Razorbacks come together to discuss civil rights, plan movement
The Arkansas Razorbacks have a movement pending. Sam Pittman and his Hogs had a "very powerful" team meeting on Friday morning before their first fall camp scrimmage to discuss the ongoing plight for social justice and police reform.
"It was powerful and I was awfully proud and am proud of our football team," Pittman said Friday. "Things came out of that meeting were very beneficial to myself and very beneficial to their other teammates."
The program had already shown their support for the rising humanitarian movement when the players, accompanied by coaches, attended the BLM protest in Fayetteville in June after the death of George Floyd, but after the recent shooting of Jacob Blake, they're reupping their commitment and being more vocal.
The Razorbacks are not alone in expressing a desire for change. Fellow SEC programs like LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and more held meetings in light of the current social climate, some even skipping practice and marching through campus.
Arkansas could've also skipped practice Friday to make a statement but after two weeks of preparation with Georgia looming large on the horizon, the first scrimmage of the Pittman era would not be delayed. Instead, two Hogs were able to share their messages with the media after the scrimmage.
Isaiah Nichols on behalf of the defense:
"We want to use our voice as best as we can and we want to cause justice for the cops that killed Breonna Taylor and also the recent incidents that happened with Jacob Blake. There’s a lot of injustice and murder and bad things happening in the African-American community in this country and we are going to be using our voice. We’re here to bring people with us. We’re not trying to be negative and spread hate. We just want to spread love. In these facilities is love, we’re a family. I’m sure you all have talked to Coach Pittman and am sure you all heard him that they back us 100 percent with all this stuff going on. And we know that. So we just want to be able to make a difference and spread our love and this team and the rest of country and the rest of this state to show people how we have come together as people as humans."
Trelon Smith on behalf of the offense:
"Everybody got a chance to speak their mind and what was important to them. As a team we decided that we were going to be doing something next week. We're going to create a movement, just to show the people in the state of Arkansas and around the country that we care about the things going on in today's society with the police brutality, racial profiling and things like that.
So, some time next week, we'll be doing something huge just to show the people that we care and that we're thinking about them as well."
On top of what the players have planned for next week, the Arkansas athletics department also launched "Hogs United" last week. It's a program based on three pillars: education, advocacy and action. It includes training opportunities for bias awareness, microaggression and more, as well as voter registration initiatives and community participation.