Athletes across all sports have been more vocal about racism and social issues the country faces, particularly in the last few weeks following the death of George Floyd.
Mets first baseman Dominic Smith has been among those who has shown his support for Black Lives Matter through social media posts, but it was an Instagram post he shared on Sunday with the caption "silence kills" that stuck out from the rest.
Smith penned a lengthy note about growing up black in America and shared his own perspective and experiences in dealing with racism.
"When I got drafted in 2013 and left Los Angeles, I finally understood what my parents have been teaching me my whole life," he wrote. "Traveling the world playing the game I love for my career was by far the best thing that's ever happened to me, but it's also shown me how some people in this world really are.
"As a black man in America you encounter racism on every level. Your parents prep you for it. They prep you for routine police stops. They prep you on how to talk to people with respect. When you have one strike against you (your skin color) you have to make the people you come across like you, and you do it with respect, with a smile, with love.
"I didn't understand it as a kid. I went to predominantly black schools my whole life, so when I got into the real world, it hit me. I saw how we were oppressed firsthand. Whether it's education, job opportunities, healthcare, mass incarceration, social programs, financial hardship, and more. I saw how I wasn't equal and treated unfairly just because of my skin color. Without people even trying to get to know me, they already had a perception in their head of who I was."
A post shared by Dom ⚾ (@dominicsmith22) on Jun 14, 2020 at 10:42am PDT
Smith, who hashtagged the names of 20 different people of color who were killed by police or in situations where violence was unnecessary, added that it should not have taken so many deaths for the world to notice something was wrong, and that if not for social media, would anyone have noticed at all?
"My heart goes out to all the families who have lost loved ones in these tragic situations," he said. "It's not acceptable, it's not okay, it's not ethical. Our people have been fighting for decades and we're still here today, reaching another chapter of Black Lives Matter. The social media posts, protests, petitions, donations will all play a part in bringing about real change. And I'm committed to doing everything I can to be a part of that. But don't let a photo or video be the only thing that triggers action.
"Racism is something that happens every day and it's going to take every day forward to create a world of equal opportunity. I believe in US. BE THE CHANGE."
