Moving to assist communities of color ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL, through its Inspire Change platform, and the Players Coalition will donate more than $3 million for seven of the United States’ most significantly impacted markets.
Health systems, hospitals and nonprofit organizations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit and Washington — among the hardest-hit cities — will receive the funds, along with the states of Florida and Louisiana.
Although COVID-19 has caused worldwide suffering, prompting countries to take unprecedented action in an attempt to slow its spread, data reveals that African Americans are being infected and dying as a result of the virus at rates disproportionate to their numbers in state populations.
The situation requires that people in a position to help do all they can, said retired wide receiver Anquan Boldin, Players Coalition co-founder and a key member of the NFL player-owner social justice working group.
“We continue to see the same things over and over, with the way our minority and low-income communities struggle even more in difficult times like this,” Boldin said on the phone.
“Just the disparities in the ways that we are treated and the resources that are available to us. And now with something as horrible as this, with COVID-19, you want to get involved. You want to try to help out any way that you can. That’s where we are as a coalition.”
There needs to be even more focus on how black people are suffering at higher rates because of the virus, Boldin said.
“There’s a tendency [among some] to always try to downplay that part of it [things that put an increased burden on communities of color],” said Boldin, a three-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion and the 2015 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
“You see these people on TV talking about washing your hands for 20 seconds, staying away from other people. But what about those people who don’t have running water? What if you don’t have the space to stay away? It’s not that easy for a lot of people. They need help.”