James White: Patriots find common ground in talks about racism

When you’re a black man in America, you’re not immune to racism. That goes for police officers as it does for professional athletes. That’s a lesson James White learned early and has been learning throughout his life.

White grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a star athlete. His father, Tyrone White, has made a career in law enforcement as a police officer for the Miami-Dade Police Department. White said his father taught him how he should act around police [...]

When you’re a black man in America, you’re not immune to racism. That goes for police officers as it does for professional athletes. That’s a lesson James White learned early and has been learning throughout his life.

White grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a star athlete. His father, Tyrone White, has made a career in law enforcement as a police officer for the Miami-Dade Police Department. White said his father taught him how he should act around police officers and how things could go wrong with something as simple as a routine traffic stop.

With the country engaged in ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd, White has perspective on being a black man in America and growing up with a police officer at home. Now, he’s using his platform with the Patriots to try to bring awareness of racism in America.

"I’ve seen both sides of the perspective, but at the same time, my Dad always taught me — even though he is a cop — things of that nature," White said Thursday. "When his uniform is off, he’s just a black man in society. Those things, the same thing that happened to George Floyd, can happen to me, happen to my Dad, happen to any person of color in this world. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, what job you have.

"If somebody feels the need or they’re more important or have more power than you or they’re trying to make a statement, they can take somebody’s life. My Dad always made me aware of what I should do when I get pulled over, how to treat cops. I see both sides and heard a lot of stories from my dad’s perspective so it helped shape me growing up."

Over the last two weeks, the Patriots have engaged in conversations with players and coaches about social-justice issues. When protests started to erupt around the country, head coach Bill Belichick made it a point to stop the team meetings about football, and instead discuss race, racism and things they’ve all encountered throughout their lifetime.

Belichick also brought in Rahsaan Hall, the director of the racial justice program at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, to talk with the team over videoconference. Hall’s message was that the players who want to make a change need to educate others and themselves about the current issues. Then, in order to make real change, it’s about actively speaking to politicians so their voices will be heard and real change will happen.

White said he felt the talks were effective and was grateful about the way Belichick approached this sensitive time in the country.

"It’s awesome. Coach Belichick has an open mind and understands everything that’s going on," White said. "Some people are upset. He wanted to get a better grasp on things. We all wanted to get a better grasp on things. It’s very cool of him to understand everything that’s going on and how different players might feel differently. We can kind of form a common ground."

White has been fighting for these issues for years. In 2017, he was among a group of Patriots who took a knee during the national anthem before a game against Houston. He was part of that group that wanted to show solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, who started the before-game protests, and he certainly heard the amount of boos that rained down from Gillette Stadium when it happened.

Fast-forward three years and more players are speaking out about racism. The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, also has given players the green light to peacefully protest. White said that, in 2017, he felt that "some people didn’t have the courage" to speak out. Now, he hopes people are more educated on the matter. As it pertains to the protests, White said he’ll discuss with his Patriots teammates what they might do when the season starts.

"I think people’s awareness wasn’t as heightened back then. But a couple of our teammates, we wanted to stand with Kap," White said. "We understood what he was trying to protest. Being black people in America, we understand exactly what he was talking about. It was difficult at the time. Some people might’ve not understood and some people just didn’t want to understand. But with everything going on in the world today, it’s important people educate themselves, do a little research and find ways to understand how America works."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