It does not matter how rich a person gets or how much money a person has — structural racism and police brutality can impact anyone.
A story that Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal shared on Friday serves as a perfect case in point.
The Wizards and the WNBA champion Washington Mystics joined together to host a “Together We Stand” march against police brutality and racial inequality in Washington, D.C. on Friday for Juneteenth.
While marching, Beal spoke a bit with the media outside of the Wizards arena. He shared an experience the had when he was pulled over by police a couple years ago.
A cop told Bradley Beal, “I can f-up your Monday headline on ESPN by arresting you right now.” 🤦🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/ABgt4MdBlH
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) June 19, 2020
“It happened here, two years ago. I got pulled over on 495 and the officer asked me to step out of the vehicle. I’m literally on the side of the highway … my wife, me and one of my friends, sitting in the median of the highway, on the side, and he comes up to me and says, ‘What if I [expletive] up your Monday and put you on a headline and arrest you right now?’ I didn’t do anything.”
That’s absolutely terrifying. And it wasn’t just Beal, either. His superstar teammate has gone through it, too.
John Wall shared a story a few days ago with Caron Butler on the Tuff Juice podcast. He said he was pulled over because his tint was too dark just a few blocks away from his home.
Officers still removed him from his vehicle.
“I’m scared to get pulled over…I’ve seen some people on Twitter when I said that say, ‘Well, what are you scared to get pulled over for, they might want an autograph?’ I said, ‘No, it don’t work like that. I’m still a black athlete in America in this world and I know how it’s going.'”
Another horrifying experience for something as simple as a window being a bit too dark.
These stories just go to show us how deep the abuse of police power and racism can run. These are two NBA All-Stars. They’re also extremely popular in the city they play in. In Beal’s case, that was even used against him.
Money and popularity doesn’t deter racism or the structural racism embedded in our country’s systems. Imagine what could’ve happened if these two weren’t John Wall and Bradley Beal. These situations could’ve turned out far differently.
No amount of money they’ve made or experience they’ve had changes the color of their skin. And that, unfortunately, always presents a risk.
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