Some fans criticized Clemson’s social justice helmet stickers. Dabo responds
Prior to Clemson’s season opener Saturday night at Wake Forest, the Clemson football Twitter account revealed that players would wear helmet stickers with different social justice messages on them against the Demon Deacons.
Clemson posted pictures of four helmets. Three of them had individual phrases — “LOVE,” “EQUALITY” and “BLACK LIVES MATTER.” The final helmet had several phrases, including “BLACK LIVES MATTER” and “PUT A STOP TO RACISM.”
The post had several positive responses, but there were also many people who criticized the tweet.
Responses included: “Love Clemson but this is ridiculous!” “Just play the game” and “The BLM is a disgrace. BLM is a communist movement. I’m disappointed in Dabo Swinney for allowing such a disgrace on such a fine program.”
Clemson’s head coach, speaking with reporters Sunday night, was asked about the Tigers’ helmet stickers and what he would say to fans who disagree with wearing them.
“I support my guys,” Swinney said. “Not everybody’s going to think the same. And that’s never going to be the case. But these are young people that have been challenged with a lot of things. They’re developing young people. They came up with several different things. They got together as a team on what they wanted to do, just like all the teams are doing. I support them in all that they’re dealing with and trying to figure out and trying to navigate at this time.”
Clemson went on to beat Wake Forest 37-13 to improve to 1-0 on the season. The Tigers will host The Citadel in their home opener this Saturday.
Clemson players said last week that they will continue to bring awareness to social justice throughout the 2020 season and that they have more things planned for later in the year. Swinney said he will continue to support them and hopes others will as well.
“Nobody’s going to ever fully agree on certain things. But hopefully people can respect our young men and what they believe in and what their different causes are that they want to bring awareness to or support or whatever that may be, through whatever platforms that have been made available to them,” Swinney said.
Next Clemson football game
Who: Clemson vs. The Citadel
When: 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19
TV: ACC Network
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 8:16 PM.
