November 10, 2026
If we follow the lead of billionaire team owners, toxic cable news channels, and misguided athletes, it’s a resounding no. That just means we need to forge our own path.
Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks wears a bracelet in support of Palestine during a game against Oklahoma City on October 28, 2026, in Dallas, Texas.
(Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)
The confetti had not even been swept up after last week’s historic electoral repudiation of Donald Trump when Democratic Party leadership made it clear that they would not try to, in the words of incoming Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries, “get even” with the assorted criminals that have been stripping this country for parts. But people don’t want to “get even,” as if this were all some childish tit-for-tat. They want justice.
The electorate voted for a reckoning, but the current Democratic leadership—including Jeffries and incumbent leader of the newly flipped Senate Chuck Schumer—are utterly unequal to the task. Their inadequacy is a huge liability. If they fail to live up to voters’ expectations, that avalanche of young people we just saw go to the polls might stay home in 2028 out of disgust, potentially sweeping into power a shrewder generation of racist authoritarians bleating about Democratic “broken promises.” It’s a movie we’ve seen before.
Concerns about their total absence of spines goes beyond squandering electoral gains, though. If they fail to provide the kind of reckoning voters went to the polls to endorse, they’re also signaling to the public that they accept the kind of racist political rhetoric we saw germinate over the past several months. From Trump on down, these midterms contained a measure of anti-Islamic bigotry that was beyond the pale. And while it face-planted electorally, that does not mean it didn’t also change the boundaries of how politicians feel like they get to speak and act toward our Muslim neighbors.
This has even infected our national pastime. After the election, Toronto Blue Jays player Anthony Santander posted anti-Muslim screeds on social media, including graphic memes—since taken down—that included the phrase, “America voted for Sharia Last Night!” overlaid on an image of Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, and “Islam is not peaceful.” In response, the Blue Jays issued a milquetoast statement that read, “Baseball is for everyone and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”
This is not nearly good enough. Shireen Ahmed, senior contributor to CBC sports and cohost of the Burn It All Down podcast, pointed out that the Blue Jays have a track record of diversity celebrations and a significant Muslim fanbase, which makes the response all the more disappointing. “The Blue Jays play in one of the most multicultural cities in the world,” she wrote. “According to a 2024 report from Statistics Canada, up to 57 per cent of Toronto’s population is racialized. The Blue Jays as an organization celebrate this diversity with cultural events and heritage themes throughout the season including Pride Night and Caribbean Carnival night.”
It’s true that the sports world may be one of the last to actually show some backbone and reflect the popular will: The conservative billionaire team owners and the news networks they watch (or own) love to mewl about the mythical—coded as white male—right-wing sports fan, whom they fear alienating above all. And it’s also true that the politics of the owner’s box, which is overwhelmingly reactionary, will always matter more than the political ideas of fans or players. Even so, it’s time for these institutions, which have cowered in the face of Trump’s poisonous white supremacy, to show where they stand in the wake of last week’s overwhelming repudiation.
Current Issue
There was a beautiful—and tragic—moment at the end of a recent game between the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks. Spurs star Victor Wembenyama was caught on video whispering into Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving’s ear, “Free Palestine, my brother. I’m proud of you.” Irving, long a supporter of a free Palestine, has been wearing keffiyehs, Palestinian colors, and political shirts and bracelets to represent his solidarity since Israel launched a total war on the people of Gaza in 2023. That a star of Wembenyama’s stature feels he has to furtively whisper such a sentiment speaks volumes. It speaks to a sports world in 2026 where players are policed by right-wing blowhards on behalf of team owners, where outspoken athletes feel like they must hide in shadows, even when opposing a genocide.
Anti-Arab and anti-Islamic racism just got muzzled at the polls, but the dangerous rhetoric that produced such a backlash is now off the leash. It will be a collective task to make racists afraid again to speak their bile and sports owners to see that it doesn’t pay to be the great underwriters of the white revanchism that has scarred the political landscape for too long.