© Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Racism in the United States is not about to suddenly up and vanish; not in a country founded upon it. But the last few weeks of brutally honest self-reflection — brought about by the murder of George Floyd, and so many other instances of policy brutality against Black people — have brought rise to a sense that unlike the series of protests in the past, this is a movement here for the long haul.
In a conference call on Wednesday, Richard Sherman said this moment is unique, and pointed to how the NFL and other groups criticized Colin Kaepernick and Black Lives Matters protesters in the past, trying to shift the message. They no longer have that option.
“Since I’ve been around and been alive, I don’t remember it being this strong of an impact and reaching this many people and this many people being upset, emotional about it,” Sherman said. “Because the way the world has been, even when, in 2016, 2017 when those guys (Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, other NFL players protesting police brutality) were making it about police brutality and just changing the inequities that we live in as African Americans, they found a way to dull down that message and to divert it and make it about something else, in a way to avoid the conversation.”
The most significant change that’s happened in the last few weeks is that the conversation about racism is unavoidable.
“I think this time, it’s too full-fledged, and most people are actually getting the messaging and seeing it firsthand,” Sherman said. “Nobody can turn their eyes away, nobody can turn away from what they’re seeing, and any human with any true empathy in them for their fellow human being would feel that it’s wrong.
“That’s why sometimes you sit there and to make the point to people who don’t get it. You have to try to take yourself out of seeing that as a random stranger and see that as one of your own, see that is one of your brothers, your sisters, your cousins, your mom, your dad. And then, that feeling that evokes should energize you to add yourself to the fight. And I think that’s why I think this will last a lot longer and the impact will be greater.
It is clear that the NFL has almost always operated as an agent of the white establishment, and has tended to work to subvert the social causes of its players, while cleverly employing public relations campaigns, like its partnership with Jay-Z, as a way to change the narrative in its favor. It is a league with a white commissioner, 30-white-owned teams, 29 white general managers and 28 white head coaches.
It is a league wherein owners, without consulting the players, voted 31-0 in 2018 (with Jed York abstaining) to prevent players from kneeling for the national anthem and provide the possibility of punishing players.
It is a league where Colin Kaepernick, who’s remained in game shape for the last four years, and has seen countless inept white quarterbacks start games, hasn’t been able to get a job. It’s not a coincidence.
It is a league where Roger Goodell finally admitted the NFL has failed to listen to its players and needs to do better to combat racism, yet failed to mention Kaepernick by name or clarify how the NFL would remedy its institutional racism, and only did so after a video which featured Patrick Mahomes, the face of the league, called the league out.
None of that is good enough. As Sherman said Wednesday, it has to start at the top.
“I think having some people of color, represented in the general manager space, front office space, obviously head coaches, that would go a long way,” Sherman said. “They’ve tried their best to throw money behind it for a long time, and it takes more than that, it takes you literally calling out bigotry and being motivated, not just letting it be bad and pleading. It’s being consistent year-in and year-out that you’re combating this issue and that this is a problem that needs to change. Not just this year, not just 2016, not just 2017, but you know Black Lives Matter.
“They have to matter forever. For most of us, we got to live it every day. And so many people are talking about, ‘Hey I’m so tired of dealing with these politics in sports, man. I’m so tired of having to deal with these race issues.’ And it’s like, how do you think black people feel? You deal with it forever from the day you’re born to the day you get put in the ground. And so it’s up to everybody to kind of end this.”
Sherman said he believes the changes in the U.S. will come through policy and by making bigots uncomfortable in their own homes. Progress, he said, will come through that forced uncomfortability and policy reform.
He pointed to the 49ers as an organization that has set the right standard, saying the team’s conversations about race resulted in a number of positives.
“It’s great to just see how much they care, how much Kyle and John and Paraag and this organization, Jed, care about these issues and, you know, a lot has been made about them throwing money at the issue, but I think there’s a lot more at the foundational level that has been done by, not only our coaching staff, but our players, our front office, our ownership, to really make a difference and make a change in this world.”
“At the end of the day, I don’t I don’t see our team as the issue. Our team is a bunch of guys who come from a ton of different places who get along very well. We don’t see color lines that like that and don’t treat each other that way. And I think at the end of the day it’s about spreading that love and about spreading that impact and I think it was powerful.”