘Black’ sport was founded by a white man. During the Jim Crow Era (1877-1964), Black people were fighting for their political freedom (Jones, 2018), while their academic, economic, employment, and athletic opportunities were austerely limited (Mendelsohn, 2017). These racial injustices led to the mistreatment of Black people that form many stereotypes known today. The societal portrayal of Black people as savages, animalistic, and dangerous roots back to slavery (Griffin, 2012). Other stereotypes used Black physiological differences to represent Black people as naturally and physically violent (Griffin, 2012).
However, when the profitability and entertainment of the game were at stake, the very stereotypical physiological characteristics used to criticize Black people were then considered valuable traits on the basketball court for revival (Griffin, 2012). ‘Savages/animalistic’ meant they weren’t afraid to get the ball, ‘dangerous’ meant that they were a threat to the opponent- all traits that allowed a sports team to win and make a profit. As a result, Black athletes began to overpower the basketball community, building an increased presence of Black masculinity and forming a ‘Black Face’ of the NBA (Griffin, 2012). However, the issue was that while the face of the organization appeared Black, the behind-the-scenes coaches and executive members were all white, reflecting the presence of white power (Griffin, 2012).
This caused two reactions from society. From an organizational standpoint, the many benefits associated with the Black image of basketball had been capitalized on through the commercialization and commodification of Black male athletes, all while providing Black athletes a financial income that acknowledged their talent (Griffin, 2012). This commodification treated the players more like products and less like players, reflecting signs of white supremacy and inequality.
From a white standpoint, this evoked fear of Black dominance within the sport. Soon, the term the “Great White Hope” was established to represent the hypervisibility of Black basketball players and under-representation of white players and was understood by all races (Criblez, 2015). Notice the word choice – ‘hope.’ The idea or ‘hope’ that some sort of savior would come in and dominate the Black players. This type of selective terminology further reflected the presence of racism; for example, Black athletes were perceived as ‘reactive’ while white athletes were perceived as ‘clever’ (Criblez, 2015). This illustrates white supremacy being challenged within the NBA, causing white people to fear, and become threatened by Black hypervisibility. This racialization of Black people became embedded in society and is reflected within Modern sport.
Athlete Activism
So, what exactly is “athlete activism”? In simple terms, these are athletes who optimize their visibility within the media to address political and social issues to advocate for some sort of change within society (Smith & Tryce, 2019). To understand the effect of athlete activism, the relationship between sport and society must be understood. According to Smith & Tryce (2019), sport is described as “a microcosm of the larger society and, as such, is a place where ‘inequalities such as racism, sexism, economic stratification and other forms of oppression are reproduced, exacerbated and/or ignored.’”
The intersectionality present within society creates many challenges for marginalized groups, including athletes. Activist athletes use their platforms to reduce the negative effects of intersectionality and eliminate racialization. Some popular activist athletes include Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and the more recent, Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the US National Anthem to address racial inequality (Smith & Tryce, 2019).
Craig Hodges, while lesser-known, is an excellent example of this. Hodges had exposure to the social justice system early in his youth through his mother’s involvement in a civil rights organization in Chicago. Although growing up when segregation was still present, Hodges was able to receive a proper education. His aunts were educators and made him practice his literacy; however, many Black children were denied proper education, creating a socioeconomic disadvantage. He recalls the struggle to obtain his full human rights, resulting in many challenges and limitations experienced throughout his childhood. This included the need to walk in groups while other white children could run freely by themselves. His family’s emphasis on political and social responsibility and his witnessing first-hand how to remove barriers led to his passion for advocating for his beliefs and engaging in athletic activism. Hodges felt a passion for addressing political issues, describing himself as constantly “searching for the truth.” With aspirations to use his platform for more than just basketball, Hodges took inspiration from his heroes, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, as well as his first college professor, to advocate for the removal of racial discrimination.
“My first college class was with Dr. Maulana Karenga, the founder of Kwanzaa, and from that point on my mission changed. The research and methods that I was taught at Long Beach State were about finding solutions to the conditions of Black people however I could, and to be well-rounded enough to listen and respectful enough to consider the impact that other cultures may have in solutions for our people.”
Craig Hodges
In 1991, Hodges attempted to organize a boycott to address the lack of black executives within the NBA during Game 1 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the LA Lakers. He believed that with 21 out of 24 players being Black, the collective power between the teams could evoke change within the sport’s organization and reduce the racialization of Black athletes. However, this boycott attempt was unsuccessful due to a lack of support from famous players Michael Jordan and ‘Magic’ Johnson, who felt this act was too controversial for an NBA playoff game.
