A common take that you’ll see in political think pieces is the idea that the two parties and their bases have become too polarized. Why, there used to be a time when people could put aside their differences and still be friends. Nowadays we can’t even enjoy a sitcom about white people blithely dismissing sitcoms that aren’t about white people without making it a big deal, and conservative dudes can’t get dates with liberal women just because they support a creepy old guy who thinks sexual assault is a great ice breaker. Crazy, amiright?!
It is the tribalization of politics, the “my side at all costs” mentality, that is a preferred scapegoat for why our society has devolved to its current state. The game then becomes what brought us here. Was it the Internet? An increasing sense of personal entitlement? The discontinuation of Dunkaroos?
While those are all valid theories worth considering, I would like to present a new one that I don’t gets talked about nearly enough. We like to act like this is a new thing, this increased tribalization, but I posit that it has been a long time coming. For your consideration, I would like to present the idea that we have been groomed to be polarized and tribalistic through the wonderful world of sports.
Sports are built on tribalism. The idea that you root for your team and hate anyone associated with other teams is baked right into the concept. Ask a Cavs fan how they feel about the Warriors, and you’re in store for some of the most creative death fantasies this side of a Saw movie. Why? For no other reason than they play a game against each other. That’s it. All that animosity over people throwing balls into buckets.
This is a feature, not a bug. Even in high school, the kids at your rival school collectively become the fucking worst. They are all poor trash/snotty preps/members of the secret society of lizard people; whatever traits your community considers negative, that neighboring town is NOTHING BUT THAT.
And it’s fucking encouraged, all under the guise of School Spirit™. You are out to crush the other school. Are they nice people? Irrelevant! Are they losing by an embarrassing margin? Rub it in their face by chanting “Scoreboard!” Are you losing by an embarrassing margin? Stew and become resentful about how big of dicks the other side is being by chanting “Scoreboard!” The fucking nerve!
This isn’t to put sports and sports fans down and act superior. I partake in these same things. Hell, I cheer for the Cleveland Browns, and there is absolutely no logical reason for anyone to do so. But what I am suggesting is that sports has helped normalize the idea of tribalism. It introduces us to the idea of blindly supporting a team for arbitrary reasons (and hating other teams for equally arbitrary reasons) in a low stakes setting, where there are no real consequences for doing so. And because there are no real consequences, because it is just “in good fun,” it gets easier and easier to transfer that mentality elsewhere, even if there are actual consequences that become apparent as a result. Loyalty to otherwise meaningless things can give way to showing a very ugly side of human nature.
Take this video of Cleveland Indians fans being absolutely horrendous to Native American protestors advocating against the Chief Wahoo logo and the team name itself. Keep in mind, the team itself will soon no longer be using Wahoo as a logo, but these fans are so beholden and loyal to a cartoon created decades ago that being presented with the idea that it might be hurtful to a group of people enrages them. They are choosing a logo that no longer even has an official affiliation with their team over other actual human beings.
Again, I want to stress that I am not suggesting sports are terrible and we should all stop cheering for our favorite teams. Sports are far from the only area where polarizing opinions form and take hold to ridiculous degrees. Just look at how divisive The Last Jedi was among Star Wars fans. Actually, look at how divisive literally anything Star Wars-related is among Star Wars fans. About the only thing they agree on is that Star Wars is a thing that exists, and even that notion has probably spawned at least one vlog of a dude explaining that because George Lucas’ original script was never filmed, we’ve never actually seen the real Star Wars and what we have gotten is just a franchise masquerading as the real thing. The comment section would then be filled with people calling him contradictory racial slurs in all caps. It would get very messy.
But sports has held a very special place in our culture, one that goes back millennia, and as a result it wields a powerful influence over society. The idea of teams is inherently exclusive, and creating “others” to rally against is unavoidable. And because sports are fun, these ideas seem harmless and fine. Within the context of a game, this is true. The problem is we have not done a very good job restraining that tribalistic instinct within that context. We have given too many things a free pass as just being a part of the game, and stood by too many instances of bad behavior simply because the person who did them happened to be on our team. And now turning a blind eye to things someone would normally would be against is dangerously out of control.
I don’t know if there is any real solution to this. It’s really just a matter of recognizing a potential origin for the kind of behavior we are seeing that we feel we need to criticize. So as you cheer on – insert local sports team here – at the next game, enjoy the camaraderie and the shared distaste of your opponent. Just also be aware that we are constantly taking those ideas with us, whether we realize it or not.
At the very least, let’s have one of those ideas involve bringing back Dunkaroos.
