Athletes have taken social stands before. Why this time is different.
In a contest that was coming down to the wire, it was only natural to turn to an athlete who was famous for coming through in the clutch. The competition was the 1990 Senate race in North Carolina, a heated, racially divisive match between Harvey Gantt, a Democrat and the first African American mayor of Charlotte, and the longtime Republican incumbent, Jesse Helms, a pillar of the ultraconservative wing of the party.
A famously staunch segregationist, Mr. Helms had strongly opposed the movement to create a national holiday in honor...