AN OPEN LETTER TO COWBOYS STAR DAK PRESCOTT – HIS ACTIONS SAY HE’S A SELLOUT
**This is an open letter to Dak Prescott, starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and all African-Americans who love the Cowboys and NFL football … more than their own people.
Dak Prescott, your recent comments where you told a group of reporters that …
“I never protest. I never protest during the anthem, and I don’t think that’s the time or the venue to do so. The game of football has always brought me such peace, and I think it does the same for a lot of people — a lot of people playing the game, a lot of people watching the game, a lot of people who have any impact of the game — so when you bring such controversy to the stadium, to the field, to the game, it takes away. It takes away from that, it takes away from the joy and the love that football brings a lot of people.”
Prescott you have the right to your opinion but that doesn’t mean you’re right. You sounded like a chump, a coon, a traitor to his race and black issues. You sounded like you must have a slave mentality and wanted to please your owner Massa Jerry Jones of the Cowboys.
The facts are this: historically, black athletes have always used their sports platform to draw attention to social justice issues. From Tommie Smith to John Carlos in the 1968 Olympics to boxer Muhammad Ali and former NBA star Mahmoud Abdul Rauf are just a few of the high-profile athletes over the recent decades who have taken public stances to protest injustice. Historically, white people in power have always used other blacks to speak out against black people who were advocating for other black people. And those black athletes who were dumb enough to let themselves be used by white people all faded to oblivion.
The facts are former NFL San Francisco 49ers star quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a stand for black women, children, and men who were and are still being killed unjustly by police nationwide with no convictions and for all people of color. Prescott, Kaepernick gave up his plate and I didn’t hear him ask you to give up yours. Courage isn’t for everyone. “I get that.” This is about police brutality and the NFL black balling of a man because he kneeled to bring attention to the police murders of people of color.
The recent comments made by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his son, Stephen, saying last week that all his players “must stand for the anthem and won’t be allowed to stay in locker room, and any player who takes a knee and doesn’t toe the line during the national anthem won’t be playing for the Dallas Cowboys anymore.“
So, let me get this straight. Cowboys players can still be on the team even if they use illegal drugs repeatedly, they can beat up on women, and have a D.U.I. but if you take a knee to protest racial injustice and police killings of unarmed black people, you’re off the team? The anthem statement by Jones and his son is one of the most ludicrous comments I’ve ever heard in my life.
For Prescott to then double down in support of the statement by his owner (Jones) is quite sad and troubling. It’s reminiscent of what brother Malcolm X warned us of in one of his speeches where he stated the following.
“Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves, they didn’t kill ’em, they sent some old house Negro along behind him to undo what he said. You have to read the history of slavery to understand this. There were two kinds of Negroes. There was that old house Negro and the field Negro
And the house Negro always looked out for his master. When the field Negroes got too much out of line, he held them back in check. He put ’em back on the plantation. The house Negro could afford to do that because he lived better than the field Negro. He ate better, he dressed better, and he lived in a better house. He lived right up next to his master – in the attic or the basement. He ate the same food his master ate and wore his same clothes. And he could talk just like his master – good diction. And he loved his master more than his master loved himself. That’s why he didn’t want his master hurt. If the master got sick, he’d say, “What’s the matter, boss, we sick?” When the master’s house caught afire, he’d try and put the fire out. He didn’t want his master’s house burned. He never wanted his master’s property threatened. And he was more defensive of it than the master was That was the house Negro.
But then you had some field Negroes, who lived in huts, had nothing to lose. They wore the worst kind of clothes. They ate the worst food. And they caught hell. They felt the sting of the lash. They hated their master. Oh yes, they did. If the master got sick, they’d pray that the master died. If the master’s house caught afire, they’d pray for a strong wind to come along. This was the difference between the two and today you still have house Negroes and field Negroes. I’m a field Negro” – Malcolm X.
And like brother Malcolm X, I’m a field negro also. I could care less about the NFL, the Cowboys, or its racist owners. Kaepernick put millions on the line and sacrificed his career, so people of color could live in peace, without the threat of state sanctioned murder. When the NFL or any corporation punishes a man for standing against police brutality then that means the league and that company or corporation is in favor and a supporter of police brutality.
So, we can’t give our money to any business that doesn’t support black and brown lives and our issues? What black people need to understand is Kaepernick is in a position like Rosa Parks faced in what helped give birth to the civil rights movement. The reality is this isn’t about Kaepernick. This is about the unjust police murders of black people, racial profiling, police abuse and the violation of our civil rights that Kaepernick put into the national spotlight. This is about Ezell Ford, Tamir Rice Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and other unarmed black men who were gunned down by police and a wanna be cop. This is about Freddy Grey & corrupt police planting evidence on black people. This is about Oscar Grant & Fruitvale Station; this is about the NY Giant’s owner who said he was concerned about the backlash to signing Kaepernick. But you and I should be concerned about being the next Eric Garner.
The reality is that I was at the forefront of the NFL Protests in Los, Angeles and called for a boycott of the NFL not only over their refusal to sign Kaepernick … our call for an NFL boycott was made because of their silence and the silencing of their players on the injustices and police killings committed against people of color. That’s what this is about. That’s what it has always been about.
Colin Kaepernick – Dak Prescott
Kaepernick exposed the lies and hypocrisy of Americans who believe in free speech but only for white men and black people who prove that many of us are woke only in our opinions but not in our actions. That’s why it’s time to draw a line in the sand. Do you love the NFL and its racist owners? Or do you love black people more? Kaepernick proved he loves his people. And is still being blackballed by the NFL.
Remember football is for a season, however, being black and brown is forever. How can any black person in their right mind support continue to support the Cowboys and Prescott? Every time you wear the Cowboy’s caps and jerseys you might as well be wearing a KKK white sheet. The Cowboys ownership doesn’t care about black lives and they’re telling you in your face they don’t. They essentially told all their players you niggers better stand up for the anthem or you won’t be on this team.
I have made my choice. I won’t watch an NFL game this year either.
Nia Wilson, Anthony A.J. Weber, Fred Taft, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Tyisha Miller, Ezell Ford, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and countless other brothers and sisters killed unjustly by white people won’t watch a game or anything else ever. So, I’m still with Kap.
Those that choose to continue and support the NFL boycott will be on the right side of history. Those that choose to support the NFL (Negros For Lease) have chosen to support the Dallas Cowboys plantation and clearly love a game more than they love their own people.