In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., Cameron Champ is calling attention to racial injustice by continuing to wear a special pair of white and black Nike shoes, adding a timely message in ink: “Jacob Blake BLM.”
Champ has worn a one-black and one-white pair of golf spikes at various points in his career, but this week he has written “Jacob Blake BLM” on them for further meaning. The BMW Championship is taking place at Olympia Fields, just 100 miles south of Kenosha, where Blake was shot seven times by local police Sunday. The incident is still under further investigation, but Blake has been paralyzed from the waist down as a result.
“It’s just spreading awareness and sticking by what I believe in and what I believe needs to be changed,” Champ said in a social video shared by the Tour. “I’m going to do as much as I can.”
Champ is one of just a handful of Black golfers who plays on the game’s highest level. The golf shoes were first put on display back in February, 2019 in honor of Black History Month.
But this week, the meaning is slightly changed. Players on the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play their NBA playoff game against the Orlando Magic Wednesday, and were joined by fellow players around the league Wednesday afternoon. The Milwaukee Brewers quickly followed a similar path, refusing to play their MLB game against the Cincinnati Reds. So, too, did the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, as the NBA players held meetings into the night on whether or not they’d continue the season.
Each sports league will respond in its own way, but the PGA Tour is made up of independent contractors. At this point, the Tour will continue onward with its event, which begins Thursday. Champ is scheduled to tee off at 1:58 p.m. ET.
“I’ve seen a lot of other athletes speak out about it,” Champ said in the video. “It’s a situation where a lot of people don’t want to talk about it, which I get, but at the same time it’s reality. It’s what we live in. People ignore it for so long and it gets to a point where it just blows up. This is just the tipping of the iceberg.”
