On Friday, Detroit Lions safety Duron Harmon shared with the media some of the conversations the Lions’ players and coaches have been having during their virtual offseason after putting football on hold to discuss racism and social injustice.
Later in the day, during his own virtual press conference, Lions’ offensive lineman Frank Ragnow shared how those conversations with Harmon and other teammates’ have changed his perspective.
Ragnow discussed how he didn’t realize just how different his life experiences were from his teammates: “Obviously, I was aware that there was a problem in this country, and I knew we are not perfectly united as a country. But I just, I’m sick to my stomach the things that I have heard from some of my teammates and some of my friends and some of my brothers that they have to worry about and they have to deal with.”
Ragnow would touch on several relevant topics but his most impactful statements came near the end of the meeting when he discussed “white privilege” and holding others responsible for their actions.
“I feel like some white people get defensive when people say ‘white privilege,'” Ragnow said. “White privilege doesn’t mean you’ve had a privileged life. It doesn’t mean you’ve had no trouble, no problems, no adversity. It just means your skin color hasn’t caused that problem. And what I’ve been able to learn from a bunch of very smart people, a bunch of people who are being impacted by this, is that I just need to listen.”
Understanding language is vital to any conversation, and when asked what he felt was his responsibility moving forward was, Ragnow responded:
“The challenge my teammates have brought to me, one of the messages I’ve got, it has to be not (just) in the public spotlight … but I have to be holding my friends in a private conversation accountable. I have to be holding my neighbor — who might have said something not acceptable — I have to hold them accountable… Because that’s how we eliminate it. We eliminate it when people think they’re the most comfortable, and we make them uncomfortable, and we make it not ok. ”
You can watch Ragnow’s entire 23-minute press conference via the Lions’ YouTube channel in the video below: