TORONTO – Born and bred in Cleveland, Justin Morrow is a big-time Cavaliers fan.
The Toronto FC defender still beams with great pride when talking about the Cavs’ dramatic win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals, and he’ll be watching intently when the teams meet on Thursday night in Game 1 of this season’s NBA championship series.
But Morrow’s thoughts will also be with Cavaliers star and fellow Ohio native LeBron James, who earlier this week was the target of a vile racist attack when someone scrawled a racial slur on the gate of his Los Angeles home. It was a sobering reminder of the overt racism that a lot of African Americans deal with on a daily basis.
“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is – it’s tough,” James said afterwards. “And we got a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African Americans, until we feel equal in America.”
Morrow, who is also black, agrees, and the way James reacted – using it as an opportunity to speak openly and poignantly about racism and inequality in the United States – is what most impressed the TFC defender.
“I wasn’t too surprised what happened to LeBron, just because of the [political and social] climate in the United States right now. But he handled himself well – he represented his family well and he represented African Americans well. It’s unfortunate, but we do have to realize that these sorts of things still go on,” Morrow told Sportsnet.
“One of the great things about LeBron is how good of a leader he is, and not just on the court. He showed that in the way he handled it. I think he’s blazed the path not only for athletes but all African Americans”
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Not that Morrow would wish what happened to James on anybody, but he does see a silver lining around this ugly incident.
“Obviously, the United States doesn’t have the greatest history with this racial divide. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a very long way to go. Things like what happened to LeBron are little reminders that racism still exists and we need to continue to have the conversation about it. The conversation is not done,” Morrow stated.
A veteran of eight Major League Soccer seasons, Morrow spent most of his early life in the Midwest, including his college days when he attended Notre Dame in Indiana. It was only after he began his pro soccer career with the San Jose Earthquakes that the lack of cultural diversity he grew up with truly hit home.
“I grew up in the Midwest and then I went out at the start of my career to California, and that’s a more diverse part of the country. I’ve got both sides of it – a little discrimination growing up in the Midwest where it’s a predominantly white population. Not name calling as much as it was just the attitudes of people. Compare that to being out west where there were a ton of different cultures, and everyone felt included,” Morrow said.
Morrow admitted he’s never been the target of racist abuse from fans or other players during his career. Now in his fourth season with TFC, Morrow marvels at the racial and cultural diversity of Toronto.
“In Toronto, it seems like everyone is not from here. It seems like everyone came from somewhere else to be here – their parents are from the islands or from Europe. That breeds inclusivity. That’s where it comes from, so that everyone feels welcomed,” Morrow said.
That’s not to say Toronto is perfect, or that racial intolerance doesn’t exist within the city’s borders. Of course, it does. But Morrow said he feels especially at ease living in Toronto with his Paraguayan wife Jimena, who is white, and their daughter Chiara.
Life isn’t always so easy for inter-racial couples. There are often leers of disapproval, or overt racism that can take many forms, including name calling and violence. Luckily for Morrow and his wife, they haven’t been subjected to that kind of vile behaviour.
“Especially in Toronto, I feel like I fit in. It’s one of the great parts of living here. My wife feels very comfortable and safe, just as much as I do. It’s been great,” Morrow said.
It also helps matters that the TFC locker room is such a diverse place, featuring players of various races and cultures.
“We embrace the different ethnicities. It’s such a fun place; our locker room is such an amazing place because of that diversity, so it’s disappointing when you see that’s not always the case in the outside world,” defender Drew Moor said.
Coach Greg Vanney argues that sports can help bridge cultural differences and bring people together, regardless of their backgrounds.
“A lot of these diversity questions come from people who don’t experience diverse situations, and in a locker room you always have those interactions, and you find common ground. You recognize that we’re all just one people,” Vanney said.
“The problem comes when people don’t have that open-mindedness, and they don’t have those interactions with other races. They develop through childhood, and probably their parents and everywhere else, these ideals that are way off base, so that stupid and ridiculous things that we shouldn’t be talking about or dealing with in the world, but we do, happen.
“The last place you find a lot of those issues, I think, is in locker rooms, where guys have to interact with one another, to go out and rely upon one another in games. That interaction develops relationships, and that’s what’s important in all of this.”
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