This week, sports stars from different disciplines started refusing to take part in scheduled matches.
From tennis to baseball, high-profile athletes said they took action in protest in the wake of the Kenosha police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake.
One of the most impactful demonstrations was that of the NBA players, where there is a high concentration of black talent.
Starting with the Milwaukee Bucks refusing to appear for a playoff match Against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, many other teams followed suit, including the LA Lakers, with whom basketball legend LeBron James currently plays.
At first the action was commonly referred to as a “boycott”, even by the teams involved.
But now the legal experts want people to know that it’s not entirely accurate.
The players, in fact, are currently on strike.
Speaking with the LA TimesJoseph Longo, a sports law professor, attorney and MLB agent, said he will call the action “wild strikes”.
Put simply, a boycott is an organized effort to withdraw financial support from something in order to achieve change of some kind, such as the civil rights movement bus boycott.
But a strike is an employee who holds his job.
Thomas Lenz, a law professor at USC also told the LA Times NBA action matched the definition of strike.
“When employees decide to refuse their services … technically it is a strike,” he said.
People on social media want others to know the difference.
This is because the terms have a different meaning.
A strike shows the economic power of collective solidarity against the bosses.
Especially in aid of racial justice.
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