Nick Saban comments on the death of George Floyd.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban weighed in on the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer who was charged with third-degree murder.
Saban released a statement through the Alabama football Twitter account on Sunday evening to express his shock, anger and what must be done to unite people who are greatly divided. In addition to speaking up about the tragic death of George Floyd, Saban also mentioned the names of Beronna Taylor who was killed in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery who was killed in Georgia.
“I am shocked and angered by the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery,” Saban said. “We’re at an important moment for our country, and now is the time for us to choose kindness, tolerance, understanding, empathy, and most importantly … it’s time to love each other. Every life is precious, and we must understand we have so many more things that unite us than divide us.”
“I’ve always been inspired and encouraged by examples set by those who came before us like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and so many others who devoted their lives to finding peaceful ways to rid our society of social inequities. As Dr. King said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.’ We are all part of this and we must banish these types of injustices in not just our country, but our world. The ultimate future of our nation is in our hands, and like the teams I’ve been privileged to coach, we must depend on and respect each other no matter our differences. We must come together as a society and treat one another with respect and dignity.”
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) May 31, 2020
This is an important time in the history of our country and now is the time when leaders are being counted on and relied upon to deliver messages like the one Saban delivered.
As a leader of a football team that is predominantly made up of African-American student-athletes, Saban needed to speak up because silence is being complicit with the injustice and police brutality carried out at a disproportionate rate against black people.
Several, not all, but many of Saban’s contemporaries in college football as well as college basketball shared a statement or message through social media. But that isn’t enough according to ESPN commentator Dominique Foxworth who said on Get Up that he expects more from Saban and other Power 5 coaches during this time.
.@Foxworth24 says he expected/expects more from Nick Saban and other Power 5 coaches than what they have been saying and doing amid protests. pic.twitter.com/4fkidqTk2C
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 1, 2020
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