The Las Vegas Raiders legend’s remarks on the murder of George Floyd make it clear why we should all be outraged and come together to bring about the necessary reforms so that these things stop happening.
https://twitter.com/RaiderPosts/status/1268196629032701966?s=19
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If you haven’t watched the above video yet, please do that right now. What I think is really important about this video is how Charles Woodson addresses what we will call the “all lives matter” crowd. If you’re on Twitter, these are the people that have spent the last week incessantly posting videos of white people being killed by police, as if that somehow discounts what happened to George Floyd. At around the three-minute mark in the video, Woodson speaks directly to these people with a very unifying message:
“…And so you know there’s gonna be some people that’s gonna comment about this post and say ‘you know what well the police kill more white people than black people.’ Really? I don’t see it. And if they do, you need to call the networks and it needs to be reported that that’s what’s happening in your community. Because I don’t see it. I haven’t seen a white man with a knee in his neck for 10 minutes until he dies for the whole world to see by the police. I haven’t seen it. And furthermore, if the police are killing white people more than they’re killing black people, then you should be more outraged than we are. And so if you are, if that’s what’s happening, then we welcome you to the struggle.”
Raiders: We Welcome You To The Struggle…
The last two sentences of that quote are what I think really drive the point home. While this is very much a racial issue, it is also a police brutality issue. So even if you cannot see why people are specifically protesting that BLACK LIVES MATTER, it’s hard not to see that something needs to be done to keep people from being murdered by law enforcement with no repercussions.
Not to get too political here, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we have an election coming up in about five months. If you are truly outraged by what happened to George Floyd, that is your best opportunity to help prevent it from ever happening again. Do your research on all the candidates on the ballot in your area and support the ones that are advocating for the criminal justice and law enforcement reforms that you want to see. Even if you think they’re a long shot, if you like their ideas, get involved and help spread their message.
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*Top photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images