Oct 16, 2026, 12:00 PM CT
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The Milwaukee Brewers’ march to the World Series has reminded me of something I have deliberately stepped away from for years: the joy of sports. The excitement, community pride, conversations with strangers, and the feeling that, for just a moment, we are all cheering for the same thing. But even in that joy, I cannot ignore the contradictions of the country in which we live.
As Americans celebrate baseball’s finest athletes, we should consider the diversity of Major League Baseball. The immigrant stories, family histories, and global talent have helped make professional sports what it is today. Baseball, like medicine, technology, agriculture, and countless other industries, benefits from people who come to this country seeking opportunity and contributing their skills. Yet the same nation that applauds their accomplishments often embraces policies that threaten the security and dignity of immigrant communities.
We are comfortable with immigrants when their talents entertain us, heal us, build our industries, or strengthen our economy. We celebrate their achievements when they wear our uniforms and help our teams win championships. It’s what happens when the uniforms come off, and they are simply our neighbors who suddenly becomes a problem. The contradiction is real and is costing some folks their lives.
Immigrants have been demonized and blamed for nearly every societal ill, from crime and unemployment to strained public resources. But this is where America’s diversity, equity, and inclusion argument breaks down, for me. We celebrate diversity when it is profitable, entertaining, or convenient. We embrace inclusion when it produces a championship, a medical breakthrough, or a technological innovation. But equity requires something more than appreciating what people contribute. It requires recognizing their humanity, protecting their rights, and applying our principles consistently, even when doing so is politically unpopular.
The contradiction is not new, just ask Colin Kaepernick. He lost his NFL career for a peaceful protest, while the league and far too many fans debated his “disrespect” rather than confronting the injustice that prompted him to take a knee. I have boycotted the NFL ever since Kap’s treatment. In doing so, I became quieter about sports in general. I stepped away from something I once enjoyed because I could not reconcile the entertainment with the hypocrisy surrounding it.
However, I couldn’t ignore the Brewers. They reminded me of what I have been missing: the excitement, the community, the collective anticipation. But they also reminded me why I stepped away. I can love a team and still question the country cheering it on. I can celebrate athletic excellence while challenging the systems that determine whose humanity deserves recognition.
As Milwaukee celebrates, I long for the day when the nation understands that we cannot celebrate diversity on the field while condemning it at the border. We cannot cheer for the contributions of immigrants while treating immigrant communities as threats. We cannot claim to value freedom while punishing those who seek the same for themselves and their family.
The Brewers reminded me of what I have been missing. They also reminded me of what this country still has to learn.
Michelle Bryant is host of “Say Something Real with Michelle Bryant,” a morning drive political talk program on WNOV 860AM/106.5FM. She is a political strategist, president of CMB Consulting & Associates, and a weekly columnist for the Milwaukee Courier Newspaper. A former Chief of Staff in the Wisconsin State Legislature—where she also served as Budget and Policy Director and Clerk of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety—Bryant brings decades of experience in legislative leadership, campaign management, and public policy. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a longtime advocate for civic engagement and equity.
