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McCurdy: My podium calls for changing hearts in America

Inspired by the great columnist Jim Murray and triggered by the confluence of events in America in 2020, Rob McCurdy shares his podium.

Rob McCurdy   | Marion Star

As America seemed to be crumbling under the weight of racism, brutality, violence, discrimination of all types, inept institutions and outdated thinking, the late, great columnist Jim Murray brought real life to the country's sports sections.

In 1968, in the wake of assassinations, in the middle of an unpopular war and in the midst of riots, Murray implored action.

"Americans who have a podium should use it today," he wrote.

To paraphrase failed vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen, I admired Jim Murray. I was lucky enough to be Jim Murray's acquaintance. I became friends with Jim Murray's widow Linda. Nevertheless, Rob McCurdy, you're no Jim Murray.

I recognize that. I'm never going to be in anyone's hall of fame. My awards don't equate to a Pulitzer Prize like Murray earned. I don't have the platform of the Los Angeles Times when newspapers were king, nor do I have the stature of being the greatest sports columnist by any measure.

But I do have a podium here in the Marion Star sports section and online at as well as outlets in the USA Today Network.

And it's time to use it.

America is a great country. You know what makes it great?

It's not the flag waving. It's not the red, white and blue bunting. It's not star-spangled Uncle Sams who fancy themselves as patriots. It's not needing to go along to get along.

It's the opposite of all that.

It's the freedom to dissent that makes our nation great. Dissent is what led to America's birth. Dissent is what led to slavery being abolished. Dissent is what led to voting rights. Dissent is what led to the end of Jim Crow laws and the beginning of a multitude of civil rights legislation.

Without dissent, we may as well be stuck in 1775, 1863, 1919 or 1963.

In 2020, dissent is again leading us to a something better.

It's not just opening the eyes and ears of a large swath of our population who didn't want to see or hear. It's starting to open hearts.

Four years ago too much of the country wasn't ready or wasn't able to fathom what Black America has been enduring for 400 years.

The brutality of slavery, the cruelties of Jim Crow, the indignities of segregation, the inequities of separate but equal doctrines may be in the past, but the stains and stench of these institutions linger.

Laws are necessary for change, but awareness and empathy are the things that will ultimately rid ourselves of racism.

In 2016, Michael Brown, a Black man, was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, setting off protests that at times turned violent.

In response to Brown's death and too many others like him at the hands of police officers, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in protest.

And as quickly as he stood up, the narrative changed.

The issues switched from police brutality and the plight of minorities in America to the honor of the flag and support of the military in our country. Kaepernick was vilified and within a season lost a career.

But times are a changing for dissenters.

Four years later, George Floyd, yet another Black man, had his life taken by a Minneapolis police officer who took a knee on the back of his neck while a video was taken.

Seeing it horrified the nation as police brutality against minorities again took center stage. Protests swept the country and joining in large numbers were whites.

Another NFL quarterback, Drew Brees, a hero for his flag stance in 2016, was crushed for the same take in 2020. Turns out much more of America now believes Kaepernick was wronged, not wrong.

So after ruminating on our country's plight for the last couple of weeks, I'm left with hope.

Maybe, just maybe, we can be better citizens.

I want to use my podium like Jim Murray did. I want to bring awareness and embrace empathy in the fight against racism, brutality, violence, discrimination of all types, inept institutions and outdated thinking. Without an ability to see injustice, without an ability to recognize inequality, without an ability to sense anguish, we will never truly be worthy of that red, white and blue bunting.

We've got a long, long, long way to go, but if we can catch up to Kaepernick's stance in the span of four years, there's at least hope.

We've changed the laws against racism. Now it's time to change the hearts.

Rob McCurdy is the sports writer at the Marion Star and USA Today Network-Ohio and can be reached at work 740-375-5158, cell 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.