Influential figures continue to take a stance on race in America following a string of unjustified police killings of black and brown people. With San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s vocal protest, his fellow contemporaries are taking a stand too.
According to ESPN, five players from the league will attend a discussion on race and police brutality with a few Congress representatives on Capitol Hill. The players include Anquan Boldin and Glover Quin (Detroit Lions), Andrew Hawkins and Josh McCown (Cleveland Browns), and Philadelphia Eagles Malcolm Jenkins. The meeting was led by Boldin, who told ESPN he selected those fellow NFLers because they’re “all guys who are well-respected in the league and who have the same goal as myself.”
Part of the meeting will examine the historically strained relationship between law enforcement and the black community, and what initiatives can help to mend this dissociation. McCown also called for an end to white silence, and shared that his purpose in the meeting is to better understand the plight that people of color face, particularly in the eyes of the law.
“I don’t believe we, as white people, can understand what African-Americans go through on a daily basis, because it’s different,” he said. “For me, first and foremost, I want to be able to acknowledge that, and say that our stories are different and our histories are different, but let’s just try to be a part of making it better moving forward.”
Associates of the Congressional Black Caucus will also be in attendance.