UM QB King, former Canes great Michael Irvin offer substantive comments on race in America
Two of the all-time great Miami Hurricanes — and the team’s new quarterback — offered comments on social injustice and race relations Wednesday in the midst of worldwide protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Michael Irvin and UM quarterback D’Eriq King delivered powerful, substantive remarks — Irvin’s on Rich Eisen’s NBC-SN program and King on social media.
UM chief of staff Ed Reed’s comments on Eisen’s TV show were more limited in scope because cellphone problems curtailed their conversation.
King was one of numerous Hurricanes players and coaches who participated in a quiet protest inside the Carol Soffer indoor practice facility on Tuesday night. They knelt for 8 minutes 46 seconds in honor of Floyd, who died last week when a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for that long. UM president Julio Frenk and athletic director Blake James also knelt.
“Took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds,” King said.”What if it had been me? Or my brother? One of my family members or teammates? The problem is, it could’ve been any of us, because we are black men in America.
“This is a problem we’ve continually had to face, and if you can’t admit that — after it’s been so clearly displayed— then you’re a part of the problem. When we say Black Lives Matter, we are not implying that other lives don’t matter. We are simply saying that we, as black people, are hurting. We are suffering at the hands of a racist society, and we need to be heard. Our lives MATTER. If you don’t understand that, it’s because you don’t want to.
“These protests are not just about one incident. It’s about the hurt and pain from hundreds of years of oppression. It’s about the countless incidents of unarmed black men that have been murdered and mistreated in this country. Somehow we’re seen as a threat, and it’s because of the color of our skin.
“It’s beautiful to see so many people speaking out about the issue of racial injustice, and beautiful to see so many people coming together. I hope that when this issue starts receiving less media coverage, people will continue to fight and speak up for the movement.
“Not just on the issue of police brutality, but all of the other inequalities black people face at the hands of a racist system. Predominantly black schools deserve proper funding and education, black people deserve proper care in the medical system and black people deserve equal opportunity in the work force.
“What will YOU do to help ensure black people and people of color get equal treatment and resources? Continue to use your voice. James 2:8 says ‘If you really fulfill the royal law according to scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ So until all lives matter EQUALLY #BlackLivesMatter !”
Irvin, demonstrating the social injustices routinely faced by African Americans, told Eisen that he has been pulled over twice by Dallas-area police officers in recent months for incidents that seemingly didn’t warrant that and he filmed both incidents.
Irvin said he was recently driving around Addison, Texas — a Dallas suburb — and police “stopped me because I did a U-turn to go back by the park. Everyone was just starting to come back out. I did a U-turn to see people.
“I say, ‘Why are you stopping me? I didn’t do anything wrong.’ [They said], ‘You are in a turning lane and didn’t turn on your turning signal.’
“I said, ‘Are you joking? Come on man!’ When I turned the signal, it went off. He finally broke down.. When he found out who I was, and said ‘OK, Michael. We had a phone call from people saying we had a suspicious black man in a G wagon driving around.’
“We have to change the mentality…. That’s the systemic issue we have that perpetuates itself that we’ve got to root out of this country.”
Irvin said he didn’t post the video of that incident “because I called a friend of mine, a trooper in Dallas. He said if people see the officer, maybe he’s branded a racist, while in that situation, he might not be. He was just answering the call. That made me not post it.”
Irvin called police mistreatment of African Americans “as great a threat to us as Covid-19. This racism, this kind of stuff, coming from the police, is as dangerous as Covid-19...
“Enough is enough. We saw the ugly of [fired Minneapolis police officer] Derek Chauvin sitting on this man’s neck as he cries out for help. You see that kind of stuff and say, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! Where are we as a country?
“The guy felt comfortable enough to lay on this man’s neck for nine minutes. He saw everyone filming. It’s almost like he’s saying, ‘I’m going to get a pose for the locker room to put in my KKK meeting.’ He knew it was being taken and he wouldn’t come off that man’s neck. That is insane, that you would feel comfortable enough to do this man’s murder on film. He did think there would be no repercussions.”
Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder. On Wednesday, the charge was upgraded to second-degree unintentional murder.
Of the protests worldwide during the past week, Irvin said: “To see all these people come together, all these people saying enough is enough. Now people are starting to hear what we as African Americans have been saying for quite awhile. I don’t want to say it fell on deaf ears when you hear people say it’s systemic racism. It’s because it’s in higher places.
“We’re in pain now but there’s been great progress and we’re going to see more progress. Now things will start changing. All of the other people that are not people of color that were not in this fight before, and have started joining the fight —- that’s what we’re seeing in the streets of all of these cities. We’re seeing all of these people say, ‘How can I be a human and see this and be OK with this; this is not right.’ I thank them for coming out. It touches me.
“We need law enforcement for our protection. What we do not need is black men being persecuted and executed. A great number of great people out there who do their jobs and do it well. But we got to stop the persecution and execution.”
Reed, the former UM and NFL star, told Eisen:
“We’ve got to have better communication. We need to address the elephant in the room as people. It’s not like it’s hidden. [It’s] in our face. Everybody needs to speak on it from all walks of life.
“I’ve been having meetings with the University of Miami. People want to talk about sports but there is so much more going on in the world.”
NOTES
▪ Former UM linebacker Jonathan Vilma left his job as an ABC/ESPN college football studio analyst to become an NFL game analyst on Fox, according to a source. Another former Hurricanes star, Seattle Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen, is expected to become Fox’s No. 2 NFL game analyst when he eventually retires.
▪ Not only did UM get a commitment Wednesday from Plantation High four-star receiver Jacolby George, but Miami is also a finalist for Miami Northwestern four-star receiver Romello Brinson, who plans to announce June 13.
Besides Miami, Brinson is considering LSU, Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 4:51 PM.
