SI's Madelyn Burke interviews Texas Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun about how he is using his platform to speak out against racial injustice in America.
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00:00Millions of Americans have come together after the death of George Floyd, a black man who
00:04was killed in police custody in Minneapolis as a white police officer knelt on his neck
00:09for nine minutes.
00:11Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun joins me now.
00:13And Willie, you recently tweeted about the racial divide in America.
00:17And what's the message that you hope to get across?
00:19Yeah, the message that I hope to get across is, you know, just being able to use my platform
00:26to be able to speak for the many African-Americans that haven't been able to, you know, be able
00:32to get their point across and I understand the frustration that they have with what's
00:39going on.
00:40And I know it's an uncomfortable subject to talk about.
00:44But I mean, it's something I think that needs to be talked about more often.
00:49And just to be able to to be able to get the point across for them to to like be able
00:59to like understand what's going on, like in a in a way, it's just I think it's a lot going
01:06on.
01:07I think it's something that's been going on for a while.
01:09And to be able to do this and see what's going on through the through the United States is
01:15pretty crazy.
01:16And like I said, I live I live in Dallas, so I mean, it's it's it's pretty bad here
01:21right now.
01:22And we even have a curfew right now.
01:24And it's I don't think rioting and looting is the right thing to do.
01:30It's just a bunch of frustration built up that's that's been built up over time.
01:35Well, and you mentioned, you know, as a black man who grew up in California, you've experienced
01:40some of that racial profiling that you've seen in America, obviously not to this extent.
01:44But, you know, using your voice, using your platform, a lot of people made the point,
01:49though, how important it is for white athletes and white public figures to also speak out.
01:54And have you heard from some of your white teammates?
01:56What does that mean to hear them kind of speak out on this issue as well?
02:00Yeah, no, it's it's a good thing.
02:03It's a good feeling for sure.
02:04Just because, you know, I love all my teammates regardless of the race.
02:09We have a lot of different races on our team, but to be able to hear like my teammates,
02:13you know, I'm around them every single day throughout a full season.
02:17So it's good to know, like everyone's on the same page and we don't really have that.
02:22We don't really have that issue with within our team.
02:25So I know that that's a good thing.
02:27But I mean, seeing other players and other athletes throughout other sports speak up
02:30about it is it's pretty cool to see that as well, because, like I said, I think we just
02:35had to come together as a whole and and just as a human, just be a good human overall.
02:40You know, regardless of the race, regardless of the color of your skin, you should be treated
02:45with respect and, you know, regardless of it.
02:48So it's pretty cool to see other athletes speaking up as well.
02:52Absolutely. And as you mentioned, this is a human issue.
02:56Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun, thank you so much for taking the time and for using
03:00your platform for good.
03:01Yeah, for sure.