St. Louis Cardinals, Blues players promote unity in aftermath of George Floyd’s death
Eight days after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd until the life drained from his body, the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues issued a joint statement via social media on Tuesday morning.
“The St. Louis Blues and St. Louis Cardinals stand united in support of racial equality for all and with those who march peacefully to highlight and protest against racism, bigotry, and violence,” it said. “There is no place for intolerance in our society. We also stand with those who work every day to better society and with those who honorably wear the uniform as they protect and serve all of us. We will continue to work together as One Nation and ask that all of our supporters join us in redoubling our efforts to give back and support the community we love.”
The statement does not appear on the website of either team. It was not issued as a press release. Rather, underneath a One Nation graphic which has been featured on t-shirts and ball caps, the two organizations trailed a number of their players into the public domain.
Violence erupted around the country on Monday night as peaceful protesters were chased from the streets of the nation’s capital by smoke and low-flying helicopters. Untold damage to life and property came from those clashes, and four St. Louis police officers were shot. Retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn was killed outside of Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry, and his death was streamed live on Facebook.
The horrors fill a vacuum where leadership ought to appear.
Blues players Jordan Binnington and Marco Scandella offered thoughtful statements on Instagram on Monday, following a weekend which saw Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler and pitchers Jack Flaherty, Rob Kaminsky, and Adam Wainwright use their own voices in search of peace.
“First and foremost I want to say that I empathize with you, and I hear your cries for change,” Flaherty wrote. “I am a mixed person of color, but have been able to reap the benefits of being white due to the color of my skin. I have lived my whole life through the eyes of a privileged white male in America.
“I cannot and will not ever fully understand the struggles that my Black friends, family, and teammates have ever had to face. I have never been racially profiled for the color of my skin, I have never been treated poorly by a police officer due to the color of my skin. I will never fully know what it is like to be Black in America.”
Wainwright shared a text exchange between him and Fowler in which Fowler responded, “I appreciate the message bro. Your affirmation is actually needed. The silence can be hurtful so I respect the hell out of you for reaching out. Would really be meaningful if you used your platform too!”
The use and value of platforms rises to a point of discussion when the realities of the world overwhelm the distraction of sport. The time for sticking to sports is over — has been long over — and to listen to black athletes when they tell us about the value of using voices to uplift communities which have too often been abandoned is essential.
“We appreciate their thoughts and words,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said. “These are difficult times but having their voice be heard will help bring attention and change to a very serious issue.”
St. Louis Cardinals players react
Wainwright and his wife, Jenny, adopted a son named Caleb Adam in early 2019. Later that summer, when he talked about the adoption, Wainwright explained that he gave the boy his own name so he would never doubt the child’s connection to his father.
Caleb is black.
Jenny Wainwright shared her own thoughts last Thursday.
“I hate that the innocence and joy will be stolen from him when he learns of the prejudices men of color deal with,” she said. “I can’t imagine how much that will hurt! How scary it will feel!”
Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong also shared his thoughts via Instagram on Monday night. Wong, who is Hawaiian, described growing up in a bubble in which he “only knew racism existed through history class.” He spoke of rage and anger, of that same loss of innocence and the promotion of love.
“If we are to escape from the gravity of infinite sadness and pain which fills all too many of the waking moments of our days, then it will require bold choices. It will require seizing every platform which is available and throwing ourselves bodily upon the gears of progress, insisting that the work cannot be done until we refuse to construct walls which tell us who is allowed to speak, and when.”
“I look forward to the day when our nation becomes color blind,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “I look forward to the day when everyone in our country’s heart is filled with hope and feeling of a genuine sense of equality.”
Perhaps more than any single other figure in the Cardinals organization, Shildt is defined by his leadership. It’s what drives the obvious affection he receives from his players and what the Cardinals identified as the x-factor which determined that he ought to be entrusted with the stewardship of a civic institution.
Those institutions are failing us, more and more every day. The platforms should not be yielded.
The time for voices is now.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 3:12 PM.
