How sports changed the world, yet it remains the same.

The world we live in can, and has been divisive since the beginning of time.  Race, class, sex, religion, etc.  All these things separate us.  We all belong to one race, the human race.  The human race can be cold and callus, yet loving and caring.  Hateful and hopeless, yet strong and resilient.  This is the conundrum of life.  The things I listed previously that should bring us together, often times tear us apart.  So, what does bring people together in a way that race or religion can't?  SPORTS!  Some artifacts and structure suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting events as early as 2000 BC.  From the Ancient Olympic Games to our modern games, different people have come together to participate on SPORTS.  Sports has always been ahead of main stream society in terms of integration and exclusiveness.  Jack Johnson was heavyweight boxing champion of the world, during a post civil war America.  Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball while blacks in America were lynched and segregated against.  Former female tennis star Martina Navratilova came out publicly as as a lesbian in 1981 during the height of anti-gay sentiment.   All of these amazing athletes were pioneers of change not only in sports, but the world.  Society can be slow to make change.  I've always thought that sports and those who play them understood the need for change and progression.  We've  come a long way as a society because sports has shown us how to live and play TOGETHER.  As I type this, I'm looking at a YouTube video of the first Black President of the United States(Barack Obama).  50 years ago no one could even image a black president of our good ole USA.  Don't get me wrong, inequalities still remain.  So much of the world has chaged since the times of Earl Lloyd, the first black NBA player for the Washington Capitals in 1950.  So much has changed, yet so much remains the same.  

Daimeon S. Banks