Philadelphia 76ers Organization Censors Sevyn Streeter

The Philadelphia 76ers stopped Sevyn Streeter from singing the national anthem because of a “We Matter” shirt.

A singer is censored. Because of her jersey.

Talented popular music singer Sevyn Streeter said that the Philadelphia 76ers instituted impromptu “prior restraint,” or essentially censorship, and denied her singing of the national anthem on Wednesday because she wore a jersey that read “We Matter.”

It was only days ago when we heard that Elton Brand would be leading the organization and team, with the guidance of league officials and the players’ union on how to respectfully decline or protest the anthem because of racial injustice in the United States.

Shortly after that, he was waived and then retired. Then Sevyn Streeter’s First Amendment rights were violated, all in a matter of a couple of weeks. AND after the Sixers sounded so reassuring that they were supporting the players and navigating sensitivity in the area of active dissent. Seems as though the league is valuing passive agreement. None of this looks good, nor is it consistent.

Although that could be looked at as a coincidence or a strange happening, it gets even stranger. Look at the statement released by the Philadelphia 76ers:

"“The Philadelphia 76ers organization encourages meaningful actions to drive social change. We use our games to bring people together, to build trust and to strengthen our communities. As we move from symbolic gestures to action, we will continue to leverage our platform to positively impact our community.”"

This quote makes it sound like they allowed Streeter to wear the jersey, for if they truly, “encouraged meaningful actions,” the jersey would be perfectly fine. If the organization valued, “[driving] social change,” what better way to accept the mainstream and historical context that black lives matter.

What too, is this business of, “as we move from symbolic gestures to action?” The symbolic gestures are actions. The actions that league executives promote are called “sanitized product placement.” The league does have resources and players that will help in an effort to bring communities together, but this can be done along with “symbolic gestures.”

Is this implying that the Philadelphia 76ers will attempt to control the messages of all and accept only formats that they can label “community service,” or “service learning.” The primary reason why this is ineffective is that it removes the potency of the act of someone like Streeter. That means, when you deny Streeter to wear the jersey you are a taking away the visibility and purpose of the NBA’s more behind the scenes goodwill and PSAs in the first place.

Very sad indeed on the Sixers part, and while Joel Embiid and Coach Brown and the team played well and deserved to win, the organization did not. I only hope the NBA commissioner is not supporting these actions, as it could cause widespread defeat to individual expression around the league. And for what; they are scared of losing money because not enough of our citizens know their history?

You don’t have to be a civil rights scholar or lawyer to conclude that more black men are in prison that were enslaved in 1850 and that the drug war was only a mechanism to transition from a post slavery society to a mass incarceration society. NBA infomercials don’t give us history, understanding or improved dialogue on race, but they sure help the NBA continue to make money.

For that matter, the shirt didn’t even read “black.” It simply said “We Matter.” That makes this somehow worse. In other words, the average working class or professional viewer of the Sixers is going to, through their own ideological privilege, read the shirt, see she’s a woman of color, and what, boycott the NBA after they throw down their can of Miller Lite?

Oh, and this NBA “Together” thing is nice, but let’s face it. It is a public relations gimmick from the top down to avoid players from entering deeper areas of authentic action, activism and engagement. Furthermore, co-opting BLM with this somewhat silly ploy reeks of commercialism and is rather cynical. Quite frankly, it’s offensive.

I can’t believe the NBA is succumbing to this cowardly behavior in this era.

The NBA is comprised of over 75 percent players of color. Sevyn Streeter almost brought 100 percent of the NBA something of value, but like a guard to guard pass, she was denied.