Celtics players have said they intend to remain involved in the movements fighting systemic racism, including in policing and the legal system, and a good example of that involvement surfaced on Wednesday.
Seventeen Celtics players collectively penned an op-ed for the Boston Globe opposing a recent amendment from Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker that removed a section from police reform legislation that would have regulated government use of facial recognition technology.
The players call Baker's decision "deeply troubling" and write that "this technology supercharges racial profiling by police and has resulted in the wrongful arrests of innocent people," linking to a report from the New York Times that outlines issues with the technology, particularly when it comes to identifying people of color.
“We were disappointed to see that Governor Charlie Baker, in his amendments to the police reform legislation, removed the bill’s proposed regulations of government use of facial recognition technology,” they write.
"Studies confirm that face recognition surveillance technology is flawed and biased, with significantly higher error rates when used against people of color and women," they add. "The ACLU of Massachusetts tested a widely available face recognition application last year, comparing official headshots of 188 New England athletes with a database of mugshots. Unsurprisingly, 27 professional athletes, including two Celtics players, were falsely matched."
The op-ed comes a couple days after some Celtics players tweeted about the same topic, with several retweeting Jaylen Brown’s comments on the subject.
Brown has been a leader when it comes to player activism not just among the Celtics, but across the league. He was credited with several social justice initiatives that were implemented in the Orlando bubble this summer, and also led a march in his hometown of Atlanta during the protests that followed the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer back in May.
In addition to Brown, the other Celtics players who signed on to the op-ed were: Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Kemba Walker, Tristan Thompson, Robert Williams, Daniel Theis, Semi Ojeleye, Jeff Teague, Javonte Green, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, Romeo Langford, Tremont Waters, Tacko Fall, Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith.