After US President Donald Trump cancelled the Super Bowl Champion’s traditional visit to the White House, the debate surrounding the protests during the anthem is boiling high once again. Super Bowl winner Philadelphia has some of the most prominent social justice players in his ranks – Safety Malcolm Jenkins has now made a clear statement.
Instead of answering the questions of the reporters gathered, Jenkins held up signs with text messages. It said, among other things: “You’re not listening right. More than 60 percent of prison inmates are colored people. Almost 200,000 young people go to adult prisons every year, most of them for non-violent crimes. We have to stop the pipelines from the schools to the prisons.”
He also pointed out once again that ex-49 quarterback Colin Kaepernick – who had originally begun to kneel down during the anthem to draw attention to social injustice – “donated a million dollars to charity. Chris Long has donated his entire salary for the past season to initiatives that support school education. Ben Watson and Demario Davis helped push through a law that guarantees the right to vote for returning citizens.”
The White House had cancelled the traditional visit after it leaked out that very few Eagles players had even appeared for the visit. Jenkins then said via Twitter: “It’s hard to meet people who disagree and talk honestly to these people about uncomfortable issues like racism and how to make positive changes. It takes courage to stand up for the truth, even if it’s not popular.”
He continued: “We are professional athletes, but as citizens we do everything in our power to improve the communities. That is the difficult path, but it is the right one. It’s not our job, nobody chose us to do it. We do it because we love this country and our communities. Everyone, regardless of their socio-economic status, deserves to be treated equally. We fight for equality.”
Only on Wednesday evening Jenkins told ESPN in more detail: “I’m tired of people discussing the anthem or the White House. The reasons why we do this are different: We have huge inequalities in the judicial system. We have the problem of mass detention. We have problems with police violence. And our children in the colored communities have no access to education and economic progress. We can change these things.”
Therefore, “now is the right time to drive these changes forward. Therefore, this message cannot continue to be ignored. We must continue to focus on the real issue and stay on it – and not discuss who is right and who is wrong. “It should be more about the reasons for the players’ protests.”