“My position had to do with the organizational structure of the League. We needed to get more Black ownership and Black management—people at the upper echelon of the game that looked like us, a problem that’s still being discussed today. The face of the game was Black, so why weren’t we more involved in the profit sharing? It was plantation politics.”
Craig Hodges
Hodges argued that his teammates and opponents’ lack of support directly resulted from the economic gain associated with the increased power of a well-established professional athlete. This represents “paradoxical hate-love articulation,” where Black athleticism is encouraged to align with a capitalistic viewpoint of the commodification of blackness and athletes enforced by the white leadership and executives (Griffin, 2012). This further links the rules, policies, expectations, and salaries created by these white authoritative leadership figures intended to control high-profile athletes to compliance with the organization (Griffin, 2012).
“… the players don’t realize that sitting at the negotiating table you’re negotiating the freedom of Black people, brown people poor people and disenfranchised people… As cheap as those $100 million contracts they’re giving out to sell out to freedom, justice, equality and liberty”
Craig Hodges
Additional representation of athletic activism by Hodges occurred during the Chicago Bulls’ visit to the White House in celebration of their 1991 Championship win. Hodges attended the event in a white dashiki, a traditional West African dress. This was a cultural statement considering that the expression of NBA athletes, explained by Moralde (2019), was “carefully constrained within the bounds policed by patriarchal heteronormativity and consumerism.” During his visit, Hodges also presented an 8-page letter addressing racial discrimination directed at George W. Bush. This action led to the portrayal of Hodges as a “one-man protest movement within the NBA.”
When the 1992-1993 season approached, no team wanted to sign Hodges, leading to the end of Hodges’ career as an NBA player. Hodges claimed that the NBA blackballed him due to his attempts to challenge the organization through political actions addressing racial inequality and the social injustices occurring both within and outside of the basketball organization. This directly connects to the concept of the 3 pillars: power, privilege, and access. Craig Hodges as a Black professional athlete, was given both the power and the privilege to voice his truth on the racialization of Black athletes within professional basketball. It could be argued that the reason behind him being ostracized by the NBA is an attempt at removing his access to address these issues and have them associated with their organization.
“We have to address the issues. They want the athletes to shut up and dribble. Shut up and dribble while people die. Don’t say anything. Take the money. Let’s stop and look.”
Craig Hodges
New Beginnings
While suffering the loss of wealth from professional basketball, Hodges claims to have no regrets on his decisions as an activist athlete and during his time in the NBA. Furthermore, Craig continued to address racial discrimination by creating an organization called Operation Unite-Save the Youth, which creates counsels that address the problems of troubled youth, including issues such as depression, suicide, and drug abuse. Hodges created a book called “Longshot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter,” where he further discusses his journey to advocate for proper representation and the removal of barriers experienced by Black athletes in the NBA.
Concluding Remarks
Craig Hodges is a direct example of an individual holding high social power and changing the world. His determination to use his platform to advocate for the changes needed to reduce systemic barriers and gain proper representation for Black athletes left a mark in history. The ability to stand up to a system where a predominantly Black player pool is run by white executives and promote change to eliminate these barriers reflects a strong sense of self-identity and courageousness in the absence of supporting voices. Furthermore, this lack of vocal support from other professional players reflects the capitalist view of Modern sport and its influence on commodification practices of blackness (Criblez, 2015).
The truth is that politics and sport are connected. Having misrepresentation of Black individuals within the sport’s organization and furthering the commodification of blackness will only work to further racial inequality and will have no effect on removing systemic barriers and racial inequality within both sport and society.
References
Clevenger, S. M. (2020). Transtemporal sport histories; or, rethinking the ‘invention’ of American basketball. Sport in Society, 23(5), 959–974. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2019.1597855
Criblez, A. J. (2015). White men playing a black man’s game: Basketball’s “great white hopes” of the 1970s. Journal of Sport History, 42(3), 371–0381–381. https://doi.org/10.5406/jsporthistory.42.3.0371
Griffin, R. A. (2012). The disgrace of commodification and shameful convenience: A critical race critique of the NBA. Journal of Black Studies, 43(2), 161–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934711412182
Jones, J. E. (2018). “The negro’s peculiar work”: Jim Crow and Black discourses on US empire, race, and the African question, 1877-1900. Journal of American Studies, 52(2), 330-357. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021875817001931
Mendelsohn, S. (2017). “Raising hell”: Literacy instruction in Jim Crow America. College English, 80(1), 35–62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44806101
Moralde, O. (2019). The NBA dandy plays the fashion game: NBA All‐Star all‐style and dress codes of Black masculinity. Journal of Popular Culture, 52(1), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12750
Smith, B., & Tryce, S. A. (2019). Understanding emerging adults’ National attachments and their reactions to athlete activism. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 43(3), 167–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723519836404
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