Four words from Zach LaVine stood out.
“Got to do better!” the Bulls guard wrote as part of a Twitter post Saturday.
LaVine was one of many athletes with ties to Chicago to speak out in response to the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis.
“This has been going on for hundreds of years now! And still with little to no change. Got to do better!” LaVine tweeted. “But how can there be change if the ones with POWER are not willing to listen or do anything about their actions!”
As protests took place throughout the country this weekend, athletes took to social media to share their thoughts.
“I know it’s hard to fully grasp why black people are outraged,” Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler, the center fielder on the 2016 World Series champion Cubs, wrote on Instagram on Thursday. “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.”
Fowler continued: “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.”
White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito mentioned the need for conversations some might find “uncomfortable.”
“I don’t know what it is to grow up Black in the USA because it was not my experience,” Giolito wrote Saturday in a post on Instagram and Twitter. “I do know that my parents never had to worry about me being pulled over & maybe never making it home.
“It’s time to do better. It’s time for true equality & justice for all Americans. In fact, it’s way overdue. Stop turning a blind eye, stop refusing to talk about it because it’s ‘uncomfortable.’ Complacency will only allow the scourge of racism to survive. It’s been 400 years. Enough is enough.”
Sky center Stefanie Dolson wrote: “I am an ally and I am not staying silent!!! Be a part of the change.”
The Sky, Red Stars and Bulls were among the teams to issue statements.
“The events of the past weeks have been disturbing and challenging for us all. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as the incident with Christian Cooper, were gut-wrenching and heartbreaking,” Nancy Reinsdorf, president of Chicago Bulls Charities, and Michael Reinsdorf, the team president and COO, said in the Bulls statement. “The Bulls organization sends our condolences to these families who have been caused unthinkable grief and to all those who suffer because of these terrible incidents.
“All too often, after these tragedies we talk but the conversations don’t result in any meaningful changes. Our communities can’t move forward or hope for peace when we’re constantly hitting the reset button after each incident. Everyone deserves to feel safe, to be respected and to be able to reach their full potential. Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of world we live in.”
“There is a crisis in our country, and we need to redouble our efforts and work harder than ever,” the Bulls statement concluded. “We have to rise above our differences and come together to affect real change for the future; otherwise we’re going to see the past repeat itself again. We have to listen to each other, act with love and be intentional and relentless in our pursuit of a better world. It is time. We at the Chicago Bulls organization are committed to working together to stand for real change. We can do this together.”
Bulls forward Thaddeus Young posted a statement on Twitter on Sunday that read in part: “I am not one to condone violence and looting for personal benefit but the pain we have suffered and endured for years as a race must stop. … (T)o see the people we are supposed to trust and protect us take innocent lives saddens and scares me.
“Disparity between whites and blacks is real,” Young continued. “Our judicial system and country are broken. Enough is enough!”
Bulls guard Coby White pondered an important question Saturday.
“I wonder one day when we wake up is this cycle goin end,” White tweeted.
It’s a question on everyone’s minds.
