Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has raised his voice against injustice, inequality and systemic racism for more than a half century, and the tumult breaking out across America in recent days has inspired the Captain to step up once again, penning a powerful commentary that appears in the Los Angeles Times Sunday edition.

“What was your first reaction,” Abdul-Jabbar begins, “when you saw the video of the white cop kneeling on George Floyd’s neck while Floyd croaked, ‘I can’t breathe’?

“If you’re white, you probably muttered a horrified, ‘Oh, my God’ while shaking your head at the cruel injustice. If you’re black, you probably leapt to your feet, cursed, maybe threw something (certainly wanted to throw something), while shouting, ‘Not @#$%! again!’ Then you remember the two white vigilantes accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery as he jogged through their neighborhood in February, and how if it wasn’t for that video emerging a few weeks ago, they would have gotten away with it. And how those Minneapolis cops claimed Floyd was resisting arrest, but a store’s video showed he wasn’t. And how the cop on Floyd’s neck wasn’t an enraged redneck stereotype, but a sworn officer who looked calm and entitled and devoid of pity: the banality of evil incarnate…”

Read the rest on LATimes.com.

It’s about respect & human decency and how we share that with each other. #ShowYouCare https://t.co/NqMDQSPeLX
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) May 31, 2020