Miles Harrison was a trailblazer in the sport of lacrosse. He and the Morgan State Bears helped show that this sport is not just for white players, as black men and women could compete.
Harrison played at Morgan State in the early 1970s before pursuing a career as a surgeon. Years later, he had a son named Kyle, whom he raised to be aware that he could be anything, regardless of the color of his skin.
Over 30 years later, the younger Harrison became a Tewaaraton winner who is now a pro lacrosse star toward the end of his career, and he has been finding his voice on racial injustice. One of the most notable father-son combinations in the history of the sport sat down to talk about the death of George Floyd and where this sport can progress.
How are you?
MILES HARRISON: “I’m in a little bit of a different place now than I was after the initial event. The same kind of outrage cloaked in fear for any black person and specifically black males. Subsequent to that, after the emotion of it sets in, you start to think about it. This, at my age of 70, has been clear to me for many years — that the pattern of reaction to it has been similar over the years. We saw the Civil Rights movement in 1964, with the March on Washington and Dr. King's famous speech, and we know that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated shortly thereafter in 1969. That was what was going to be the definitive demonstration of our concern for black lives in America not being valued, but again, that gave way to multiple similar events over the next 30 years. That was public — he got assassinated on a balcony. My images are deeply embedded and are repetitive. Unlike younger people, I’ve gotten to see this well of emotion in reaction to it and then the deafening silence as we return to the routine of our lives. This one is different from what I've seen in the past. The difference is the large numbers of white people chanting 'Black Lives Matter' in every major city in the U.S. and around the world. All movements have been led by young people, but significant numbers of mature black and white adults and what appears to be sympathetic police departments are participating.”
KYLE HARRISON: “Obviously, my perspective has changed a bit since I’ve had kids of my own, but I can’t imagine my dad and folks older than him that just have to have this feeling of ‘nothing changed.’ The things they used to watch were terrible, now there are video cameras on these things happening. I have to think that there are black men all over America, maybe older than my dad, thinking, ‘This is literally what I watched as a kid.’ That was my gut reaction to it. More recently, it has transitioned to the feeling that this has to change and seeing people of all colors peacefully marching and knowing what we can do to make actual change. I’ve shifted to positivity and love and empathy and hoping that this really is the generation that makes the change.”
WHAT IS THE FEAR THAT DR. HARRISON REFERENCED?
KH: “I’m a black man and when I could drive, the first thing my father said to me, before, ‘Buckle your seatbelt’ and, ‘Stop at that stop sign’ or teaching me how to park, he taught me what to do when I get pulled over and where to put my hands and how to act and speak and what not to reach for. Those are the things that you have to teach a black boy or girl when they’re going off on their own. There’s this belief that where you come from makes you exempt from some of the things that other African Americans have to deal with in this country, and that’s just not the case.”
MH: “I’m so proud of how vocal my son has been in the lacrosse space. Unless you are allowed to go on and express those things and have another person really listen and not be thinking of the next thing they want to say, and I was guilty of that for many years. If we really listen, then we’ll hear the other person's position and can then try to move toward the middle. I use something my dad said long ago, ‘John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy had to die.’ The reason was, they were not only attempting to change laws regarding segregation, they were trying to change how the country felt about African Americans. Racism was that deeply seeded at that moment that there was no other alternative than to remove their voices. This has released a lifetime of thought, and I’m now mature enough to put it all together.”
HOW DID THE MORGAN STATE EXPERIENCE SHAPE YOU?
MH: “We were fortunate that our coach and my co-author of the book, 'Ten Bears,' Chip Silverman, understood the spaces we were entering as a predominantly black team. Chip constantly had conversations about that, and as I reflected on those moments for the book, I called it our Jackie Robinson moment. He was spat upon with racial slurs and death threats directed at he and his wife. We experienced racial slurs from opposing players and fans and certainly, aggressive hits and fouls went unnoticed. Fortunately, we had been well prepared to focus and not retaliate, all of which helped shape my controlled behavior as I experienced racism throughout my life.”
HOW DID YOU RAISE KYLE IN A WORLD IN WHICH RACISM EXISTS?
MH: “My wife is an amazing mother and developer of character in kids. She had frank, age-appropriate conversations whenever racially charged events occurred. With that foundation, I still worried that he didn't understand early on racial inequity because he was not vocal. I also felt there were fewer incidents of racial difficulties because more frank discussions occurred about race at Friends School that he attended from pre-K to 12th grade. As he matured, I had the requisite conversations about the law and how a black boy should carry himself in public, especially with regard to any interaction with police. Clearly, the need for those survival conversations is still necessary. With regard to sports, I stated there will be bad and unfair calls at times, just play to the best of your ability, and most often, that will win the day.”
