Don’t Boo the Climate Protestor
She’s fighting for your life
Bread and Circuses.
That’s what came to mind when a young French activist ran onto the clay courts of Rolland Garros during a boring semi-final match of the French Open. The camera cut quickly to an overview of the stadium but those of us who took an interest were able to later piece together what had happened. A woman from the protest group Dernière Rénovation had hopped over several rows of seats, sprinted onto the court, kneeled like a supplicant, and then chained her neck to the net cord with a metal noose. Immediately there were boos from the crowd as play came to a halt. But more significantly the commentators covering the event told us that there was every good reason for those of us at home not to see the climate protestor. Recalling the brutal on-court stabbing of Monica Seles in 1993, the sportscasters told us that there was a strict policy of not glorifying match disruption.
Three more French Opens before the forces that will parch Roland Garros’s red clay become unstoppable leading to a day in the future when the courts will turn into a gritty Sahara.
I’m sorry, but a young woman wearing a t-shirt that told us, truthfully, that we have…
