When It Comes To Race And Sports, Who Owns An Athlete's Opinions?
The anger of white fans "is what happens when black bodies don't conform to what white spectators and consumers want them to be or do or say," says Penn State professor Amira Rose Davis.
The NFL's players are 70 percent black; its fans are 83 percent white and 64 percent male, according to online sports site The Real GM.
And when it comes to the current controversy over the national anthem and players taking a knee, that statistic is playing a huge role.
It leads to the idea, says Amira Rose Davis of Penn State University, "that 'you are good as entertainment, but once you have a voice, I don't want to hear you. You need to shut up and play.' "
Some players, though, clearly are not be satisfied to just play and be paid.
And so the league is trying to figure out how to keep its owners happy while
