We’re Defined by Our Politics–Whether We Like it or Not

by Brian Huba

On Friday, May 22nd, New York Giants Quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced Donald Trump to a rally crowd in Rockland County.

I’m not suggesting Jaxson Dart did anything “wrong.” Nor am I suggesting he committed a crime. He was invited to introduce the American President, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he took it.

Quarterback is the most celebrated and, generally speaking, the highest compensated position in all of sports. One must possess great game IQ and the innate ability to make snap decisions under distress. But even more than that, succeeding as a signal caller is about rallying people around a righteous cause. That’s what Eli Manning did as the Giants’ QB for sixteen seasons. That’s why Eli Manning will never pay for another drink in New York as long as he lives. People loved Eli Manning. When Eli won the Super Bowl, we all won. Everybody was part of the story.

If nothing else, the Jaxson Dart controversy has shined a light on where we are as a nation. In Trump’s America, politics is omnipresent and every citizen–private or public–is wholly defined by which side they support.

In my opinion, this is also a story about race.

I teach 12th-grade English at an urban school in upstate New York. The poverty rate here is high. And violent crime is a common occurrence. When people ask what I’ve learned from doing this job for eighteen years, I tell them I’ve come to see how hard it is to be a black or brown person in America.

While 44% of the American electorate is classified as non-white, that figure spikes to roughly 57% inside an NFL locker room, meaning the majority of Mr. Dart’s teammates don’t look like him, or come from where he came from.

Donald Trump has a long record of racist words and actions. When announcing his intention to run for president, Trump’s opening salvo was “Birtherism.” By asserting Barack Obama, America’s first black commander-in-chief, was born in Kenya, Trump signaled an alliance with those who despised Obama for his skin color.

Earlier this year, on his Truth Social platform, Trump posted a 62-second clip of Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces imposed over the bodies of apes, hence trafficking in one of the oldest, most-painful tropes against African Americans.

In response to Dart’s introduction of Trump, one of Dart’s teammates, a linebacker named Abdul Carter, took to X, and posted a clip of the MAGA rally with the caption, “thought this shit was AI, what we doing man.”

In September 2016, when Colin Kaepernick used his platform to promote social activism, he was excoriated by the Right then blackballed out of pro football. In 2018, after LeBron James criticized U.S. leadership, he was told to “Shut up and dribble” by Fox News host Laura Ingraham. From this, we know the result of a black athlete turning political. So, what’s the response when a white athlete does the same?

On Tuesday, May 26th, Boomer Esiason, a former NFL quarterback and the current co-host of Boomer & Gio, a New York-based sports talk show, said, “This was a real error on the part of Abdul Carter. Not on the part of Jaxson Dart.”

Sid Rosenberg, a radio host for 77 WABC in New York City defended Dart and slammed his critics. Rosenberg said, “Shut your mouth, Abdul (Carter)… Just play football, shut up. You voted for Kamala Harris, you dumb, stupid bastard!”

I’m a lifelong New York sports fan. I want Jaxson Dart to be successful. Nothing is bigger–or better–than winning in New York. Nothing does more to bring people together in a positive way, all people: Democrats, Republicans, black people, white people, gay, straight, trans. See the New York Knicks championship run for evidence of that.

I know what Jaxson Dart has a chance to achieve in New York. I beg him to reject all efforts by those who seek to transform him into the next rightwing savior and Trump apologist. Jaxson Dart must not allow himself to be the new Kyle Rittenhouse or Kid Rock. There’s no road to glory, no chance to be a unifier, while being outspokenly allegiant to Donald Trump and his ever-divisive movement.

On Friday, May 29th, in a Fox News interview, Donald Trump said of Jaxson Dart, “He’s a handsome guy, like a beautiful guy, a, you know, conservative guy. He said, ‘I love you, sir.’”

We’re defined by our politics–whether we like it or not.

Brian Huba has placed op-eds in The Hill, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Common Dreams, the Democrat & Chronicle, New York’s Journal News, the Syracuse-Post Standard, the NY Daily News, the Albany Times Union, and the Utica Observer-Dispatch. Brian teaches 12th-grade English in upstate New York.