Auburn basketball Bruce Pearl is drawing criticism from the Alabama NAACP following reported comments about Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The coach was reportedly responding to a social media post by Arkansas U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, who alleged that Harris would take health care away from Americans. The website “News One” originally reported Pearl’s response as…
“Thank you for pointing this out Senator Cotton, except my guess is that like many of her socialist, woke progressive beliefs she's now changing them or hiding them to get elected! We won't get fooled again!”
Alabama NAACP President Benard Simelton responded in a press release…
“Kamala Harris is energizing her base which has a significant number of black voters, in her bid for the highest position in the country, and this is causing people to show us who they really are,” he said. “Since 2014, Coach Pearl has profited off the talents and
legacy of Black athletes, but by his own admission doesn’t understand the implications of his words. We do not have to ask, ‘will the real Coach Pearl stand up, because we know he does not want to understand what woke means. The term ‘Woke’ solidifies the harsh conditions and inherent awareness of everyday racial injustices that people of color are subjected to in this country. One would have to be living under a rock to miss the cruel treatments inflicted on Black Americans in a place, we all call our home.
There is no hiding the fact that Police brutality and brutal murders by police, racism, denial of equitable health care, and refusal to teach our children the truth about our history, all exist and are as visible as your hand is, in front of your face. The only way to not know what ‘woke’ is – is to just go back to sleep. The question remains, “How can you mentor Black men, but adopt extremist policies such as Project 2025, a component of the Make America Great Again campaign, which is not inclusion of people of color? Our mission is to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.”
Following the News One account of Cotton’s social post and Pearl’s response, African American Journalist, News One anchor, and CNN contributor Roland Martin reportedly suggested in his own post that black athletes boycott Auburn University’s basketball program.
