It turns out that the NFL’s newfound commitment to fighting systemic racism was a worthwhile endeavor, as the league was finally able to stamp out systemic racism in a very powerful institution: the NFL itself.
The NFL has decided to stop using “race-norming” to settle brain injury lawsuits and compensation claims with former players. The NFL, which has made a big show of supporting Black Lives Matter and leaning into liberal social causes, was all the while asserting that black players start with lower cognitive function than their nonblack counterparts, which in turn made it more difficult for black players to prove damages and receive financial awards for brain damage.
Yes, you read that correctly. The NFL was making it harder for retired black players to receive financial awards for issues like dementia by arguing that black players started their careers with weaker brains.
The NFL had previously announced that it would spend $250 million over the next 10 years to fight systemic racism. It turns out that the league’s first battle was with itself. Maybe league officials assumed there is a racism problem in society because their own league is incredibly racist.
After all, while the NFL was actively promoting its players’ declarations that all Americans are racist, it was also in a period of self-flagellation, relenting that it is a problem that there aren’t enough minority head coaches and general managers in the league. The league then decided to racialize its hiring processes, rewarding teams for hiring minorities. In the lens of the Black Lives Matter movement, this meant that Asian Americans didn’t count, as former assistant coach Eugene Chung appears to have found out.
While both NFL players and the league office were lecturing fans about racism, the NFL was using it to justify paying a few million dollars less to former players. All of those “End Racism” stickers and end zone paint were all for show, just the league making sure it stayed in line with every other cultural institution that has committed itself to the toxic racial obsession of social justice.
Any lecture on racism, social justice, or “equity” from the NFL is worthless. Like so many before it, the NFL is a corporation trying to stay on the good side of the race-obsessed scolds that dominate the culture (including its own players). It doesn’t care about racism, it cares about money and its reputation, and it will say anything to protect those interests.
