Baltimore Ravens Release Emotional Video Taking On Institutional Racism, Repeatedly Saying, "Black Lives Matter"
The Baltimore Ravens put together a really well done video from their team addressing institutional racism as a team, returning to the refrain over and over "Black Lives Matter".
And while they are football players, executes, coaches and even ownership, they did not address it as people from those positions, but rather a representation of society in this country. Much of the video was actually focused on their children and wanting things to be better for the next generation, regardless of the color of their skin, as players are either holding their children or have pictures of their children.
The team's owner, Steve Bisciotti, opens the video addressing the nation about the issue, noting it as institutional racism and saying "Black Lives Matter". From there, it goes from players of various ages and races, noting where they are from across the country, to the head coach John Harbaugh to team executives including Ozzie Newsome, who recently stepped down as the team's general manager as well as his replacement Eric DeCosta.
The former Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame tight is end is from Muscle Schoals, Alabama and lived during segregation and the slow process of desegregating. While the names of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery were specifically mentioned, they had other victims of police brutality come up in the background at various points.
Kneeling does get mentioned at one point but Colin Kaepernick's name does not. While that's certainly deliberate, the focus of the video as a whole was on society as opposed to the NFL, so it's not a surprise either. It was noteworthy, but didn't feel like the elephant in the room, given the way they addressed the issue.
The video is incredibly well done and it's an important statement from an NFL team acknowledging the existence of institutional racism in America and stating over and over "Black Lives Matter" as a message of anti-racism.
Earl Thomas was notably not in the video.
