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It was almost 80 degrees on a sunny June morning in Ann Arbor, a city that’s no stranger to protests.
For the second time in as many days, the streets were crowded, with pedestrians holding signs reading ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ‘Justice for George Floyd,’ and ‘No Justice, No Peace.’ But peace was still had as people from all walks of life joined in the ‘We Seek Justice Together’ march.
I joined along, not as a reporter or someone who writes about Michigan football for a living, but as a man of multi-racial descent, born to a black father and caucasian mother. Despite attending the University of Michigan for five years within the span of 1999-2008, I had never attended a protest of any kind, but given what’s going on in the world, I jumped at my chance.
While marching to fight injustice, naturally, the football reporter in me noticed something remarkable: much of the team, those who were in town at least, were present and marching together. It didn’t matter if they were black, white, Polynesian — they were there. Some with signs, but all metaphorically brothers in arms.
Why is that particularly remarkable? Of course, that’s the thing about football teams. You’re going to get players from all over the country, from all kinds of different socio-economic statuses. If you can play football, you’ve got a shot. It doesn’t matter your upbringing or how much or how little melanin you have in your skin. But, I recalled a conversation I had a couple years ago with former cornerback Channing Stribling when I was with 247Sports:
“Freshman year, Coach Hoke — who’s a great coach — he’d seen it early on,” Stribling said. “He’d seen guys separating. A little bit of segregation: white guys here, black guys here. He just said, ‘Okay, we’re not going to have that, first off. That’s not how we’re going to win.'”
But that separation remained pervasive. Brady Hoke’s arrival in 2011 didn’t end that, and it took a minute for Jim Harbaugh to help integrate the team beyond his hire in Dec. 2014. That said, it’s no surprise that I saw so many of those Wolverines supporting their teammates today.
In the wake of the George Floyd tragedy, Harbaugh was one of the first coaches to speak up, telling Mike Tirico last Thursday that he was ‘very upset’ over it, hoping to see the officers involved brought to justice. But that’s not just lip service on his part. Harbaugh has long been an advocate for justice, having advocated directly at the White House in the past. But he’s done more than that.
Though he tweeted this weekend support for his children speaking out against racism and injustice, Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis painted a broader picture of how he and his family have promoted true equality through action.
“I’m proud to work for a Family that has committed their life to equality and created so many opportunities for African-Americans in football,” Gattis tweeted on Monday. “Beyond the Rooney family, I consider the impact the Harbaugh family has had on many of us African-American coaches and players to create opportunities to make an impact in the game we love.”
Thus, it was no surprise to see Harbaugh up near the front of the marching group, just ahead of me and a handful of players, as we traversed down State Street.
But it wasn’t just him and a handful of players. I saw most of the coaching and support staff there, too. Not there to make a show of themselves, but to truly take a stand against injustice and racism. It’s an empathy emblematic of the program from the top on down.
Not only that, but while the team has been apart now for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, much of it found themselves together in the same place for the first time since the ‘shelter-in-place’ executive order was enacted in March.
“This is the first time we’ve been together as a team in months,” one player told WolverinesWire, all while noting how much they appreciated seeing so many of their teammates from different backgrounds marching together. Not everyone could be there, as many are still away in their home states outside of Michigan, but I was told that everyone in the greater Ann Arbor area made it, showing solidarity as teammates as well as human beings.
Unlike many of the stories you hear from around the country, this protest managed to remain peaceful. No outside agitators stepped in, hijacking the message. Nor was it a march that was unnecessarily political. Instead, it was a morning where those from all walks of life joined together to say that as humans, we’re all on one team.