Opinion: '28 Black Stories in 28 Days' still needed two years after murder of George Floyd
In February for Black History Month, Paste BN Sports is publishing the series "28 Black Stories in 28 Days." We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race two years ago.
In 2021, Paste BN Sports published a series called "28 Black Stories in 28 Days."
It was mostly in response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. We wanted to be part of the country's racial reckoning after Floyd was brutally killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. It was the most emotional piece of journalism I've ever been a part of.
At the time, the thought was it would be done just for one year. But it turns out, unfortunately, the societal issues that led to Floyd's death are still present. That's not surprising. What is stunning is many of those issues, inside and outside of sports, have gotten worse.
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Thus this series remains important, and needed, because so much about the country seems perilous. Inside the sports world, America's most popular sport, the NFL, continues to struggle with hiring Black coaches. Currently, there is just one, Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin. In February 2020, there were three, the same number as there were when the Rooney Rule, designed to improve those numbers, was instituted in 2003.
There's a chance, albeit a small one, there will be more Black Supreme Court justices than NFL head coaches.
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Nationally, the nation has fallen towards anocracy and white nationalism. Violent extremists attempted to overthrow the United States government.
There are also attempts to stop teaching Black history.
All of these things make this series an important one to continue but it's that last fact that makes it vital. Black History Month, more than anything, is about remembering, well, Black history ... duh.
As extremists attempt to erase Black history, the month, now and in the future, becomes more important than ever.
The series "28 Black Stories in 28 Days" starts now, continues through the end of the month and with the way things are going in the country, will be needed for a long time to come.
Follow Mike Freeman on Twitter @mikefreemanNFL