KH: “When it comes to racism, when it comes to racial injustice and everything people are talking about right now, my dad is the smartest guy I know. I just listened to him all the time. I wasn’t always vocal about it, but I could internalize it. Having the smartest guy living down the hall, it was always helpful. When it comes to lacrosse, I didn’t really question my place in this sport until I was older, and that had a lot to do with the fact that the guy down the hallway, I saw posters of him playing the sport and knew he played the sport. I felt pretty empowered and confident wherever I went.”
HOW DID KYLE ENCOUNTER RACISM WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER?
MH: “When organized lacrosse started for him, what I observed was marginalization by coaches on those early teams. Often, white kids of far-lesser skill levels were starters with far more playing time, though Kyle was clearly more accomplished. This leads to less time on task and slower improvement of skills. Direct conversations about things like playing time and position are appropriate to have with coaches with truthful discussions. Often, this did bring about increased playing time and more focus on helping Kyle with his skill levels. I am so proud of the man that we have raised. I can’t tell you how proud I am that he has understood and said, ‘I’m going to be on the side of change of all of this.’”
KH: “All the situations that my dad mentioned back then, I would have never considered anything racial. I remember always getting in the car with my mom and dad and them having a conversation. My dad was upset, and I couldn’t really wrap my head around why he was upset. … As I got older and understood I have a voice now, it started in college when I was at Hopkins. I got covered more in Baltimore, and I started to get recognized. That’s when I started to grow into my role as a voice in this sport. Then fast forward now toward the end of my playing career, to my dad’s point earlier, I think we have the generation right now that is committed to making change. That’s not only the black players. We have white players willing to speak out on issues. I remain optimistic about our game, but I still get email and DMs weekly from black families across the country whose son or daughter has been called the n-bomb or the coach made a joke about hanging a kid. We just had one at a college a couple months ago. I still remain optimistic with the group that we have right now.”
KYLE, HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT RACISM?
KH: “Mine will be complicated. I have two mixed kids. I have a 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. My wife and I talk about it all the time. The hope is that I raise my kids the same way my parents raised me, and that is to say I acknowledge color, see color and be empathetic. But that shouldn’t change how we view people. The beauty in how they’ll be raised is that they’ll have black grandparents and white grandparents, as well. They get to see both sides, and they are raised in an environment that race isn’t something to be judged by. I’m asked all the time if I want my kids playing this sport and I answer, ‘TBD. I’m not sure.’ We’ll see how much progress we make. I’d imagine that a lot of Jules [Heningburg]’s feelings are what my kids will feel growing up. We benefit from the fact that our family has color. There are black people and white people, so they’re not raised on seeing people for their color.”
HOW IS THIS WORLD DIFFERENT THAN THE ONE KYLE GREW UP IN?
MH: “There is an understanding between the races that did not exist 40 years ago during many of the racial demonstrations. The hope of a post-racial America appears to be fading with the health, wealth and social disparity gap increasing. One of my regrets in life is that my dad didn’t live long enough to see Barack Obama take the oath of office as president of the United States. That was a massive change in perception of being in post-racial America when that occurred. It appears presently that partisan politics and the pandemics of police violence and the coronavirus have made the progress which it appeared we were making not recognizable at this time. The hope for a post-racial America still exists if we continue to have candid conversations about race and race relations.”
WHAT CAN WE DO TO MOVE FORWARD?
KH: “It starts with conversations. Trevor’s post was so impactful because he highlighted something that happens to every black lacrosse player. I’m fairly certain our teammates aren’t trying to be mean or offend us by calling us the, ‘Whitest black man we’ve ever seen’ or, ‘You’re not really black, you’re like us.’ Every black player will tell you that they’ve heard it. A basic conversation with your black teammate and trying to get an understanding of why that’s not OK on any level, that’s a start. When I look at what I can control, and that’s this lacrosse community, it starts with conversations, and real ones. Not like shooting quick DMs or doing something on social media. Talk to all of your black teammates, and get an understanding.”
MH: “Communicate. There’s nothing profound or confounding about where we’re going. It all starts with looking each other in the eye and getting an understanding of whether we’re at the same place. We as African Americans don’t have the wherewithal to fix it alone. There is systemic racism and implicit bias that needs to be addressed. It all starts with conversation, expressing truly the way we feel with the goal being to try to understand the other person's point of view. People willing to have this conversation must understand that candor is necessary, and comfort is secondary.”