Professional football should join forces with domestic violence advocacy groups, as it does for breast-cancer awareness, Jessica Danielle argues at Ebony, to put the spotlight on an issue that's often swept under the rug.
If you've been watching football for the past two weeks, you've probably noticed the plethora of pink items the players are wearing in support of breast cancer awareness. During the month of October, the NFL partners with the American Cancer Society to raise awareness about the illness and funding for research.
Personally, I appreciate the NFL's involvement and encourage them to continue (in measureable and meaningful ways — not by reducing something as devastating as cancer into a cutesy meme, where the fundraising is less significant than "Ooh, he's wearing pink!") However, I want the league to make domestic violence its big national October campaign going forward. That means not just replacing pink with purple, but also making a real effort to lead on the subject.
I realize that taking up this particular cause would put the league in danger of potential controversy by drawing more attention to incidents committed by and against NFL players. There's already a lot of attention paid to NFL arrests even though statistical analysis typically shows that athletes, including football players, are statistically slightly less likely to get in trouble than the rest of the population. That being said, it's safe to say the league legitimately has a domestic violence issue because America has one. And that's exactly why it would be worth the risk.
Read Jessica Danielle's entire piece at Ebony.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.