The past week has been an unprecedented time in the history of sports as the NBA, NHL, and some of the teams from the MLB decided to protest a couple of their games in wake of the Jacob Blake shooting. Coaches are now also opening up on the issues facing the country. Doc Rivers, an African American coach of the Los Angeles Clippers and formerly a NBA champion coach of the Boston Celtics, gave an extremely emotional speech. He broke down in tears and said “It’s amazing how we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back”.How can you not feel the pain of the black community when hearing this? As a country, we should simply want justice for all the wrongdoings done to the black community and give them the equality they deserve.
Another particularly brilliant speech came from the NFL in Seahawks, former Super bowl winning head coach, Pete Carroll. He then went on to say “ They don’t know enough, and they need to be coached up and they need to be educated about what is going on in the world”. Thank you Pete for delivering a quote that fits perfectly with what we do at Coached. If white America truly stands behind the idea of equality, they will listen to black America who is telling them that they do not feel equal. It will take the white Americans to become educated on these matters and to stand with the black community if this country is to make any positive and permanent change.
One of the white players that initially completely missed the point was New Orleans Saints star Quarterback Drew Brees. During the days following George Floyd’s death, the African American athletes got together and decided that kneeling for the flag was the best way to protest against the police brutality that has been going on across the country. Brees decided to make the ignorant statement saying “ I feel everyone should stand for the flag”. He is clearly missing the point of the movement and players across the sports were rightfully shocked and disgusted that such a beloved member of the NFL community would make such a comment. Brees later apologized and donated a substantial amount of money to Black Lives Matter. Thomas accepted his apology while Jenkins did not. I can’t say I blame him for that as it seemed Brees apologized because he was attacked and not because he realized his comments were a problem.
Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher posted comments on his Twitter account slamming NBA players for protesting after the Jacob Blake shooting. This is another example of a white person who lacks empathy and has no understanding of what it is like to be an African American in this country. His former team, the Chicago Bears, rightfully disassociated themselves from Urlacher as they know that if you are not against racism, that is a major problem. He has never issued an apology, so it seems it is clear on where he stands. He is and seemingly always will be part of the problem this country is facing.
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