Recent weeks have raised the racial tension in this country to a fever pitch perhaps not seen in decades in the wake of yet another murder of a black man by a police officer late last month. It has sparked widespread protests, not just across the country, but around the world, raising everybody’s conscious level. Many are learning things for the first time—or at least listening for the first time.
This has, among many other things, forced brands and organizations to reevaluate their values and priorities. For the NFL, a division arose in 2016 and 2017 over Colin Kaepernick and his act of peaceful protest in kneeling during the national anthem.