“I don’t know much about the NBA protest. I know their ratings have been very bad because I think a lot of people are a little tired of the NBA, frankly. But I don’t know too much about the protest, but I know their ratings have been very bad, and that’s unfortunate. They have become like a political organization, and that’s not a good thing. That’s not a good thing for sports or the country,”
These are the words of America’s so-called President Donald Trump, words that should come as no surprise to anyone at this point.
This is a man who has never shown even the slightest bit of empathy.
This is a man who has shown no desire to address or denounce the indiscriminate killing of people of color by law enforcement and armed vigilantes.
With a wink and a nod, this is a man who has implicitly given his approval to racism.
This is a man who has never had to sit down with Donald Jr. and tell him if he is comforted by police outside his own home because they think he matches the general description of someone, don’t breath, don’t blink, don’t do anything because they might mistake your actions for drawing a weapon and fire 41 rounds at you, killing you.
Amadou Diallo
This is a man who has never had to sit down with Eric and tell him to be careful while jogging because it’s possible men with guns may pull up next to you in a pickup truck and ask you to stop because they don’t believe you belong in their neighborhood. If you don’t, they may proceed to shoot and kill you.
Ahmed Arbery
This is a man who has never had to sit down with Ivanka and tell her that if the police break down the door to your home without cause and unannounced, don’t make any sudden moves because while they have no reason to be in your home if you or Jared move to protect yourselves they may proceed to fire more than 20 rounds at you and Jarrad killing you and then file an incident report that states you had no injuries and that no forced entry occurred.
Breonna Taylor
This is a man who never had to sit down with Barron and tell him that even though he is only 14 years old, if he sees a police officer immediately drop to the ground and lay flat because that officer who has previously been deemed an emotionally unstable recruit and unfit for duty, may decide that any movement you make is threatening and before you can blink shoots and kill you.
Tamir Rice
This is a man who has never had to worry about his children being rounded up and being falsely accused of a crime because of the color of their skin, questioned for hours without representation, falsely convicted and imprisoned despite no DNA and all the evidence pointing to their innocence and some rich white guy looking to make a name for himself taking out a full-page ad in a major newspaper calling for the death penalty in their case.
Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam – formerly known as the Central Park Five now known as the Exonerated Five
This is a man who doesn’t understand and doesn’t want to understand the systematic racism that people of color endure every day in this country.
This is the man who is the face of racism in America today.
This man has made a political career on the slogan Make America Great Again, which is nothing more than code for Make America White Again.