The NFL brought back segregation to kick off its 2021 season. In an attempt to appease the social justice warrior mob, the NFL has committed to forcing left-wing indoctrination on its audiences under the guise of racial equality. Left-wing propaganda through helmet decals and end zone stencils will be omnipresent throughout the season. It starts with the playing of the black national anthem at all games this year. Playing a song solely based on skin color is divisive. Furthermore, the song has absolutely zero impact on any person in the country, nor does it solve any of the alleged problems. It’s a weird 21st-century combination of segregation and virtue signaling.
I had a conversation with filmmaker Eli Steele about the initiative by the NFL. Steele is a prominent voice on race in the United States. His film What Killed Michael Brown? is a documentary that discusses the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 and addresses race relations in the U.S. The film is written and narrated by scholar and author Shelby Steele, Eli’s father.
“I think the NFL playing the black anthem is both virtue signaling and a form of segregation,” Steele told me. “Part of my family is black, and while we are proud of our heritage, we know that we are Americans more than anything. I’m not ignorant of America’s horrific racial sins, and I do not deny that there are still many issues in this nation, but I will not deny the tremendous progress that America has made. My ancestors fought for our rights to be a part of this country, and for many of us, America symbolizes the possibility of progress, reformation, and the ability to repair past sins. And the key to that progress is that we must struggle together as Americans for betterment. I think having the black anthem distracts from that important fight.”
Many, if not all, of the social justice initiatives in the U.S. today represent forms of de facto segregation striving to become de jure segregation. Where the civil rights movement of the 20th century focused on bringing people of all races together and treating them equally, the social justice of the 21st century seeks to divide and push for laws that promote division. The NFL has been bamboozled into doing just that.
“In promoting social justice messaging, the NFL may be making the mistake of putting a weak and divisive message in front of the far more inspirational messages that the NFL and other sports leagues have been instilling in us for decades — the overcoming of so many unimaginable odds to become one of the very few to walk onto the fields of stadiums across the nation,” Steele said.
This is no unimportant point. In addition to entertainment, professional athletes typically provide inspiration. That is part of the reason many of them love watching sports. In addition to their athleticism, they were able to overcome great odds to become the best in the world at what they do. It is very different from the woe-is-me perpetual victimization mentality of Black Lives Matter.
“What these men and women overcame is truly inspiring, and that’s something that all Americans can relate to and strive for,” he said. “In contrast, I don’t know what to do with ‘Black Lives Matter’ except conform to its ideology, and that’s a dead end in and of itself. However, the amazing plays on the fields can inspire everyone from a young child to a plumber to a small business owner to become better in their own fields. If so-and-so can make it into the NFL, then you can be better than where you are now. Social justice messaging can never have the power of witnessing an incredible story of overcoming or a seemingly impossible feat on the field.”
NFL players will also be allowed to choose one of six messages to put on their helmets: “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “It Takes All of Us,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Inspire Change,” and “Say Their Stories.”
The objective is to inspire change, according to NFL officials. However, in doing so, they are keeping things the same by advancing fallacious narratives created by the Left. With a stated objective to bring awareness to racial struggles, the messaging puts the blame for all failures on racism while ignoring serious issues that dominate and plague the black community, such as crime, fatherless homes, and subpar education resulting from a lack of school choice.
“I know that many athletes are involved in helping or giving back to the communities and I applaud them for that,” he said. “Those actions speak far louder than any social justice messaging. We don’t need more slogans, especially in impoverished neighborhoods. Schools are abysmal in many areas, and there is often rising violence. Kids in those areas do not need political messaging — they need true equality of opportunity, better schools, better neighborhoods — so that they may have the best chance to succeed in life. The profound poverty in those areas is so profound that it’s almost comical to even think that virtue signaling by the NFL will have any tangible and lasting effects.”
“All the money they are spending on social justice messaging should be redirected into efforts to give the disadvantaged kids across America the best chance at life,” said Steele. “And that is the true battle here.”
