NFL player Justin Jackson told Hill.TV that it’s worthwhile for professional athletes to speak about about racial injustice, even if it has limited impact.
Jackson, who plays for the Los Angeles Chargers, said whenever professional athletes can “bring more awareness” to social and political issues, “it’s big because it’s changing the hearts and minds of maybe just a few,” but “it’s worth it.”
His comments came after teams in several professional sports leagues boycotted games following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.
Jackson argued that conversations between the Milwaukee Bucks and Wisconsin leaders proved that actions such as athlete boycotts can be effective, adding that he hopes to see his own team do something similar.
“There’s a big problem within L.A., within the city, within the schooling systems, within the policing systems. We’re right here, and obviously we can’t have as big of a national impact as we would want to, but we’re trying to work with the local activists and get in the ear of some of these people in power,” he said.
Jackson said that he and his teammates abstained from practicing two weeks ago and chose instead to speak on national television in order to draw attention to some of the issues facing Black and brown and poor communities.
“We didn’t give people that chance to have that distraction of watching football then speaking about [it] afterwards in a press conference,” he said. “We used that platform on live TV to go out and speak on these issues and enlighten people here and there.”
Jackson said that “that was just the beginning,” adding that players will be meeting the team’s owner to start a discussion with the governor and the city’s mayor.
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