Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley speaks out on social, racial injustices in America

Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley speaks out on social, racial injustices in America

In a powerful display of unification, Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma football team marched arm in arm to the unity garden on OU’s campus.

“We chose this place because it symbolizes unity, and unity is possible.” Riley said. “And it is possible for people with different backgrounds because I’ve witnessed it, and continue to witness it with this group right here.”

In the wake of the recent shooting of Jacob Blake, racial injustice movements have swept across the nation. The NBA and MLB have seen boycotts, and players from all different sports have spoken out against injustices.

Lincoln Riley and the Sooners made a stand of their own on Friday with their march.

“We’ve had a lot of team gatherings, discussions, opportunities for every person in our organization to express how they’re feeling.” Riley said. “And like a lot of other college football teams across the country, our organization is made up of just about every different background that you can imagine. Females, males, people of all kinds of different skin colors, ethnicities, backgrounds, home lives, experiences, everything’s different. And those conversations have been tough.”

Starting next week, Oklahoma will be launching required bias training for its students, the first step in fixing what has been a problem at Oklahoma. The training will be mandatory for students, staff and faculty.

For now, Riley and his team are holding their own discussions.

“They’ve been raw and unfiltered, they’ve been eye opening, very emotional, very intense.” Riley said. “They’ve given every person there an opportunity to express themselves, but also, and maybe more importantly, an opportunity to listen.”