- NBA: Kerr's crack against Trump
In the United States, the NFL is conservative and the NBA progressive . American football belongs to whites and basketball belongs to the black population.
Or at least it has been traditionally. And so the vast majority of the protagonists of the two great sports leagues in North America want it. So there are hardly any color quarterbacks, color coaches, or color owners in the NFL. And that's why the NBA has been the first to jump into the media spotlight after the murder of George Floyd , a black man, by a police officer from the city of Minneapolis. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade ... All the stars of the league, as they usually do in these cases, have made their voices sound. Including Steve Kerr , coach of the Warriors, who called "racist" to Donald Trump .
It is the last scene of a controversy and a fight that comes from many years ago, and that has had two turning points: the 'I can't breathe' ("I can't breathe"), used as a viral campaign by the players of the NBA following the murder of Eric Gamer by the New York Police in 2014; and the knee of Colin Kaepernick, the NFL 49ers' starting quarterback, on the floor of a stadium in 2016 in protest of police brutality. " Get those motherfuckers out of the field, " Trump replied after the Kaepernick protests.
Kaepernick is now without a team, while the NBA stars who protested in 2014 remain the best players in the league and the great loudspeaker of American sport in the fight against racism of some sectors of American society today.
But this could be about to change because some white NFL players are starting to forget what their fans think and to accompany their teammates on a necessary speaker to avoid cases like Floyd's.
Carson Wentz , starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, where Spanish JJ Arcega-Whiteside also plays , and Joe Burrow, last number 1 of the draft, quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals , have published two messages condemning the police treatment and support for the black community. An important detail, because we are talking about two white players, prototypes of the quintessential position of American football, born in North Dakota and Iowa, states far removed from the fight for the rights of the black race.
" All I know is that the institutional racism established in this country breaks my heart and needs to be stopped. I cannot imagine what the black community has to go through on a day-to-day basis. Being from North Dakota, I have spent the most part of my life surrounded by people of a color similar to mine, so I am not going to act now as if I knew what the black community has been through. I will never know what it feels like to worry about my children's skin color. I know that we are all equal, and that Jesus wants us to value the lives of others as ours. I do not understand that in the society we live in, life is not valued. I think of every man, woman and child who has to suffer the effects of racism on our society, "wrote Wentz, who comes from a conservative family.
"The black community has not been listened to for too long. This is not politics, it is human rights, " Burrow wrote on his Twitter account. Two opinions from two young quarterbacks, far removed from some others like NFL legend Tom Brady , who left the Patriots this summer to play with the Buccaners and who, asked many times about Kaepernick's expulsion from the league, He has shown his support but has never wanted to enter fully into the controversy of the matter: "I respect what they do because they do it for different reasons and that is fine. I hope they have the opportunity to return," he explained in 2017 and 2018.
Also wanted to speak was Brian Flores , coach of the Miami Dolphins, one of the four black coaches in the NFL, where they play 32 franchises. "Many people oppose the players kneeling during the national anthem as a protest (as Kaepernick did) or black coaches being hired, and they do not weigh in on these murders. Their silence at the death of George Floyd is one of the most horrible things I've ever seen. "
This could be part of a before and after in the NFL, which he has seen as the best-selling jersey of the last month is that of the new Miami rookie quarterback Dolphis Tua Tagovailoa , who has surpassed Tom Brady. And his latest MVP is also black, Patrick Mahomes . Maybe it does not change anything, but perhaps the murder of George Floyd has served to stop the two great leagues of the United States from being so entrenched in their ideology and, despite the logical differences of thought of their fans, they can raise the voice on global issues like racism. For now, young people like Wentz or Burrow have already done so.
Jordan takes the floor
Michael Jordan, who is not very used to appearing in public to defend social causes, has wanted to join the campaign to support the black community after Floyd's murder with a video on social media of his brand.
Titled 'Be a part of the change', the video changes the Nike brand message for once: " For once, don't do it . Don't pretend there's no problem in America. Don't turn your back on racism. No accept that innocent lives are taken from us. Make no more excuses. Do not think that this does not affect you. Do not sit down and remain silent. Do not think that you cannot be part of the change. "
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, former NBA player Stephen Jackson , a personal friend of Floyd, addressed the citizens who had gathered there. At his side, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie , players of the Timberwolves. "I am here because they are not going to demote my brother George Floyd. Many times, when the Police do things that they know are wrong, the first thing they try to do is cover them up and expose the background to make believe that it was worth it. When is killing someone worth it? If he is a colored man, he seems to approve, "he said.
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