Chicago athletes are using their social media platforms to react to the nationwide unrest following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Cubs second baseman Jason Kipnis quoted Martin Luther King Jr., expressing sadness over the fallout, which has included riots in cities across the nation.
Saturday night, White Sox starter Lucas Giolito said it's "time to do better" and "time for true equality & justice for all Americans." Bulls guard Zach LaVine, who played three seasons in Minnesota, tweeted "this has been going on for hundreds of years now!"
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson tweeted Nike's response, a somber video calling on Americans to "all be part of the change." Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward shared the same video on his Instagram story.
Bulls big man Wendell Carter Jr. asked "Is it that hard to just do the right thing and love one another" on Twitter. Guard Coby White shared his thoughts as well.
Sunday, Michael Jordan expressed sadness, anger and pain in a statement.
Cubs World Series hero Dexter Fowler posted a photo on Instagram reading "I can't breathe" Thursday, writing "This isn't right. This can't go on."
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Here’s the thing. I know it’s hard to fully grasp why black people are outraged.It’s hard to grasp unless you’ve seen people hold their purses tighter when you walk by, when you have people refer to you as “not black” when you’re not “ghetto”. When your parents have to give you a talk when you’re just a kid. “you can’t act like your white friends. you’ll get killed. they won’t” This is a generational discussion EVERY black family has. It terrifies you as a kid, and as an adult. You don’t understand why we know, those officers didn’t flinch at murdering that man, because he is black.The race card. We hold it. You tell us “it’s not about race” if we ever hold you to it. You don’t want us to have even that 1 bone chilling “privilege” of defense. You don’t want us to hold any privilege.We don’t hold the privilege of being a criminal, making a mistake, or simply taking a jog, the same as a white man, and being treated the same. He couldn’t breathe. He was murdered. They were gently fired from their jobs. This isn’t right. This can’t go on. (if you assume “you”, is you, and you’re upset about the generalization...... just think about that for a second)
A post shared by Dexter Fowler (@dexterfowler) on May 28, 2020 at 11:43am PDT
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