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Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians is the latest leader to speak out against social injustice. The 67-year-old believes protesting is not the answer but rather, taking actions.
“I think your responsibility is to take action. I don’t know if protest is an action,” Arians said Thursday, according to James Palmer of NFL Network. “I think each guy has a personal thing. I would beg (them) to take action. Find a cause and either support it financially or do something to change the situation. Because protesting doesn’t do crap in my opinion. I’ve been seeing it since 1968.”
The Buccaneers were not among the NFL teams to cancel practices as a result of the Jacon Blake getting shot by the Kenosha, Wisconsin police.
Washington Among First to Cancel Practice
The Washington Football Team were among the first NFL teams to cancel practice, as our own Kelsey Kramer relayed.
“Jason Wright and I worked this afternoon to develop a response that has the right balance between the business of football and being truly thoughtful about the social injustice we witnessed with this latest incident in Wisconsin,” coach Ron Rivera said in a statement. “We went to Mr. Snyder with our plan for tomorrow and we were given his complete support and approval.
“Friday we can return to football. But tomorrow will be about reflection instead. In place of our practice at FedEx Field, the players, coaches and football staff will meet as a football family and we will continue our open dialogue on the issues of racism and social injustice in our country. Mr. Snyder and Jason will join us in our discussion with the team tomorrow, just as Mr. Snyder and I will support Jason in similar discussions we are planning for members of the business and stadium side of the organization. We are all in this together. And as a team we will work to figure out ways that we can make a positive impact on our communities.”
The NBA Decides to Play On
The Milwaukee Bucks opted to boycott their game on Wednesday. That was followed by the rest of the NBA canceling and the players holding a meeting to discuss whether they wanted to even finish the season.
The remainder of 2019-20 campaign was in doubt after the meeting with the Lakers and Clippers both voting to cancel the season. The two Los Angeles clubs were the only NBA teams to vote that way.
The players held another meeting this morning and decided to go forward with the season. They will have another meeting today to formulate actionable items to address social justice issues.
Demanding social change has been a major part of the NBA’s restart in Orlando. Many players debated sitting out the restart, believing that playing games may take away attention from social justice reform. Lakers guard Avery Bradley opted to sit out the season.
“Regardless of how much media coverage will be received, talking and raising awareness about social injustice isn’t enough,” Bradley said back in June. “Are we that self-centered to believe no one in the world is aware of racism right now? That as athletes, we solve the real issues by using our platforms to speak?
“We don’t need to say more. We need to find a way to achieve more. Protesting during an anthem, wearing T-shirts is great, but we need to see real actions being put into the works.”
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