The NFL Is Suddenly Worried About Black Lives
On Saturday, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell had the nerve to put out a statement extending condolences to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery—three African Americans who were killed by people who claimed to be enforcing the law. The league, Goodell insisted, was “committed to continuing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs and partners.”
Maybe the NFL thought that Will Smith had popped up with a neuralyzer and wiped everyone’s memory clean. If by “important work,” the league was referring to how it blackballed Colin Kaepernick—who, while quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, took a knee during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality and racial injustice—then the NFL is correct to say it showed a commitment.
Back then, the NFL had the opportunity to use its platform to support Kaepernick’s courageous stance against police brutality, but NFL owners opted instead to direct their energy toward ruining Kaepernick’s career.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/nfls-amnesia-just-like-americas/612505/
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https://slate.com/culture/2020/06/nfl-george-floyd-colin-kaepernick-roger-goodell-peaceful-protest.html
On Saturday, the NFL, like so many brands eager to capitalize on a horrific situation, released a statement on the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd. This press release stood out for its audacity. The thoughts allegedly attributed to league commissioner Roger Goodell were a significantly diminished version of what was actually said by Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback blackballed by the NFL for delivering a far more effective message four years ago.
This collection of words is so obviously and excessively polished that it fails to say anything meaningful. Kenny Stills and Eric Reid, two players with close ties to Kaepernick, reacted accordingly. Nowhere does the statement provide the details of “the tragic events” that befell Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor; it’s written as if they had died of an illness. Nowhere does it mention who killed those three people, or acknowledge that they were Black. Nowhere does it mention police violence. Instead, when shown incontrovertible proof of Kaepernick’s message—that law enforcement dehumanizes and kills Black people as well as other people of color—in the form of a video of officer Derek Chauvin suffocating Floyd with his knee for more than eight minutes, the best the NFL could do is say it now realizes “the power of our platform in communities and as part of the fabric of American society.” Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league are now ready to address “systemic issues,” without ever mentioning the player who brought those issues to the attention of the league and much of the public. The whole exercise is so brazen that I’m surprised the NFL’s social media handler wasn’t struck down by lightning when they pressed the button.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said in August 2016, when the press first noticed his refusal to stand for the national anthem. “To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
