Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, has recently released a personal essay to ESPN blog site ‘The Undefeated,’ which discusses the tensions between race, culture and sports. His essay, “I Can No Longer Stay Silent,” referenced Jordan’s personal opinions and events that have impacted the hall of fame basketball player.
In 1993, Michael Jordan lost his father due to gun violence. Jordan used this experience to transition his essay about the unjust shootings of unarmed African American individuals by the aid of law enforcement. He claimed that he was deeply disappointed by the recent killings of police officers in the name of equality, saying that these acts of violence are cowardly and hateful.
Jordan continued to talk about his upbringing, commenting that he learned how to treat people with respect and love without discrimination. He continued to comment about how deeply saddened he has become due to the growing racial tensions that seem to be getting worse instead of better, demanding we should be finding solutions for fair treatment. Jordan wants to find ways to ensure fairness for people of color and police. He acknowledges that police and individuals of color live different lives, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t work together to create reasonable change.
Michael Jordon has recently been involved in equality issues, especially concerning North Carolina’s legislation, when he agreed along with the NBA league to move the 2017 All-Star game away from Charlotte to boycott the HB2 law. Jordan, the current owner of the Charlotte Hornets, wanted to provide a safe environment for members of the LGBTQ community by protesting against the unfair legislation.
Jordan also promised to donate one million dollars to NAACP Legal Defense Fund and another million to the International Association of Chief’s of Police institute for Community-Police Relations in his letter. He admires the police’s admiration to protect and serve this country, saying police officials should not live as targets. He used the same term to explain that African American individuals and other people of color need to be shown the same respect in the eyes of law enforcement, to view them as people, not targets to be discriminated against.
