Dawn Staley pens essay on racism, George Floyd’s death, protests
Writing for The Players’ Tribune on Monday, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley offered up personal reflections on the impact of racism, police use of force and protests in the wake of Minnesota man George Floyd’s death.
Staley has spoken out about Floyd’s death before, using social media to decry “deep rooted racism” and applaud the University of Minnesota for cutting ties with the Minneapolis Police Department after one of its officers knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes as he repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe and then appeared to go unconscious.
On Saturday, Staley posted a photo from a peaceful protest held at the South Carolina State House. In Monday’s column, she wrote about the experience of attending that protest and urged people to vote to affect change.
“If you’re upset, I say keep that anger. Let it fuel you at the ballot box in November. Let it drive you toward registering to vote,” Staley wrote.
“That’s where our power is.”
Staley also addressed some of the violence that has broken out at protests across the country — in Columbia, police fired non-lethal shotguns, used tear gas and arrested dozens of people after some burned police cars and damaged businesses in the Vista shopping district.
“I mean, a part of me feels like I really understand why they’re rioting. Then the other part thinks, That’s our neighborhoods that are being burned down. But I know the place it’s coming from. I know the frustration. I know the deep-rooted anger that it’s coming from,” Staley wrote.
Staley concluded by leveling some criticism toward President Donald Trump, who has posted on social media urging crackdowns on violent protesters with references to “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons,” and once more urging people to vote.
“Trump is the president of the United States, and if he’s not unifying, he’s not helping.
“Him saying, ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’ … that type of statement is not helping anybody. That’s not unifying this country. We need a unifier in the position of the most powerful person in the world.
“If you can’t be the president for every American, then we as the VOTERS need to change that,” Staley wrote.
To read Staley’s full column, click here.
Also on Sunday, Staley posted on Twitter after university president Bob Caslen tweeted a statement condemning a racist social media post made by a South Carolina student, according to The Daily Gamecock.
“Thank you because I received a post from one of @GamecockWBB players and she’s highly upset.....thank you for handling the racist person with his racist post,” Staley wrote, addressing Caslen.
Staley has used her position to speak out on racial justice issues before — early in May, she posted in support of Ahmaud Arbery, an African-American man in Georgia who was killed while running in a neighborhood. In 2018, she wrote another essay in The Players’ Tribune addressing the lack of black coaches, especially black female coaches, in elite women’s college basketball.
