Like many other athletes, Odell Beckham Jr. is taking to social media to share his thoughts on the George Floyd protests and state of race relations in the United States.
But while the Cleveland Browns star wide receiver has made it clear he supports racial equality and supports the messages of the protests that have swept the country, he also stated that he doesn't believe in the notion that being silent on the matter makes one complicit in the issue.
"Continue to divide us and not unify," Beckham wrote on Monday afternoon. "We’re [trying to] unify an entire nation, which we are far far from, but that’s the only thing that bothers me. The if [you] don’t speak up or [you're] silent [you're] against us etc. for me it’s a tough position actually a lose lose lose."
In a reply to Chris Williamson of SNY, the 3-time Pro Bowl receiver elaborated that silence can mean many things, including that one is scared or still gathering more information about the situation.
"Sometimes..... being silent is being scared or whatever [you] would wanna call it," Beckham wrote. "It’s actually sitting back to gather all the right information so that when [you] do Speak out u can spread the right information! And not just [jumping] to post a pic on [Instagram] or other platforms."
And in a reply to Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks, Beckham shared his belief that a celebrity lending his voice to a matter can distract from the larger point.
"There are [people] who have been murdered. In front of our eyes," Beckham wrote. "That’s where the focus should be. Not on my [grammar] while tweeting while I'm angry or frustrated. Or simply don’t care to use periods, commas, etc."
Beckham's comments come after protests and in some cases, riots, have become widespread following the killing of Floyd, who died while being arrested by police officers in Minneapolis last Monday. Taking to Twitter on Saturday night, Beckham stated his belief that answering violence with more violence isn't the answer.
"Losing fathers mothers aunties uncles etc.... VIOLENCE isn’t the answer," he continued. "Cops killing us is not the answer, us [killing] cops is not the answer. VIOLENCE WILL ONLY BRING MORE VIOLENCE," he wrote.