Ray Lewis shared another hot take on the Colin Kaepernick’s future in the NFL and his protests against police brutality. Lewis appeared on Fox Sport’s Undisputed Monday (July 31) to expound on Baltimore Raven’s owner Steve Biscoitti’s earlier comments about possibly signing Kaepernick.
Over the weekend, it was announced that Bisciotti and the team consulted with fans, sponsors, and Lewis about potentially bringing Kaepernick to Baltimore.
Bisciotti says he spoke to Ray Lewis about it this morning. Sad Kap has made assurances that there will be no protests during anthem
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) July 30, 2017
Biscoitti made it clear that he supports the 29-year-old athlete’s right to protest, but didn’t like “the way he did it.”
Lewis followed a similar sentiment telling Undefeated hosts that while he’s “100 percent against racial injustice,” he doesn’t agree with Keapernick’s protest method.
But aside from Keapernick’s commitment to social advocacy, Lewis appeared concerned with the free agent’s ability to help the Raven’s win games.
“What I’m asking us to do as an organization is let’s make a real decision,” Lewis said. “If we’re going to do it, do it. But if we’re going to do it make sure we know why we’re doing it, and hopefully it’s to win.”
Undefeated co-host, Shannon Sharpe, pointed out that the conversation about Kaepernick is always focused on his decision to take a knee during the National Anthem, rather than police brutality (a.k.a the reason for his protests).
Lewis — who was once charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice in the death’s of two men — countered with a rant about “black on black” crime.
Apparently unaware that Keapernick’s traveling Know Your Rights Camp works in communities to help educate and empower young people, which could intern keep them off the streets, and potentially affect crime rates, Lewis concluded that no one is willing to go in black communities and “stop black folks from killing themselves.”
“Me and you as men, ourselves, [we didn’t have to] watch nobody else deal with police brutality, I’ve lived it,” Lewis told Sharpe. “So understand that. Understand the dynamic of what we’re talking about.”
As pointed out in a 2016 article by Affinity Magazine, the racial breakdown of crimes are typically related to the population where the crime was committed. For example, if a black person is a victim of a violent crime and lives in a predominately black neighborhood, there’s a higher possibility that the offender will also be black.
Additionally, 2015 crime stats revealed that of 3,167 white murder victims in the U.S., more than 2,800 of the offenders were white males.
“It’s not too many people [who are] going to stand up to go in the black neighborhood’s and worry about black folks killing themselves,” Lewis continued. “[The] sooner that we figure that out then we gon’ start taking care of ourselves.”
Next up, Shannon questioned whether Bisciotti had any public comments on the 2015 death of Baltimore’s own Freddie Gray (since Keapernick’s protest has become such a topic of discussion). But according to Lewis, Bisciotti shouldn’t have to show any concern about Gray dying in police custody because it’s not his “fight.”
Shannon countered, “Yes it is though Ray, this is America.”
Ultimately, Lewis lamented that the regardless of Keapernick’s battle against racial injustice, the only thing that matters is whether or not he can help the Ravens “right now.”
Peep the full interview below.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=EHTaVawdQBw