The Instagram post from LeBron James, soon after George Floyd, a black man, was killed at the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis, jumped off the screen. It included side-by-side pictures, the first of the police officer with his knee on Floyd's throat as Floyd gasped for air and groaned he couldn't breathe, the second of Colin Kaepernick kneeling before the national anthem at a San Francisco 49ers exhibition game in 2016.
James linked the two photos with the headline, "This ... ... Is Why," then asked the questions, "Do you understand NOW!!??!!?? Or is it still blurred to you??"
That was just the beginning of the worldwide reaction to Floyd's death.
The worst and most troubling response came in a tweet from Kaepernick.
"When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction. The cries for peace will rain down and, when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance. We have the right to fight back! Rest in Power George Floyd."
I know, it's awfully easy for me to condemn Kaepernick's message. I am not a black man and don't know the sting and pain from racism. But I am a human and do know that answering unjust violence with more unjust violence isn't the right answer.
The protests in Minneapolis this week after Floyd's death were just what Kaepernick probably had in mind. The burning. The looting. The destruction of property. None of it was going to bring back Floyd. The victims of that unconscionable violence also have families. Their life also has value.
The best and most thoughtful message came in a brief, heartfelt Twitter video posted by Emmanuel Acho, an ESPN analyst and former NFL linebacker.
"We need y'all's help. Ben Franklin said it best. Justice cannot be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who were affected. We, my black brothers and sisters, have been outraged, but it's not enough. The energy was there, my sports fans, when Myles Garrett seemingly swung his helmet at Mason Rudolph and nearly killed the man. The tweets were there and the energy was there, but where is that same energy when a police officer actually did kill a man in George Floyd. Where is that same energy? Because we, my black brothers and sisters, we don't have any more tears to cry and we're tired. So we desperately need y'all's help."
Acho is right. You shouldn't have to be black to be sickened by Floyd's unnecessary death. You should hope the police officer who killed Floyd, identified as Derek Chauvin, and three other officers who stood by and watched are brought to justice on a murder charge and/or accessory to murder charges.
I believe Acho's message was directed at all white people but, considering his audience, especially prominent white sports people. The sports celebrities have a powerful platform and the ability to shine a brighter light on social injustice. Now is the time to use it _ past time, actually.
Former NFL receiver Anquan Boldin, co-founder of the Players Coalition that fights social injustice, gets it. He was thankful when Tom Brady chose to publicly support the black community when Ahmaud Arbery was shot to death in February while jogging near his home in Georgia. Three white men, including a father and son, were charged with felony murder in what is being investigated as a hate crime.
"I think it's very significant, especially having Tom be a guy who hasn't been involved in politics at all," Boldin told ESPN. "But it just goes to show that people are tired of this (injustice) happening. We've seen it over and over again, and far too long, we've allowed it to go on and not speak out about it."
Acho also gets it. He knows it's one thing for LeBron to condemn the actions of Floyd's killer or Jeff Capel, for that matter, who tweeted this week of racism, "Been going on WAY too long! Now EVERYONE can see it!!! This is not something that's made up. It's very real. And it's EVERYWHERE!!!"
It's something much more powerful when people such as Houston Texans two-time defensive player of the year J.J. Watt and Golden State Warriors three-time NBA champion coach Steve Kerr do it.
"I've seen the video and I think it's disgusting," Watt told KPRC 2 Houston. "I just don't see how a man in handcuffs on the ground who is clearly detained and is clearly in distress, I don't understand how that situation can't be remedied in a way that doesn't end in his death."
"This murder. Disgusting. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with US????" Kerr tweeted before telling NBC Sports Bay Area, "This goes to something very deep in our nation's soul. There's definitely a responsibility of white people to stand up and say, 'This is wrong.' ...
"Sometimes, I hear people say, 'What are you complaining about? Slavery was abolished 150 years ago.' They're missing the point. We haven't come to grips with it. If we had, we wouldn't still see Confederate flags flying round, whether it's at courthouses or at Trump rallies."
It's nice to think more white sports people will step up.
The brighter the light that shines on social injustice, the better.
That's why I would have absolutely no problem if the NFL players chose to take a knee again before the games this season, if there is a season. I didn't have a serious problem when Kaepernick and a few others did it because I knew their peaceful protest _ emphasis on peaceful _ had nothing to do with disrespect toward the flag or the heroic men and women who fight and have fought to protect it.
Their protest certainly wasn't as offensive as the reopen-the-economy people who, occasionally violent, stared down and tried to intimidate the front-line health-care workers who are risking everything to try to keep us safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have just one hope if the players do take a knee again:
I hope it's all the players, not just the black players.
