Jump to content

Atlanta Braves Honour Memory of MLK Jr. With Jersey Patch


Recommended Posts

Atlanta Braves Honour Memory of MLK Jr. With Jersey Patch

April 4, 2018 - 17:55 PM

The Atlanta Braves are marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this afternoon by wearing a special jersey patch during their game against the Washington Nationals. King, who was shot fifty years ago today […]

Read More...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

That seems a really odd thing to commemorate with a patch.  Not the 50th Anniversary of "I Have a Dream"?  Not his birth?

 

No, we're going to commemorate the day he was murdered.  Right down to text explaining what we're celebrating.

Commemorate the death of the greatest man to ever hail from the state the Braves play in. That's not weird

S8eR5Rf.png

Q2XFfoc.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually agree that "Anniversary," while not incorrect, has a celebratory context to it because of the way our culture uses it in general. 

 

It would have made more sense to have it say, "50 Years, in Memorium" or something along those lines. It's not an odd commemoration, but it feels a little off. I thought that as soon as I saw the patch. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, FightingGoldenDevil said:

Commemorate the death of the greatest man to ever hail from the state the Braves play in. That's not weird

 

That patch (with the anniversary text) looks more like it's celebrating his murder than his life, though.  Which is.

 

I get the impulse, but this particular application just seems wrong.  Even replacing the "50th Anniversary" text with "1929-1968" would be a better tribute for his life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

That seems a really odd thing to commemorate with a patch.  Not the 50th Anniversary of "I Have a Dream"?  Not his birth?

 

No, we're going to commemorate the day he was murdered.  Right down to text explaining what we're celebrating.

 

On par for American cultural values. We would rather memorialize death and tragedies over celebrating life and triumph. The sports uni world is a perfect analog as evidenced by the explosion of uniform adornments, logos etc. that latch onto non-sports related events for questionable reasons.  It's become a full on branding practice to capitalize on tragic events.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is strange, but the 50th anniversary of King's assassination has been pretty roundly acknowledged, hasn't it? It's not just a Braves faux pas. They probably felt they had to do something lest they be accused of doing nothing.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, the admiral said:

It is strange, but the 50th anniversary of King's assassination has been pretty roundly acknowledged, hasn't it? It's not just a Braves faux pas. They probably felt they had to do something lest they be accused of doing nothing.

 

I dunno, pretty sure they managed to let the 50th Anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech go by without a patch, and that was also a pretty big deal.

 

And if they felt they had to do something now, why not use this occasion to celebrate his life rather than commemorate the anniversary of his murder?  As I said before, I understand the impulse but the way they did it wasn't well thought-out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, guest23 said:

 

On par for American cultural values. We would rather memorialize death and tragedies over celebrating life and triumph. The sports uni world is a perfect analog as evidenced by the explosion of uniform adornments, logos etc. that latch onto non-sports related events for questionable reasons.  It's become a full on branding practice to capitalize on tragic events.

 

They aren't capitalizing off those events. Usually black initial patches and armbands are exclusive to the game-worn attire, not something that creates in influx in the market in any way

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

5 minutes ago, Brave-Bird 08 said:

Usually black initial patches and armbands are exclusive to the game-worn attire, not something that creates in influx in the market in any way

 

@guest23 didn't mention merchandising. 

 

Teams can capitalize on events in other ways.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Gothamite said:

That seems a really odd thing to commemorate with a patch.  Not the 50th Anniversary of "I Have a Dream"?  Not his birth?

 

No, we're going to commemorate the day he was murdered.  Right down to text explaining what we're celebrating.

 

I completely agree that this is an odd thing to celebrate on a uniform. From a societal and historical sense, many people believe that his death, or the fact that he became a martyr for the movement he was championing, did more than he probably would have if he had lived. 

 

As white male in his early 30s from the Midwest, I cannot say if that is true. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Brandon9485 said:

 

I completely agree that this is an odd thing to celebrate on a uniform. From a societal and historical sense, many people believe that his death, or the fact that he became a martyr for the movement he was championing, did more than he probably would have if he had lived. 

 

As white male in his early 30s from the Midwest, I cannot say if that is true. 

 

From a historical context, today is extremely newsworthy that can be used as a teachable moment and time of reflection. Nothing good can come from a business aligning itself with the anniversary of an assassination, just a horrible idea especially when there's already a dedicated holiday. Since MLK is outside of the mlb season maybe they should do a "halfway to MLK" promotion in the middle of the summer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe if it was more of a memorial patch or something more somber.  The design is in poor taste.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.