When Malcolm Jenkins posted his emotional response to his quarterback several weeks earlier, it was part of the process.
The Saints safety spoke on "The Daily Show" Monday evening about several topics, including the emotional messages and conversation with Drew Brees after comments the quarterback made regarding protests by NFL players.
"Yea, I think my interaction with Drew is a microcosm to what we need to do as a country," Jenkins said as he spoke with host Trevor Noah by Skype. "That was the reason I posted [the video]."
Can't see the video below? Click here.
Jenkins' was far from the lone criticism heaped on Brees -- even within his own locker room -- after his interview with Yahoo Finance, during which he said he would "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States or our country." He went on to explain his connection to the military through his family.
Brees was referring to players taking a knee during the national anthem before games to protest police brutality against black communities, which was started by then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016.
Several teammates called him out publicly shortly thereafter, including some of the Saints' biggest stars in Michael Thomas, Cameron Jordan and Alvin Kamara.
But Jenkins, long outspoken on social justice topics and returning to the Saints after six years with the Philadelphia Eagles, explained more as to why he posted the video even after speaking with Brees.
"I had actually recorded it before we talked, and I posted it anyway because I thought ‘this is something that people need to see,’ Jenkins said. "And I think we for a long time have tried to put reconciliation before truth, but when you do that you don’t really understand what is oppressing people and really what the problems are."
Brees posted an initial apology the next morning, followed hours later by a video message to relay those words again. A day later he doubled-down on those words in a response to President Donald Trump's criticism on Twitter of his about-face.
In an Instagram post over an image bearing the words "to President Trump," Brees explained that he understood the protests he was speaking to had never been about the flag.
In the ensuing days Jenkins announced he'd be joining CNN as a regular contributor.
Nice comeback, Drew.
"We try to move to a post-racial type of society and move on from our past without actually addressing the history and the way that our past pretty much paints the present," Jenkins said Monday. "And until we change the direction that we’re going, until we change the systems that were put in place in the past, we’ll always be tethered to that. And I think that starts with truth."
MORE FROM JENKINS' INTERVIEW
HAVE YOU FELT A SHIFT IN THE CONVERSATION THE PAST FEW MONTHS?
"We’ve been … trying to ease our way as a country through this, you know, the history of our past, how to we move forward and come out of this racial divide. And I think black people, and a lot of people, you’re starting to see our patience is up.
And so, not only are we not willing to just have a conversation, we’re not willing to inch forward with small reforms. I think everybody is ready for true, systemic change. Not only what we do with our policing, but what we do with our criminal justice system, what we do with education, and even the health care system. So I think it’s important for us to continue to like push that envelope, because right now is the most enthusiasm I’ve seen in the movement for, you know, a long time."
When confronted with the prospect of losing a majority of his Twitter followers if he continued to share his thoughts on social justice issues…
WHAT PROGRESS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR NOW?
"The number one thing is, I want to see people really participate in this year’s election. So that’s getting people registered and then figuring out ways, no matter what they put in place to deter people from voting, that we all pitch in and make sure people get to the polls and participate.
"But the second thing I think is huge right now in this moment, is getting people to really change their minds about ow we go about policing in this country and our society, and what that looks like. And so you’ve heard the term ‘defund the police’ and that scares a lot of people. But people should look up what that actually means. Whether you want to call it defund, or divest, or abolish. At the end of the day we want to change the way the policing is used in our country.
Jenkins delivered the keynote address for the School District of Philadelphia’s virtual graduation ceremony Tuesday morning
"And you talk to police officers -- they want the same thing. They don’t want to respond to mental health crisis that they’re not trained to deal with. They shouldn’t be in our schools. They should have more counselors than police – our children should have that in our schools. And a whole gamut of things that we don’t need to respond with police force. And so I think we need to have that conversations as a society and rethinking how we use police."
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR FROM THE NFL?
"Well, I think what any corporation or any business should be doing is, first looking internally at how they run their own house, right? So, when you look at the NFL, you look at, OK, we have 70% players that are black. How many head coaches do you have that are black? how many GMs do you have that are black? How many presidents do you have? Zero owners, zero presidents, I think there may be two or three GMS, and less than four head coaches. And so those are immediate things that they need to be addressing and looking at.
"But then the second part is, it’s cool to put out statements and to cut checks, but where the NFL really has a lot power is in its lobby. They have owners that got money … they can just pull it out of the air. But what they do with that is they lobby all the time for things that help their business interests. We’d love to see them take that same kind of power and clout and use that to help in the areas that players are standing up for, that players are protesting about. That is the biggest way that I think they can help players’ initiatives, is really help push it on a legislative standpoint."
New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins couldn't let his quarterback's comments from earlier Wednesday slide, so he started filming.
WHAT'S NEXT?
"The way I see it, is that black people have been fighting for these things. People of color have been pushing these things and trying to educate and organize and all these things. But at the end of the day, you’re a minority. So you don’t have enough votes and voices to turn it on your own.
"So while this movement may be started by black people, it may be carried on on the backs of black people. It’s going to cross the finish line on the backs of white people, and it’s important that we educate them, that we challenge them to get involved, to learn what's going on. Because the only way that we really see it get all the way through fruition is going to be if we get white people to bring this to a majority rule."
For the full interview, click here
"discourse" - Google News
June 23, 2020 at 11:17AM
https://ift.tt/3hVhjzg
Saints' Malcolm Jenkins on 'The Daily Show': Drew Brees discourse 'what we need' as nation - NOLA.com
"discourse" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KZL2bm
https://ift.tt/2z7DUH4
No comments:
Post a Comment