NFL stands with the Black community
It was only four years ago that former San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to sit during the American national anthem as a form of fighting for racial equality and protesting police brutality during a preseason game. It ended up being his last season in the National Football League.
While the league had always denied he was being blackballed, it became pretty apparent that no team wanted anything to do with the quarterback despite his obvious talents. However, with protests taking place across the United States to fight for racial equality and against police violence the NFL seems to be singing a different tune in 2020.
On Tuesday, Roger Goodell expressed his support for any players protesting for social justice and ensured that the league does indeed support the Black community.
“The NFL stands with the Black community, the players, clubs and fans,” Goodell said Tuesday, via ESPN. “Confronting recent systemic racism with tangible and productive steps is absolutely essential. We will not relent in our work. We will redouble our efforts to be catalysts for the urgent and sustainable change that our society and communities so desperately need.
“I’m so proud of everyone across our league and others who have taken a stand using their voices and platforms to continue to shine the spotlight on things that must change,” he continued. “By listening and working and understanding with our players, we built the foundation for tangible change through our Inspire Change initiative.”
The NFL seems to be working hard to change the perception many players and fans had that it did not care about issues pertaining to social justice. The league even announced earlier in the year that they will be pledging $250 million over the next 10 years to various social justice initiatives.
The NFL‘s executive vice president also shared his support for the players and their right to protest. Last week various professional sports leagues across North America including the NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA and MLS postponed games after Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“The players want to see us leveraging the influence to hold officers that are bad officers to be held accountable,” Vincent said, via ESPN. “That access to meeting the [district attorneys] and access to meeting with local officials to truly address reform and training. … There has been a lot of work done, but we still keep seeing the same image play out on television of unarmed Black men being shot down.”
“I ask my Lord and savior Jesus Christ to allow me to be a bridge builder,” Vincent continued. “And I try to stay on the premises of educating whether that’s a player or a club owner. I just speak to humanity. And I would say in my dealings with club owners, they all have a heart. … I do believe that some of the things that we have seen transpire, they have seen transpire, it does something to the heart. And we understand we’re not asking, the players are not asking, for anything out of context and just asking for accountability to be administered and that people see this burden that many live, that an entire community, in particular the Black community, that these injustices are happening.
The NFL season is expected to begin on September 10th with a prime time game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans. The league was forced to cancel all preseason games as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
