Michele Roberts, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, expressed outrage at the crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday and how the event reflected the dual racial level in the United States.
Roberts told ESPN that his conversations with several NBA players throughout the afternoon continued to bring back the contrast between the scene of supporters of President Donald Trump storming the Capitol with Tuesday’s announcement that agents police officers from Kenosha, Wisconsin, would not face any charges in the shooting of Jacob Blake, who is black.
After Blake’s shooting in August, the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play a playoff game against the Orlando Magic in the league bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort on Lake Buena Vista, Florida. More teams joined the Bucks and the league closed in protest for three days before restarting again.
“It started yesterday yesterday, when the shooting of Jacob Blake was justified, although I’m not sure there is a single human being surprised by this finding,” Roberts told ESPN on Wednesday. “All the players who contacted me, or whoever I contacted, saw the same connection to Blake’s shooting as justified. We were watching these people essentially betray the Capitol and I still heard a shooting. sun shot.
“We saw a black police officer being chased and the players said to me,‘ So that’s what they can do? “And don’t people have that privilege? I know how it feels. I’m very angry and painful, and I refuse to cry. It reminded me of something James Baldwin said when asked what it was like to be Black in the United States. America: He said that if you are aware of what is happening in the country and you are a black man, you will be in a state of constant rage.
“A day like this is the first thing that comes to my mind. And all I can say is that I’m grateful to know that I hope no one like me goes to Capitol Hill to answer it, because if they do , you will see a different response from law enforcement. You know that, and I know it. “
Roberts told ESPN that there had been no discussions with the NBA about postponing any of the 11 games scheduled for Wednesday night. The Washington Wizards played the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia.