BleedGopher
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per Megan:
History repeating.
When Rashod Bateman heard of George Floyd’s killing on a south Minneapolis street last week, another black person’s death in police custody, the Gophers receiver’s first thought: “Here we go again.” For tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford: “Not really shocking.”
Seeing a white officer kneel on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes brought back what receiver Seth Green understood at 19 years old, cuffed and held at gunpoint outside the Dinkytown McDonald’s for fitting a description from a recent burglary: “It wasn’t a matter of if. It was a matter of when.”
Gophers radio broadcaster and former star running back Darrell Thompson had the same tearful conversation with his sons, including Gophers receiver True Thompson, as his father had with him: “When I was a kid, I asked my dad, ‘Why do people hate me because I’m black?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ And I had to say the same thing to my kids.”
History repeating.
Many former and current Gophers football players have grown up accepting racism as commonplace. But in the wake of Floyd’s death, they’ve decided now is the time to say: enough.
“There’s a lot of times in my life where I kind of ignored racism and didn’t stand up for it because it was normal for me,” Bateman said, referencing how he used to alter the way he dressed, cover up his tattoos, not take his white high school girlfriend out in public because of her disapproving family. “… When I first said that I wanted to be proactive and spread awareness, I just sat down, I came in my room by myself, and I just started taking notes on what I can do.”
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
History repeating.
When Rashod Bateman heard of George Floyd’s killing on a south Minneapolis street last week, another black person’s death in police custody, the Gophers receiver’s first thought: “Here we go again.” For tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford: “Not really shocking.”
Seeing a white officer kneel on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes brought back what receiver Seth Green understood at 19 years old, cuffed and held at gunpoint outside the Dinkytown McDonald’s for fitting a description from a recent burglary: “It wasn’t a matter of if. It was a matter of when.”
Gophers radio broadcaster and former star running back Darrell Thompson had the same tearful conversation with his sons, including Gophers receiver True Thompson, as his father had with him: “When I was a kid, I asked my dad, ‘Why do people hate me because I’m black?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ And I had to say the same thing to my kids.”
History repeating.
Many former and current Gophers football players have grown up accepting racism as commonplace. But in the wake of Floyd’s death, they’ve decided now is the time to say: enough.
“There’s a lot of times in my life where I kind of ignored racism and didn’t stand up for it because it was normal for me,” Bateman said, referencing how he used to alter the way he dressed, cover up his tattoos, not take his white high school girlfriend out in public because of her disapproving family. “… When I first said that I wanted to be proactive and spread awareness, I just sat down, I came in my room by myself, and I just started taking notes on what I can do.”
After accepting racism too often, Gophers football players send message: Enough
In the aftermath of George Floyd's death, University of Minnesota football players don't want the discussions they're having and the actions they're taking to end with empty promises that aren't fulfilled.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
