06/02/2020 - 13:20
- Clarín.com
- sports
George Floyd was killed on May 25 by "sustained pressure" on his neck and back, arrested by four policemen who left him without air to death, for the alleged use of a fake $ 20 bill in a store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That is why thousands of people demonstrated on the streets of the United States demanding justice and rejecting racism.
This crime had a global impact: on social media, the music industry and culture leaders implemented Blackout Tuesday, the blackout of social networks against racist crimes. A large part of the users of Instagram and Twitter joined this cause. The athletes were not the exception. And, this Tuesday, Lionel Messi also did it.
The Argentine star published a photo with a black screen and used the hashtags #BLM and #blackouttuesday. The first is the abbreviation for Black Lives Matte , in Spanish, black lives matter.
See this post on Instagram
#BLM #blackouttuesday
A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi) on Jun 2, 2020 at 7:23 p.m. PDT
The 10 of Barcelona joined an extensive list of great athletes who participated in this cause, such as: Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Stephen Curry, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Floyd Mayweather, among others.
The protest had also reached the playing fields. Last weekend, in the Bundesliga, French striker Marcus Thuram of Borussia Mönchengladbach paid tribute to Floyd after celebrating the second of two goals he converted, last Sunday, against Unión Berlin, with his knee on the ground and his head low.
Thuram, son of Lilian, world champion with France, protesting against racism. (Photo: AP / Martin Meissner).
While Jadon Sancho asked for justice in one of his celebrations of the three goals he scored on Borussia Dortmund's win against Paderborn, with a shirt that said "justice for George Floyd".
The one of the knee on the ground and the lowered head was a gesture that has become a symbol of the fight against racism since the American football player Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2013 Super Bowl made it in 2016 during the performance of the United States National Anthem.
This action was used as a protest against police violence against black citizens. That cost him the end of his NFL sports career but was adopted by many athletes as a symbol of struggle and protest. And it will continue to be, as long as they keep murdering people for their skin color.
