Black South Sound student-athletes gather for discussion on race, current events
Protests have exploded over the past couple weeks across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death, with Americans everywhere — the vast majority peaceful — demanding an end to police brutality against black people, speaking out against injustice and seeking positive change.
Locally, we started thinking about what the Black Lives Matter movement means to our own African-American youth in the South Sound. On Friday, The News Tribune hosted a roundtable discussion with seven high school student-athletes, four male and three female, to gauge their reaction on what’s happening around the country and what their experiences have been like growing up black in America and in the South Sound.
The student-athletes who participated are: Julien Simon (Lincoln football, basketball, track), Omari Maulana (Life Christian basketball), Joclyen Wyatt (Wilson basketball), Rieko Wilford (Curtis track), Jaydon McMillon (Lakes football), Aaliyah Alexander (Todd Beamer basketball) and Emeka Egbuka (Steilacoom football and baseball).
The roundtable discussion covered topics such as racial discrimination, interactions with the police, the George Floyd killing and subsequent protests, Colin Kaepernick’s impact on the NFL, racism the student-athletes have encountered on the field or court, the depth of black history education in schools, the lopsided expectations of being a black teenager in the South Sound and more.
Listen to the full audio conversation in the video at the top of the page.
Note: The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
This story was originally published June 7, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
