NFL players have been extremely vocal about the death of George Floyd and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. On Thursday night, a video was released on social media featuring numerous black NFL stars basically calling for the league to stand behind its players as they peacefully protest.
The almost two minute video saw players asking the league what would happen if they were George Floyd, having the knee of a police officer clamped down on their neck when they had no way to defend themselves. The players then listed the names of several black people who have been recently killed.
The video closed with the players saying in unison, “racism and the systemic oppression of black people. … We, the National Football League, admit wrong in silencing our players from peacefully protesting. … We, the National Football League, believe black lives matter.”
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In a post on Instagram, the league responded saying they stand with the black community. “This is a time of self-reflection for all – the NFL is no exception. We stand with the black community because black lives matter,” the statement read. “Through Inspire Change, the NFL, Players and our partners have supported programs and initiatives throughout the country to address systemic racism. We will continue using our platform to challenge the injustice around us. To date we have donated $44 million to support hundreds of worthy organizations. This year, we are committing an additional $20 million to these causes and we will accelerate efforts to highlight their critical work. We know that we can and need to do more.”
The league has had a history in recent years of not hiring minorities for positions of power, and doing the bare minimum to ensure that minorities have a chance to be hired into executive positions, as well as head coaching positions. There are only four minority head coaches and two minority general managers currently in the NFL.
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