Baltimore’s Mckesson joins anthem initiative

A coalition of Baltimore native and civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson, the ACLU, the NAACP, the Arab American Institute and more sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday to relay grievances against the league’s new NFL anthem policy, according to USA Today. The rule would compel football players who would kneel in protest during the playing of the national anthem to stay in the locker room during the anthem, rather than be on the field. President Donald Trump, a fan of the policy, ignited league-wide protests last year when he urged NFL owners to fire players who knelt. “This policy represses peaceful, nondisruptive protest of police violence against unarmed African-Americans and other people of color. It is disappointing that a league built on grit and competition lacks the constitution to stomach a call for basic equality and fairness,” the letter states. The writers argue that players are protesting not to disrespect the flag but to draw attention to racial injustice between police officers, and other authority figures, and AfricanAmericans, citing statistics that show 63 percent of unarmed people killed are people of color, even though they only make up 37 percent of the country’s population. The letter says the NFL should “better attuned to the ongoing struggle for racial justice” because 70 percent of players in the NFL are black.