NewBasketball legend Michael Jordan condemns US gun violence
Jordan, who has shied away from politics and social issues, speaks out; his father was killed by a gunman in 1993
Basketball icon Michael Jordan, long reluctant to speak out on social issues, on Monday condemned gun violence that has heightened racial tensions in America and pledged US$2 million toward finding a solution.
“I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent,” Jordan said in a letter released via theundefeated.com, a website backed by ESPN.
It was a watershed moment for a superstar who throughout his playing career, in which he led the Chicago Bulls to six National Basketball Association championships between 1991 and 1998, was criticised for his hesitance to wade in on politics.
A wave of police killings of African Americans and deadly attacks against police officers prompted his rare public stand.
“As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers,” he said.
“I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.”