San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sees a disconnect between what Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft are saying and what they’ve done with regard to social issues.
Kraft, the New England Patriots owner, has donated $1 million to local charities to fight for equality and end systemic racism — but he also donated $1 million to Trump’s Inaugural Committee. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also made a donation of $1 million to that same committee. Though Jones did take a knee with his players before the national anthem in 2017 as a sign of solidarity, he has remained silent during the international protests against racial injustice this month.
“It’s just hypocritical,” Popovich told The New York Times. “It’s incongruent. It doesn’t make sense. People aren’t blind. Do you go to your staff and your players and talk about injustices and democracy and how to protest? I don’t get it. I think they put themselves in a position that’s untenable.”
Bill Belichick and the Patriots have been addressing these issues of racial injustice internally by inviting open conversation with help from Rashaan Hall, the director of the racial justice program at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts. The Cowboys, meanwhile, have stated the organization will continue conversations about social injustice.
