Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tyrell Williams is active in the fight for racial equality. Recently, he posted a powerful message on social media and explained what went on when coming up with it.
Recently, Williams posted a message on Instagram about him having an identity crisis growing up because of racism. Also, he opened up about wanting to use his platform to give a voice to those who don’t have one. Likewise, he’s excited to see Raiders brass be receptive towards his message.
The Thought Process Behind the Message For The Raiders WR
In the Upon Further Review podcast, host Eddie Paskal asked Williams about the reasoning behind his post. The veteran wide receiver said that it’s something he’d been wanting to do for a while. He wants others to gain a different perspective and raise awareness about police brutality and racism.
“It’s always kind of been something that as my goal getting in the NFL, I wanted to use my platform. I always wanted to get the NFL, and be able to give back in any way. I’ve always been kind of interested in just my history, growning up in what my dad and his family, and everybody went through in this, as well as with my mom side, my mom being white and my dad being black. Just learn about my culture more and be more involved in that.”
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“Obviously ,with everything that went on. I really want to use platform, just let people see a different side. There is a lot of police brutality stuff going, but just like everyday, racism that is blatant that goes on. I feel like I’m doing a lot of that and I think a lot of kids and a lot of people are doing a lot of that. People just don’t even pay attention to it and realize that is actually going on. I think that’s where a lot of it starts. It’s just little things like that building up and people not really realizing what they’re doing and how it affects people.”
Putting His Thoughts on Paper
Later, Williams talked about the writing process behind his post. “I just wanted to write it. I didn’t want to have anybody else take away, add stuff. I just gave it to my girlfriend and had her spell check it for me because my spelling is pretty tough. Other than that, I wanted it to just be what I wanted to get across.”
After a year filled with injuries, Williams should have the impact the Raiders envisioned when they signed him. In the meantime, he’s proving to be a different kind of difference maker off the field.
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