National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts expressed outrage at the crowd that invaded the United States Capitol in Washington on Wednesday and how the event reflected two weights and two racial measures in America.
Roberts told ESPN that his conversations with several NBA players throughout the afternoon returned to the contrast between the scene of supporters of President Donald Trump storming the Capitol with Tuesday’s announcement that police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, would face none. prosecution for the shooting of Jacob Blake, who is black.
After Blake’s shooting in August, the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play a playoff game against the Orlando Magic in the league bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. More teams joined the Bucks and the league closed in protest for three days before restarting again.
“Today started yesterday, when the Jacob Blake shooting was being justified, although I’m not sure if there was a single human surprised by that discovery,” Roberts told ESPN on Wednesday. “Every player who contacted me – or who I contacted – saw the same connection with the shot at Blake being justified. We were watching these people essentially cheating on the Capitol and I still haven’t heard about a single shot being fired.
“We saw a black policeman being chased and the players said to me, ‘So this is what they can do?’ And do people not understand these privileged things? I know how they are feeling. I am so angry and suffering – and I refuse to cry. It reminded me of something James Baldwin said when asked what it was like to be a Negro United States of America He said that if you are aware of what is happening in the country, and you are black, you are in a state of constant anger.
“On a day like this, it is the first thing that comes to mind. And all I can say is that I am grateful to know that I hope that no one who looks like me will go to the Capitol to answer that, because if they do, you will see a different response from the police authorities. You know that – and I know that. “
Roberts told ESPN that there were no discussions with the NBA over the postponement of any of the 11 NBA games scheduled for Wednesday night. The Washington Wizards played against the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia.