Michael
Jordan wears armband to "support the worldwide resistance"
Posted at 10:13 PM EST
By Sue Doughnem
Basketball superstar Michael Jordan, who recently announced
that he will return for a second season with the Washington
Wizards, has decided to display solidarity with a variety of
causes by wearing a black armband during games.
After discussing his new season with the Wizards at a press
conference, Jordan was asked about the significance of the
black armband he had been spotted wearing.
"It's in the tradition of silent but visible protest,"
Jordan said, "like the Tinker kids, Tommie Smith, and John
Carlos."
Jordan was referring to the famous Tinker v. Des
Moines free-speech case in which two high school students
won the right to wear black armbands in school as a protest
against the Vietnam war, as well as the two black US athletes
who gave the Black Power salute during the 1968 Olympics.
When pressed by
reporters to explain what the armband represented, Jordan
continued: "Well, a variety of things, actually. Number one,
I'd like to express some solidarity with the people protesting
against the IMF and World Bank. I mean, read the stories in
the paper -- they all talk about what the protesters are
doing, and not why they're protesting. So I thought I could
draw some attention to that."
Jordan went on to say that he supported the Palestinian
struggle and was firmly against what he called "US imperialist
antics" in the Middle East.
"What are we doing there? Come on, y'all. Oil. Oil, and old
scores to settle. That's it!" Jordan said.
However, it was Jordan's scathing words for his employer,
Nike, which were most surprising. His voice rose and he
counted his reasons on his fingers as he spoke.
"You know, most of all, I feel bad for dealing with Nike,
for so many reasons. It bothers me that they are still using
child labor. It bothers me that they have inundated the Third
World with billboards advertising their high priced shoes made
for pennies by little kids. And I'm talking about the Third
World in the US, in the inner city, as well as in Asia and
South America, you know?"
Jordan also said that he felt some responsibility for
speaking out since he had been employed as a Nike spokesperson
for so long.
When asked what would happen with his current Nike contract
as well as his millions of dollars in assets from Nike
endorsements, Jordan paused and rubbed his head before
replying.
"I'm not sure yet. I've been thinking about setting up a
foundation or fund that would grant this money to nonprofits
and other grassroots groups fighting hard on these issues.
Something's gotta be done with all this money, that's for
sure. I want to support the worldwide resistance."
Nike spokesperson Maria Eitel said in a faxed press
statement that the company was "sorry to see Michael turn his
back on our lucrative partnership." The company denied using
children in their factories or tolerating sweatshop conditions
despite recent reports by groups like Global
Exchange citing Nike for low standards and labor
violations.
Myrna Shinbaum, public relations director for the Jewish
Anti-Defamation League, said that Jordan was "obviously
anti-Semitic" and vowed that any celebrity who came out in
support of the Palestinian cause would be "utterly closed off
from public life forever."
Jordan later said that he was sorry for upsetting people,
but that he felt obligated to "finally follow my conscience
instead of the almighty dollar." He strongly urged all other
Americans to do the same.
RTMark Press Services and Thermic Inc. contributed to
this story.
