Einen Tag nachdem Michael Bennett sagte, ein weißer Spieler müsste dem Hymnenprotest beitreten, damit sich etwas ändert, schritt der Philadelphia Eagles Defensive End Chris Long zur Tat und umarmte Teamkollegen Malcolm Jenkins während der Hymne am Donnerstag.
Long ging nicht auf’s Knie, legte seinen Arm um Jenkins, als dieser zum Zeichen des Protests die Faust in die Luft reckte.
If you don’t see why you need allies for people that are fighting for equality right now, I don’t think you’ll ever see it, … So my thing is, Malcolm is a leader and I’m here to show support as a white athlete Chris Long, nach dem Spiel
Chris Long: I thought it was important that athletes with my skin color stood up with others protesting for racial equality. pic.twitter.com/y0DFHHh2Ax
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) 18. August 2017
Jenkins war offensichtlich von Long’s Geste bewegt und sprach mit Les Bowen von der Philadelphia Daily News:
He kind of pulled me aside and said that he wanted to do something in support of me … I asked him just a couple of questions, really the main thing was what message was he trying to get across, and that message was that more white men should feel the need, especially after what’s recently transpired in Charlottesville, but even before that, that more white males should take the position of an ally, in support. Not somebody who’s trying to undermine or take over or draw attention to themselves, which is why I don’t think he did exactly what I was doing.