New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz says that the racist graffiti scrawled over his team-mate Nikita Whitlock’s home during a burglary is unsurprising in modern America.
Whitlock’s home was broken into for the second time in a month on Tuesday night and graffiti – including a swastika, the n-word, “KKK” and “Trump” – was left on the walls. Whitlock was forced to cover some of the slogans in sheets to protect his two children. The break-in is being treated as a hate crime, according to the Record.
“I think it’s definitely a direct reflection of how this country is being run, and how this country is reacting maybe to some of the decisions, and some of the ways that this country is being run, and the things that are being said by the people at the helm of this country and at the helm of our day-to-day lives,” said Cruz.
“From social media all the way up to the White House, these are things that are being spoken of and talked about on a daily basis, the good and the bad – more so the bad at this point right now because that’s all we have to work with. It’s just an unfortunate situation that we’re going through right now.”
Cruz has been critical of President-elect Donald Trump in the past and said the incident was indicative of the way some of his supporters think. “I think there’s a specific mindset that comes with supporting a guy like Donald Trump and supporting what he stands for, and there’s a certain type of person that comes with that,” said Cruz, who added that other Trump supporters were motivated not by prejudice but by a desire for change. “I’m not sure that person is always a positive-minded person, if you know what I mean. You’ve just got to be careful.
“As a minority, you have to be careful, as a person of influence you have to be careful and you’ve just got to make sure your family is safe and give them the knowledge that they need to stay safe in this world.”
Cruz grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, close to the site of the break in and said that had it had affected him on a personal level. “Absolutely. That’s what is most shocking to me about this specific incident with Nikita Whitlock,” Cruz said. “It’s just 20 minutes from where I grew up. This could have easily happened in Paterson. It could have easily happened in Clifton or Passaic or Lyndhurst even for that matter. This could have happened anywhere.
“To see something like that happen around here and to happen the way that it did: breaking into a home, the vandalism ... Nikita has children. He’s got to explain that to his children. Not just right now. Five years from now, 10 years from now when they ask, ‘Hey, Dad, remember when that happened?’ They have to answer those questions. He has to answer those questions to his children. It’s unfortunate. No one should have to go through that.”
Cruz, who has played for the Giants his entire career, said he was not worried about any negative reaction to his comments. “That’s fine with me,” he said. “I’m comfortable with that. I’m comfortable with people’s reactions to that. That’s my opinion, that’s my mindset, that’s the way I think, so I’m not upset at anybody else that thinks otherwise.”
