NBPA CEO Michele Roberts shocked by double racial standard



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National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts expressed outrage at the crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday and how the event reflected the double racial standard in America.

Roberts told ESPN that his conversations with several NBA players throughout the afternoon kept returning to the contrast between the scene of President Donald Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol with the announcement on Tuesday that the Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are reportedly not facing any charges for filming Jacob Blake, who is black.

In the aftermath of the Blake shootout in August, the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play a playoff game against the Orlando Magic in the League Bubble at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. More teams joined the Bucks, and the league closed in protest for three days before restarting again.

“Today’s day started yesterday when the Jacob Blake shooting was justified, although I’m not sure a single human was surprised by this discovery,” Roberts told ESPN on Wednesday. “Every player who contacted me – or whom I contacted – saw the same connection to the Blake shooting justified. We were watching these people basically commit betrayal on Capitol Hill and I haven’t heard of a single shot yet.

“We saw a black policeman being chased and players were like, ‘So this is what they can do?’ And people don’t have that privilege? I know how they feel. I’m so angry and pained – and I refuse to cry. It reminded me of something that James Baldwin said, when he was told. asked what it was like to be a Negro in the United States of America He said if you are aware of what is going on in the country, and you are a Negro, you are in a state of rage constant.

“A day like this is the first thing that comes to mind. And all I can say is I’m grateful to know that hopefully no one who looks like me will be going to Capitol Hill to answer that, because if they do, you’ll see a different answer. from the police. You know it – and I know it. “

Roberts told ESPN there has been no discussion with the NBA about the postponement of any of the 11 NBA games scheduled for Wednesday night. The Washington Wizards played the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia.

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