Nfl black national anthem dailymail series#

Last August, Goodell also appeared on Emmanuel Acho’s Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man YouTube show, addressing the league’s handling of kneeling and other peaceful protests against racism. “Without Black players, there would be no National Football League, and the protests around the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality and oppression of Black players coaches, fans and staff.” “We, the National Football League, believe Black lives matter,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a video released last June addressing racial injustice. The NFL heavily increased its commitment to racial justice issues in 2020, responding to the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the backlash directed toward the league for its handling of peaceful protests such as the kneeling popularized by Colin Kaepernick in past years.

Nfl black national anthem dailymail series#

He closed the series of tweets by refuting those who claim the song is divisive, saying it isn’t just for Black people to acknowledge, but for anyone who wants to “press toward a better future.” It is a beautiful message birthed from pain.”

“It speaks to all of us not just black people even tho it became a rallying cry for blacks in the Jim Crow era. “For those who aren’t familiar with it, this song seeks to remind us of our past as a country and to strive to be better,” he continued. It’s a great way to honor those who started this movement year and years ago,” Conley tweeted. “The league taking the opportunity to play “Lift every voice and sing” (the black national anthem) is sweet. Jacksonville Jaguars player Chris Conley responded to the league’s early considerations when news first broke last June. This is not the league’s first time acknowledging the song - an Alicia Keys performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing was featured before the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl 55 in February, during which players from the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linked arms in solidarity.Īlthough it didn’t happen until the Super Bowl, the NFL considered implementing the song as early as week 1 of the 2020 season. Per the NAACP, the song became a “rallying cry” for Black Americans during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was written by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson and composed by his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1900.