Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said he did not want to see stores looted or buildings burned, but that the protests are a tipping point for black Americans
“Just as the slimy underbelly of institutional racism is being exposed, it feels like hunting season is open on blacks,” he wrote.The legendary athlete went on to compare racism in America to dust in the air; though it seems invisible, it’s only when the sun shines on it that you can see it everywhere.
“As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands,” he wrote. “But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air.”Beyoncé Says 'We Need Justice for George Floyd': 'No More Seeing People of Color as Less Than Human' With that in mind, he linked things back to concerns over social distancing and looting, and wrote that fears like “whether their sons, husbands, brothers and fathers will be murdered by cops or wannabe cops just for going on a walk, a jog, or a drive” took greater priority.“What you should see when you see black protesters in the age of Trump and coronavirus is people pushed to the edge, not because they want bars and nail salons open, but because they want to live. To breathe,” he wrote. Abdul-Jabbar also quoted Langston Hughes and Marvin Gaye to exemplify his point that black people have long been “expected to justify our outraged behavior every time the cauldron bubbles over.” “So what you see when you see black protesters depends on whether you’re living in that burning building or watching it on TV with a bowl of corn chips in your lap waiting forto start,” he concluded. “What I want to see is not a rush to judgment, but a rush to justice.”John Autey/MediaNews Group/St. Paul Pioneer Press via Getty Images Protests across the country in dozens of cities have raged on for days, with some turning destructive and violent. In New York, 345 people were arrested on Saturday night into Sunday morning, according toMeanwhile, in Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, a police precinct was set on fire by protesters, and hundreds of businesses were damaged or looted. The four Minneapolis officers at the scene of the killing have been fired, while Derek Chauvin, the officer seen with his knee on Floyd’s neck, was
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Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Don't understand the protests? What you're seeing is people pushed to the edge“What you should see when you see black protesters in the age of Trump and coronavirus, is people pushed to the edge, not because they want bars and nail salons open, but because they want to live. To breathe,” writes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar defends protests and says racism is deadlier than Covid-19 in powerful op-edThe protests since George Floyd's death are the result of what happens when black Americans have been pushed to their tipping point, basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes in a powerful op-ed for the Los Angeles Times.
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