In the wake of George Floyd’s horrific murder there currently exists a large portion of white america who now truly and wholeheartedly have a desire to be allies and feel ashamed and embarrassed for their previously held positions. I’m speaking of the “let’s wait until all the facts come out” crowd and the “he must’ve done something to provoke this” or “If they would just follow commands” crowd. Or the Kaepernick’s taking a knee has no place on football” crowd.
Or even the white people who supported Trump but have recently changed their position after seeing, well everything. I don’t know which crowd you belong to, maybe all of them, but I do understand that your very ill timed statement at a time where people across the country were dealing with the pain and anguish and frustration of yet another Black Man murdered at the hands of the police offended quite a bit of people, including myself. And it’s good that you appear to have the desire to make amends, but you have to go beyond words.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drew-brees-kneeling-national-anthem-protest-nfl/
As Sports Columnist Dave Zirin pointed out on the show I co host with Seth Everett Center Of Attention on ESPN Syracuse, everyone in New Orleans loves The Who Dat Nation, and they love Drew Brees (prior to this). In his words,
“If there’s one thing that the people of New Orleans love whether it’s Black folks white folks it’s the Who Dat Saints. It’s the connective tissue of the city, and Drew Brees for many people has been the symbol of that. So when you have people now in the city of New Orleans chanting eff Drew Brees, it shows how he took that platform that he has and did something really hurtful with it”
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/642298824
This is why what seemed like the entire social media world was hurt, shocked, and angered by your declaration that you would never agree with NFL players who knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
https://twitter.com/yahoofinance/status/1268206174073126915?s=21
Most notably your teammate Malcolm Jenkins.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/drew-brees-nfl-disrespect-flag-trnd/index.html
But you apologized and took owness of it. You said you missed the mark and condemned your own comments and called them insensitive. You said your comments lacked awareness or any type of empathy and acknowledged that your words became divisive and hurtful and you didn’t like the way your words were being weaponized (which they definitely and most are notably by Donald Trump
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1268998142860627969?s=21
And Laura Ingrahm
They are definitely helping to convince everyone that you are on their side, and your response to Donald Trump I thought was very well said
But now it’s time for you to go beyond words. As a white ally, you have the opportunity to really make an impact in a way that goes beyond our reach. And I would like to give you some concrete examples of ways to achieve that.
In my book We Matter “Athletes And Activism” I asked wife receiver Torrey Smith who was a teammate of Kaepernick’s what they as a team were doing to directly fight against police brutality after Kaepernick took a knee and this is what he told me
“What we have been doing lately is visiting different police academies. Every away game we have been talking to a different police chief of that city to figure out what they are doing and how they are training their officers.....The team donated a million dollars to grassroots programs who are trying to fight police brutality”
Drew, this is something you could put in place at the start of the season. That’s a tangible way to show that you do in fact as you said in your apology, “stand with the Black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality, and support the effort for real police change that can make a difference” this is a tangible way that you could use your celebrity and your Influence to bring about real change.
People like to make it seem as if this were a massive grandiose issue like “solving racism in America”. That’s not the issue nor is that even possible. We are talking specifically about police brutality and we have a several playbooks, it’s just that we aren’t following it.
For example, after the murders of countless Black Men and Women at the hands of the police in 2014 and 2015, then President Obama put together what would be called the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing comprised of civil rights attorneys, community activists, academics, and police professionals whose specific task was to develop recommendations and a playbook focused on police reform. Which ranged from having specific clear cut policies of when officers can and cannot use force instead of it being up to their own judgement. The effectiveness of community policing.
And in the final report, they specifically outlined everything and gave recommendations of how to make police more productive, safer, more constructive, more effective, more constitutional and just better for everyone involved both police and citizens.
And it produced results. Some police departments specifically in Seattle and Cleveland have witnessed positive data from implementing some of the policies of the task force. They’ve proven to work.
https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf
But unfortunately, most of the police departments around the country completely ignored the recommendations of the task force.
This could be delivered specifically by you to every police department you meet with as you use your celebrity to actively influence change. This doesn’t cost money from you. This is not donating to the Boys and Girls Club (although I love the Boys and Girls club and am a actual ambassador for the Boys Club in Harlem)
But this is specifically dealing with the issue at hand. You could start an entire movement toward police reform with an actual playbook that’s already laid out by the specific group that then President Obama put together.
Again, your response to Trump was very well said and extremely important as he was attempting to use your words to create more division, something he prides himself on doing. He thrives on it. He plays to his fan base and uses dog whistles to gain their support so that they overlook his myriad of other mistakes such as his handling of the coronavirus which has resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 Americans (but I digress)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-deaths-100000-united-states-toll/
I applaud the way you handled this and you are well on your way to returning to your place of being the connective tissue for the city of New Orleans
You represent a large portion of white america who are apologetic for their previous positions and now want to make amends and be an ally. I want to encourage you and all of the new white allies to continue to use your voice, and your public statements standing in solidarity, but to go beyond that and utilize your privilege and influence to bring about real change.
