JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally
tonight, a former professional
athlete takes on color
divisions in sport.

Jeffrey Brown has our look
from New York as part of
our Race Matters series.

JEFFREY BROWN: A beautiful
late summer day on the grounds
of the U.S. Open at Flushing

Meadows, New York, tennis'
biggest stage in this country,
the kind of day that can stir

memories.

JAMES BLAKE, Former Professional
Tennis Player: This place is
so special to me because I was

a fan here first.

JEFFREY BROWN: James
Blake was born in Yonkers
to an African-American
father and white British

mother.

He started playing tennis at 5,
alongside his brother Thomas,
who also became a professional

player.

JAMES BLAKE: I grew up an
hour from here, was born less
than 30 minutes from here.

I was getting autographs
of the qualifiers.

JEFFREY BROWN: You did as a kid?

JAMES BLAKE: Yes.

I snuck in.

JEFFREY BROWN: They
haven't come after you
to get the payment yet?

JAMES BLAKE: They
haven't come after me.

I think I still owe them about
$20 or $30 from back tickets.

JEFFREY BROWN: Blake more than
repaid the sport, becoming
a top American star, known

for his speed and his power.

He climbed to the world number
four ranking in 2006, and
retired in 2013 after a 14-year

career.

Two years later, awaiting a
ride from his Manhattan hotel
to be a commentator at the

U.S. Open, Blake was thrown
to the ground, handcuffed and
arrested by a plainclothes

New York City police officer.

It was caught on a surveillance
camera, a case of mistaken
identity, for which the New

York police commissioner
publicly apologized.

WILLIAM BRATTON, New York
City Police Commissioner:
My apologies for the
incident which he found

himself involved in.

JEFFREY BROWN: But one that
drew national headlines and
charges of excessive force and

racial profiling.

JAMES BLAKE: They
have got you cuffed.

You don't know what's going on.

I know I had done nothing wrong.

But while that's going
on, you just feel so
weak and ineffective,
because they are totally

in control of the situation.

And they know that.

And some of them handle
that situation well.

Some don't.

And the officer that
handled this case
wasn't handling it well.

JEFFREY BROWN: I assume that
you had never experienced
anything like that?

JAMES BLAKE: Not to that extent.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

JAMES BLAKE: I mean, I think
almost every person of color
at some point in their life

has been profiled, whether it be
walking into a store or driving
your car and you're pulled

over for no reason or
anything to that extent.

So, I have had instances like
that, but never physical --
physical violence like this.

JEFFREY BROWN: The incident
caused Blake to rethink his
own role as a citizen-athlete.

He began to speak out about
cases of police misconduct, and
now has a new book about the

efforts work of other
athletes, "Ways of Grace:
Stories of Activism,
Adversity, and How Sports

Can Bring Us Together."

JAMES BLAKE: I want
to see some positive
headlines about athletes.

And that's what I try to in
this book and show that there
are athletes that have a social

conscience, that aren't just
there for the three hours
that you watch them on TV.

They have lives.

They have things that are
important and that they
are passionate about.

I think so many people focus
on LeBron James, was he selfish
to go to Miami, was he selfish

here?

Well, you know what?

The guy donated $40
million to education in
Akron, in his community,
realizing that education

is one of the biggest
barriers for income disparity.

JEFFREY BROWN: Blake writes of
many athletes, including from
his own sport, lesser-knowns

such as Amir Hadad and
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, an
Israeli Jew and Pakistani
Muslim, who played

doubles together at Wimbledon
in 2002 and beyond, in
the face of opposition.

And more famous names,
Arthur Ashe, who spoke
out about apartheid and
championed civil rights,

as well as support for
those with HIV/AIDS,
which he himself battled.

And Billie Jean King, who has
accomplished so much for gender
equality and social justice

in tennis and beyond.

And he writes with sympathy
for the most controversial
figure today, former San
Francisco 49er quarterback

Colin Kaepernick, who publicly
took a knee during the national
anthem before games last

year to protest
police brutality.

He's is now out of football,
and Blake and others believe
it's because of his public

stance.

JAMES BLAKE: People are
criticizing him, saying,
oh, he makes $15 million,
he should just shut

up and play.

And I just always have
hated that narrative,
because it doesn't matter
the amount of money

that's being paid.

You still shouldn't be able to
control someone, because then
it's just a matter of saying,

at what stage are you selling
your whole soul, you're selling
all your beliefs for a certain

amount of money?

And I think Colin Kaepernick is
showing that he's not for sale.

JEFFREY BROWN: But do you
understand fans who would say,
look, I love and support you,

Colin Kaepernick, or athlete
XYZ, for what you do on the
field, but that's what you're

supposed to do, right?

JAMES BLAKE: Right.

JEFFREY BROWN: That's your job.

JAMES BLAKE: Yes.

Yes, and I...

JEFFREY BROWN: Don't
push your politics on me.

JAMES BLAKE: Yes.

Well, fans are absolutely within
their right to not go to the
games, to say, I'm not going

to buy your jersey, to
do anything like that.

But I don't think it's really
fair to put that on him,
because of what he's fighting

for, as a lot of veterans have
said, that's what we fought for.

He has his freedom.

And people say, oh, well, you
know what, we want sports just
to get away from politics.

We want it just to be an escape.

Well, it can be an escape for
when it's on the field and
he's still doing his job on

the field.

But when he's not forced to be
on the field, it's up to him.

It's his right.

And it's his freedom of speech
that he can say and do what
he wants, especially since

it's peaceful.

JEFFREY BROWN: Do you think
there's more responsibility
with the higher --
the higher profile you

are?

Because you think about very
famous stars of the past,
Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill

Russell, people who spoke out.

You think of Michael Jordan,
who some people criticized
him for not, right...

JAMES BLAKE: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: ... being
more connected with the
brands and the advertising.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, again,
I think it's individual.

And I think it's -- we talk
about in the book, with the
fact that there was a little bit

of an era where a lot of
people weren't speaking out.

Michael Jordan was in that
era, where it was, you're going
to protect your brand at all

costs.

So, I think a lot of people
in that time were going to be
silent, and they were just going

to try to sell shoes.

I don't fault them for that,
but I feel like it's shifted.

Now, especially with
social media, people
are going to speak out.

And I think, previous to that
generation, there was the
generation of Muhammad Ali.

There was the civil
rights movement.

There were people that
stood for a serious cause.

And it seemed like people
thought, athletes maybe thought,
hey, we have got it good now.

Let's not mess this up.

JEFFREY BROWN: As for himself,
Blake settled a lawsuit against
the New York Police Department

this summer, and got the city
to fund a legal fellowship.

JAMES BLAKE: That was a
good outcome, exploring
cases of police misconduct.

You have a fellow on staff
for the next six years,
two years at a time.

So it will be three different
ones straight out of law school
to fight these kind of cases,

because, last year, over
50 percent of them weren't
seen to conclusion.

So, now there's someone on staff
to help them see these cases
through to the end, get whatever

payout, get whatever
accountability is necessary
for the police officers.

It's a start.

It's not the end of the story.

JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS
NewsHour," I'm Jeffrey Brown
in Flushing Meadows, New York.