One of the main points the NFL protest movement has made time and again is that their campaign is not, as Donald Trump and others have suggested, against America or the military but an attempt to highlights social injustice within the United States.
On Wednesday Philadelphia Eagles player Malcolm Jenkins, who has been a central figure in the protest movement, stopped making those points out loud. He stood silently in front of reporters and displayed hand-written cards about the protests, gun violence and social injustice in the US.
One of the signs appeared to be aimed at the president himself. Earlier this week Trump disinvited the Eagles to the White House, saying the anthem protests were unpatriotic, despite the fact that no Eagles knelt during the anthem last season. On Wednesday, Jenkins held up a sign reading “You aren’t listening”.
Others highlighted the fact that African Americans and the poor are disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system. “More than 60% of people in prison are people of color,” one sign read while on another Jenkins had written: “Any given night 500,000 sit in jail. Convicted? No. Too Poor? Yes #EndCashBail”.
Many critics, including large numbers of NFL fans, have depicted the protestors as unpatriotic entitled millionaires. Jenkins attempted to change that narrative with signs describing the efforts of players in the community. “Chris Long gave his entire year’s salary to educational initiatives,” read one while one two others he wrote: “Colin Kaepernick gave $1 million to charity”, “Devin McCourty Duron Harmon, Matt Slater and Johnson Bademosi lobbied to raise the age from 7 to 12 entering the criminal justice system.” Another message listed the toll of gun violence: “in 2018 439 people shot and killed by police (thus far)”.
Jenkins was one of the Eagles players who said they would not have attended the meeting with Trump if it had gone ahead. He raised his fist during the anthem last season.
