Moten, Flores call out their white colleagues

Moten, Flores call out their white colleagues

By Robert Alfonso Jr.

North Carolina Central basketball head coach LeVelle Moton and Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores have a message to everyone in the profession.

They are tired of those coaches who remain quiet about the social injustices in the African-American community.

These two leaders of men in their respective professions and sport made statements regarding the murder of George Floyd to the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Moton, who is black, directed his message to the white head coaches in the Power 5. He doesn’t like many of these coaches remaining quiet during these times.

“The reality is a lot of these coaches have been able to create generational wealth. Their grandkids’ kids are gonna be able to live a prosperous life because athletes who were the complexion of George Floyd were able to run a football, throw a football, shoot a basketball or whatever have you so they have been able to benefit from athletes that look like George Floyd and many more. But whatever people [who are] the complexion of George Floyd are killed, assassinated, murdered in the street in broad daylight, they’re silent,” Morton said on ESPN Radio’s Sunday morning.

Moton went on to talk about an incident in where he was profiled and harassed by police officers nearly 15 years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The incident still burns in his soul because it was a period in his life where anything could have gone wrong.

Since the incident, Moton takes time from practice to put his players through various scenarios to keep his players safe. He wants to teach his players to do what they can to deescalate the situation and “get home.”

He has memorized his driver’s license number to avoid any chance a cop would get nervous because he is reaching for his wallet. This is why Moton is calling out all these white coaches who have achieved tremendous success off players who look like Floyd.

“I have a problem with [their silence] because it seems as if black lives matter to them whenever they can benefit from it or whenever they’re getting the first downs, catching an alley-cop or shooting a [3-pointer] or whatever,” he said. “When it’s time for humanity to speak up on behalf of the student-athlete, it’s silent. It’s crickets. And my problem is if the murdering of black Americans is too risky of an issue for you to stand up as a leader, then who are they really playing for?”

It is clear who is the leader of the Dolphins locker room.

Flores, from Brooklyn, NY, is one of four minority head coaches in the NFL. He has lost some associations because of the things happening to the African-American community.

“I’ve had the privilege of being a part of many different circles that have included some very powerful and influential people of all different races and genders,” Flores said in a statement Friday. “The events of the last few weeks have brought some of the memories of those conversations back to light.”

He vividly remembers the Colin Kaepernick conversations. The dialogue heard was to never ‘disrespect the flag’ as the former NFL player kneeled for the social injustices demonstrated against black and brown citizens.

Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes based on the viral video, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday. He is one of four offers involved in this murder. The other three have still not been arrested.

Floyd’s death marked the third one of an African-American in this country in the last two weeks. Ahmaud Arbery was killed for jogging in Georgia. Breonna Taylor was shot at her Louisville apartment after cops broke into the wrong place.

These incidents compelled these coaches to speak up. They were tired of sitting back and just watching as protests have erupted throughout the country.

“I lead a group of young men who have the potential to make a real impact in this world,” said Flores in a statement. “My message to them and anyone else who wants to listen is that honesty, transparency, and empathy go a long way in bringing people together and make a change. I hope that tragedies of the last few weeks will open our hearts and minds to a better way of communicating and hopefully create that change.”