Jonathan Toews: George Floyd’s death and the national unrest that followed ‘moved me to tears’

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews on Monday became the latest Chicago athlete to denounce police brutality against black people and voice support of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis while in police custody.

Video of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes touched off national outrage, marked by both peaceful protests as well as vandalism, looting and clashes with police in various cities. Chauvin and three other officers were fired, and Chauvin faces third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.

“A lot of people may claim these riots and acts of destruction are a terrible response,” Toews wrote on Instagram on Monday. “I’ll be the first to admit that as a white male that was also my first reaction.

“But who am I to tell someone that their pain is not real? Especially when it is at a boiling point and impossible to hold in anymore. It’s obviously coming from a place of truth. This reaction isn’t coming out of thin air.”

Toews posted a popular video of a 45-year-old black man heatedly expressing his frustration to a 31-year-old black man as a crowd watches.

“I’m tired of seeing this (expletive),” the older man says in the video. “Ain’t nobody going to protect us. We got to start our own (expletive) riot. … At this point I’m ready to die for what’s going on.”

Later in the video, the 31-year-old turns to a 16-year-old black male: “What I need y’all to do right now is come with a better way. Because how we’re doing it ain’t working. He’s angry at (45). I’m angry at 31. You’re angry at 16.

“You understand me? Putting yourself in harm’s way is not the way,” the man says tearfully.

Toews said in the post that while he doesn’t condone looting, he questioned the effectiveness of peaceful protesting as the only solution.

“Listen to these two men debate,” he wrote. “They are lost, they are in pain. They strived for a better future but as they get older they realize their efforts may be futile. They don’t know the answer of how to solve this problem for the next generation of black women and men. This breaks my heart.

“I can’t pretend for a second that I know what it feels like to walk in a black man’s shoes. However, seeing the video of George Floyd’s death and the violent reaction across the country moved me to tears. It has pushed me to think, how much pain are black people and other minorities really feeling?”

Toews urged compassion and empathy.

“My message isn’t for black people and what they should do going forward. My message is to white people to open our eyes and our hearts. That’s the only choice we have, otherwise this will continue.

“Let’s choose to fight hate and fear with love and awareness,” wrote Toews, who closed with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter.

Blackhawks center Zack Smith expressed similar sentiments: “As a privileged white man playing in the NHL (a predominantly white league) I feel it’s as important now as ever to show support for the black community and encourage change.

“If you think the current way black people and other minorities are treated here today is OK …. you are a racist. If you don’t have an opinion or are ‘neutral’ on this subject then you are ignorant and very misinformed.”

On Sunday, goalie Malcolm Subban, the Hawks’ lone African-American player, tweeted a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. alongside one of King’s quotes: “We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools.”

His older brother, Devils star P.K. Subban, posted a picture and quote by Tupac Shakur on Instagram: “It’s not black against white. When I say ‘we,’ it’s the good against the evil.”

P.K. Subban also posted a painting of Floyd along with the hashtag #justiceforgeorgefloyd.

———

©2020 the Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.