After much public backlash sparked by a comment made following the NFC championship game, Richard Sherman is taking the opportunity to discuss race and the perception of black athletes.
The Seattle Seahawks cornerback visited Harvard University Wednesday and spoke on panels being held at the institution. He was joined by former NFL Players Association President Domonique Foxworth, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster and Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
“I wanted to educate the uneducated,” Sherman said at one of the panel discussions. “I felt the need to turn the discussion on its head.”
Sherman went on to discuss his thoughts on the word “thug,” which he feels is just a more acceptable way of slurring black people. He said he has never heard it used for whites or Asians.
Foster came to Sherman’s defense saying, “If you call Richard Sherman a thug, you have never seen a thug.”
Foxworth, who is in his first year at Harvard’s Business School, says he is working to redefine the image of a black athlete.
“It’s part of telling more than my one story,” he said. “I was a football player, but I’m more than that, and I want people to know that, too.”
-Erika Benton-Martin (@leftcoast_rika)
