The league may be reckoning with racism this summer, but the Seahawks organization has been making sure players have the platform they need to speak their mind. Over the past several years, coach Pete Carroll has brought in speakers and facilitated team-building and conversations about racism and inequality, creating an adamantly anti-racist culture in the Seattle locker room.
\”Pete has given us the floor,\” Diggs said. \”When we were in Zoom meetings, he gave us the floor… I think every day, we were able to have the floor and talk and speak freely on what we wanted to talk about. Our position coaches made it comfortable for us to talk about stuff that’s going on in America. Our position coaches, our coordinators, Pete, they made it real comfortable for us to talk about certain things.\”
\”We were able to get a lot of things off our chests. We were able to speak on the George Floyd situation: we were able to speak on the protests, the police brutality, so it’s been good. I’ve seen a lot of teams that have been able to do that, and I think it’s good that we’re able to have those conversations in this day and age.\”
While the league continues to learn how to support its Black athletes, they could take a page from the Seahawks playbook: let the players have the floor to speak their minds and take the time to actually listen to initiate change and promote equality for all.
And yet the roughly half the latinos and 1/3 of the blacks routinely vote for the republican party… and Trump… Who would really like to take away their right to vote.
And yet the roughly half the latinos and 1/3 of the blacks routinely vote for the republican party… and Trump… Who would really like to take away their right to vote.