Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is a Minneapolis native and, just like the rest of the country, he has been paying close attention to what has transpired in his hometown.
Fitzgerald, 36, penned an essay in the New York Times on Sunday offering his perspective on the protests, quoting civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.: “Our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay.”
“We are not listening to one another,” Fitzgerald wrote. “Our winter of delay continues to result in cold hearts and lifeless bodies. The language of the unheard has broken the silence, and our willful deafness has led to death and destruction. While our nation has struggled under the weight of a biological pandemic, we also find our communities ravaged by the insidious disease of injustice.
“People of color across this nation are screaming to be heard.”
Fitzgerald, a 16-year veteran and future Hall of Famer, has been one of many NFL players who has spoken out against racial injustice, especially over the past week, and also condemned those turning the protests into violent riots.
“The screams of disrespected voices are ringing out in our nation right now,” he said. “We must never condone violent riots that take lives and destroy futures but we must also hear the desperate voice of protest that is calling out for justice.”
While Fitzgerald voiced frustration in his essay, he also provided reason for optimism and called on the country to unite together to perpetuate meaningful change.
“There are tens of millions of Americans from every race, religion, background and socioeconomic status that are trying to listen to one another and effectuate change – trying to imagine what it’s like to be George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud Abrery or the people who love them; trying to imagine what it’s like to be a business owner who has lost everything to rioters over the last few days; trying to imagine what it’s like to see through their neighbor’s eyes and live in their skin color.
“We must work together to heal this divide and rebuild our communities by committing to let no voice go unheard. Our first step must be to listen to one another – to sincerely lean in and hear what the person who is different from us is saying.”
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